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Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Thu, 21 Jan 2010, 9:45 pm
by Nic
Hiya, if anyone has a spare Mini-Motel they don't need any more I'd love to take it off your hands. :D

More seriously, I've been looking for one for ages. I'm hoping to emulate this video:



Except for the jumper...

Re: Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Mon, 07 Jun 2010, 1:31 am
by airstreamguy
HI, did you find one? I too am looking for one to hook to my vespa - I belong to vintage trailer club (tincantourist) and we are always trying to come up with something really unique..
A couple of questions - were these really made to be towed by a scooter or was that a publicity stunt? Any idea if they were ever exported to the US? I have a friend that visits the UK 2 or 3 times a year... If I can track one down he would help get it shipped back here.
Any other pictures of the interiors?

Thank you, John

Re: Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Mon, 07 Jun 2010, 5:21 am
by Nic
Hi John, no I didn't find one. I suspect it was a stunt, but a good one. Lambretta Concessionaires were pretty good at them in the 50s and 60s. But in any event these weren't meant to be towed by scooters but by a small car. I very much doubt if they were imported into the US.

Re: Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Tue, 15 Jun 2010, 6:28 pm
by Admin
Nic wrote:I suspect it was a stunt, but a good one. Lambretta Concessionaires were pretty good at them in the 50s and 60s. But in any event these weren't meant to be towed by scooters but by a small car.
Nic, fraid to say I've found some adverts for the Mini-Motels and they were advertised as:

"Erected in seconds, towed easily by scooter combination, three wheeler or any size of car."

Not that I've been able to confirm what the one in the video is yet... See the other post for the latest:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=100

Re: Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Wed, 23 Jun 2010, 4:04 pm
by Nic
Happy to be corrected. :thumbup: I did see the original thread on this subject, btw. Awesome detective work. I think the video actually give the county location of the caravan manufacturer, which is how I ended up on this site

Re: Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Wed, 23 Jun 2010, 4:24 pm
by Admin
They do mention in the video that it's built in Emsworth, Hampshire; which matches with one of the three(!) addresses that were on the Mini-Motel adverts.

So that fact goes in the 'for' box when it comes to working out what caravan it is in the video. With all the design differences going into the 'against'.

Re: Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Wed, 23 Jun 2010, 6:35 pm
by Nic
Admin wrote:They do mention in the video that it's built in Emsworth, Hampshire; which matches with one of the three(!) addresses that were on the Mini-Motel adverts.
That's why I ended up here. :) It is always possible that the video showed a one-off version of the Mini-Motel. In my experience of Lammies, that can sometimes happen with scooters too.

Re: Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Wed, 23 Jun 2010, 9:51 pm
by Admin
That had crossed my mind actually.

With the Portafolds any picture you see in any literature is nearly always the early type model, and usually all from the same photo shoot that featured Conrad Faulkner's Vauxhall Cresta. It's like they thought it wasn't worth taking any more pictures because the changes in design didn't warrant documenting. I don't think they thought in their wildest dreams that 40 years later an anorak like me would be picking up every little design change they made. :roll:

Re: Looking for a Mini-Motel

Posted: Thu, 24 Jun 2010, 8:45 am
by Nic
I think you've nailed it Matthew.

In my own experience of vintage two-wheelers, there were always minor production changes that, with a handful of exceptions where notification needed to be given to the dealer network, were almost never publicly announced. For example, replacing metal fuel taps, petrol flaps, rear frame and horncast grilles with plastic ones, using non Allen-key oil plugs or moving from studs & nuts to bolts for engine casings. There were also many recorded cases of the firm using parts & even minor bodywork from older models in the transition to new ones. After all, if the part is on the shop floor or in the store room, why waste money on a completely new one?

So I'd be amazed if in your own area of expertise something similar didn't happen.

Back on-topic, in terms of dating the film, the scooter itself is an S1, which ceased production in 1959.

It's worth noting that Lambretta Concessionaires were masters of PR. One of their other filmed stunts included an amphibian-powered Lambretta being driven in and out of the Thames.

In the LCGB we have a fairly good archive of information and also many older members have their own and special interest areas. Apart from that short film, there are no records or pictures within our club of a Mini-Motel (or any other small caravan) ever actually being towed in reality.