By William Coleman
Every now and then something pops up in the caravan world that is from a bygone era that just needs to be seen to be believed. One such item is about go to auction and I really wish I had the money to bid.
This story comes to us all the way from the United States of America and just screams the Golden Age of Hollywood. This amazing looking caravan is something you’d expect to see James Dean or Aubrey Hepburn relaxing in between scenes.
This luxury 1950 Westcraft Capistrano is headed to auction all the way in Scottsdale, Arizona where someone with deep pockets can pick this beauty up at a great price.
The ‘Capistrano’ is quite the handful coming in at a staggering 33 foot long so you may want a spotter to help you with your maneuvering. Or a rather good reversing camera.
The current owner, Licas Lackner, picked the van up when it was in rough shape and was purchased as a restoration project. And I must say he has done an amazing job in bringing this stunner back to its full glory.
After doing some research I found out that the Capistrano is the longest and rarest of the entire Westcraft lineup. It even has 2 meters of headroom, so you may have some height issues on some sites.
Something of this size is very much for the American market and I can’t see that it would be much user here in the UK unless it was kept as a static van. It was manufactured in Burbank, California by the Westcraft Manufacturing Company after World War 2 and never made it over here.
Due to the vans length and overall size it will probably work a lot better as a static, it was actually purchased to be a “mancave” and guest house by Lucas which he wanted to place next to his infinity pool overlooking Santa Barbar.
Lucas’ original plan was to create his very own restomod which would feature all the mod cons but kept the timeless classic look. And from the pictures, which you can view here, it seems like he has done a top notch job.
From the beginning the aim of the design was to reflect the 1930s Art Deco scene. Despite the exterior and aspects of the interior being based on the 30s look the appliances within are all modern to ensure you get the creature comforts of modern vans while maintaining the vintage look.
Inside you will find light fittings from the 30s that were very carefully sourced to ensure that the van kept its vintage look as much as possible. Somehow it just would not look right with an LED strip light on the floor.
One thing that has been added which nowadays you cannot really go without are USB ports. This van actually have quite a few of them onboard but are placed out of sight so as not to tarnish the historic feel. There is also a modern heating and aircon system inside to ensure you don’t get too uncomfortable when the weather changes.
Would you fancy owning this?
