Elddis
FASCINATING HISTORY
1964
IS BORN
Diana and W
ills loved thei
r Elddis Cycl
In 1983 Eldd
one.
is cr
standard rang eated a new profile for
its
e, while still
retaining the
classic Eldd
is lo
using fully bo ok, and built its caravans
nded constru
ction.
It was way back in the swinging sixties that the first Elddis tourers hit the road.
Caravan tracks the brand’s first 50 years. It’s been quite a ride!
ARCHIVE PICTURES FROM www.jenkinsonscaravanworld.co.uk
E
lddis has come a long way since Siddle
Cook began building caravans at his home
way back in 1963. In those days,
enthusiast caravan builders were big news,
and there were regular competitions where
home-built vans were pitted against each other.
As it happened, Siddle’s designs were
something rather special and the following
year he had enough interest in his
competition-winning, handmade
tourers to officially launch his
caravan-building business just
outside Consett, Co Durham.
In the ensuing 50 years,
Elddis (see what he did there?!)
has gone from strength to
strength, adding motorhomes to
its portfolio and buying in and
developing new brands.
Early on in its evolution, Elddis
decided to give its caravans dynamic,
dramatic and windy names, like Tempest, Typhoon
and Tornado. These caravan names appealed to
the macho male buyer, though a more genteel
Mistral was created to celebrate the Queen’s Silver
Jubilee in 1977.
In the ’80s, gaslights were phased out and AL-KO
chassis brought in. Bonding, sandwich construction
and veneers were used to trim weights, as Elddis
battled for market share with its competitors.
Size and specification were the watchword in
the ’90s as the XL and GTX hit the roads but, as
the new Millennium arrived, lightweight
Avantés led the way as the
company moved to a new
production facility.
The Xplore range was
launched in 2008 and Elddis
continued its focus on the
luxury tourer sector with the
Crusader Aurora and Cyclone,
both packing massive specs.
In 2012, after almost 50
years of making caravans in
pretty much the same way,
Elddis took a huge leap into the
future, teaming up with adhesives
experts Henkel to create SoLiD caravans.
These were the first fully-bonded construction
tourers. With all the joints bonded and sealed with
space-age adhesives SoLiD caravans promise
strong, light and dry caravans for years to come.
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED IN 1964?
?
A 1980 Elddis
Mistral in GT
heater, fridg
format adding
e, oven and
double glazin
“Wave to the
g.
poor people
on public
transport, da
rlings!”
WE USED AN ELDDIS
XPLORE ON TOUR, SEE:
caravan.ma/sightseers
▲
➧ Jackie magazine is first published ➧ Top of the Pops airs for the first time
➧ Average weekly wage is £16 ➧ 11 men sentenced for the Great Train Robbery
➧ Channel Tunnel project agreed with a five-year completion date
➧ Sellers marries Ekland ➧ Milton Keynes new town is planned
➧ First Habitat store opens in Fulham Road
➧ The Moors murders take place ➧ Last executions in the UK happened
➧ The Beatles grab the Christmas number one with I Feel Fine
➧ Prince Edward (10/3), Shane Richie (11/3), Lee Dixon (17/3),
Nigel Farage (3/4) and Ross Kemp (21/7) were all born
ing some afternoon
Graham was definitely gett
t effect a new set
wha
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delight toda
in this up-toas
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PLAY VIDEO
BELOW LEFT TO RIGHT: Little Johnny was not impressed at having to bathe in a tub in the river while his dad lounged around in front of their 1971
new-look Elddis. Then and now – 50 years of Elddis – its very first and latest press ads. In the halcyon days of the British Caravan Road Rally Elddis
caravans played a big part – these shots show three entries using an Opal Manta as the towcar in the 1976 event on a forest section
?