how could you be plain and sensible, pottsy?? i love the idea of the vintage Bedford being brought back to life with some of your signature colour and you must post progress photos with your final choice, sounds exciting

I try and add colour to my own house and rental and commercial properties , but quite a few of my cars are subtle -- I have a black SUV with dark tints , a black coupe with dark tints , a black luxury car with electronic tints . The Merc van was silver , with the dark tints and $4000 European 3 piece wheels being the only exterior mods ; Frankie my current camper looks like a 2005 Hino in white , like 1000's of others -- the alloy truck wheels and/or when you hear the exhaust ( or when it pulls out and passes you ! ) are the only real giveaways .

The Volvo bus is a metallic charcoal , so would look good signwritten ( although we would want to remove some windows , so hopefully we can paint-match that -- it would avoid repainting it ) .

The Bedford would be a huge project , but I suspect would end up Candy Apple Red , crisp white swirls and stripes , and chrome or maybe gold-plated exterior bits , go hard on the details -- things like ribbed 'period' bumpers front and rear , twin headlights , cut and make the grille bigger , maybe even a set of those huge steampunk headlights modified to be LED spotlights , have a bit of fun ?

You appear to be more restrained with your vehicles than with houses, so good to see the other side.

I also go for the Bedford and maybe be inspired by the Airstream Bullet

https://www.caravancampingsales.com.au/items/airstream/

The rear of the Bedford is similar to either end of that AirStream . The Airstream is polished Aluminium , which would mean completely re-sheeting the outside of the Bedford ( if I get it ) . I have sort of had a vague idea of competely building something even weirder from scratch , but that would be too much work IMO , even re-cladding would be a couple of months fulltime at a guess . Although I don't pay 'retail' , at $1000 a day charge-out , we are potentially turning down $60k or more to change to a AirStrem look . I suspect either the Volvo bus way , or the 50's art deco way , will be at least $200k , so AirStream could be $300k plus .

Quite ironic , seeing as the whole idea originally was to be able to stay at the track and on holiday , and save $200 a night accomodation -- a $300k home sort of defeats that haha .

As far as houses , I think some of you misunderstand -- I want one ( sometimes more ) thing on the outside that is bright or classy ( often say a bright front door with wood and schist stone around it ) -- often 80% of the exterior is off-white or similar ( not grey though haha ) . Interiors I don't think I have had grey or beige walls for 30 years , I like a wallpapered wall in each room or sometimes all walls , I don't like all white or all black kitchens ( in fact , I don't think I have done a completely new kitchen in 20 years -- often I do new cupboard doors and benchtops and appliances and flooring in the existing layout .

Offices and workshops and shops I do like to get more 'corporate' though , but add say brick or stone or timber features too -- if their company colours are red and blue , and they've signed a 6 year lease for example , I'll do light blue or even grey or beige if THEY want , add a couple of features , maybe a quality tiled foyer , stone front wall instead of concrete , maybe wooden batons over windows to disguise security grilles , rather than the industry standard white paint and black trim and bare look .

Candy Apple Bedford would be absolutely fabulous.

I think I like the white highlights better .

Pottsy, many people with vintage cars face the same dilemma. Spend money on a passion project, or spend money on the more pragmatic daily drive car? If you have the financial resources to follow your heart then do it, but it probably won't be as fast, or as reliable as the saner choice.

For some inspiration you should pop across to my blog to see the results of this passion restomod project:

https://secretdesignstudio.com/before-you-start-restoring-renovating-or-modernising-your-mid-century-modern-home/

I really hope you follow your heart, rather than your head, as the results could be amazing if done properly (and without a budget).

Best of luck,

Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits

I almost didn't post originally , as mobile homes are different but similar to Houzz's haha , but its certainly both great but also reassuring to see your website Dr Retro . That caravan is done way beyond what I envisioned , but certainly something to aspire to .

The problems with going the Bedford route is basically it is a huge gamble , even with good contacts .

The Volvo bus I could buy , throw some curtains and a double bed in it , change over the house batteries and invertor from Frankie my current beast , add a $150 microwave and $250 fridge and use it next week in a basic form . I know where the shower and toilet would go , so they could be framed up and fitted ( with gas hot water ) inside a month .

The Beddie logically needs a truck or bus chassis to use as a base , so do I buy it and hope I find something suitable at the right sort of money , then allow a year to combine the two -- and then theres the slight problem that having the 2 in our workshop for a year takes up about 6 race car spaces , so potentially 6 less customers .

Having said that , if we can get to these sort of levels , it would get us even more attention and maybe even a sideline .

Decisions . . . . . . .

I got a notification last night that the Volvo bus had sold . I've had a look at the Bedford , and while anything is possible , I don't think I will proceed down that track .

My current 'Frankie' is 9.5 metres , 450 horsepower , all done and although there are things that I'd like changed , it works .

The Bedford is tidy , but its 70 years old , it looks like it has been a bus since day 1 . That means the frame is welded to the chassis , panels are rivetted to the frame . Motor is a Pekins Diesel , about 90 horsepower . It is slightly shorter at 9 metres long .

To extend to 12 metres ( or even 14 which is maximum legal single vehicle length in NZ ) would be huge . cut and extend a 70 year old chassis , plus the framing ( so at least panelling needs removing ) , plus re-panel would be at least twice as much as the purchase price . But then , it would need an extra axle to meet weights on each axle , so another $8k -20k there . And in the 30's ( this is a 50's bus but I want the 30's vibe ) a lot seemed to have twin front axles ( twin-steers ) . So I am close to $100k .

Then the motor . The present one used to go , hasn't run , but its way too slow . And although the Volvo bus was 6 cylinder turbo , I'd prefer V8 , V12 , twin turbo , 500 horsepower diesel . It could be made to fit , but it would be a lot of work , and compromises . And then -- will a modified 70 year old chassis handle it ? Will the suspension ? Will the brakes ?

So basically we are at least a year , at least $150k , for an empty , unpainted bus . By Xmas 2022 , it might be painted , might have period lights and be fully road legal , but thats 18 months and $200k .

So realistically , I'd be 3 years or more , $300k or more . It would be cool , it would be a good rolling ad , I could probably find the money . But is $300k for something used less than 30 nights a year worth it ? Am I better to spend $20k on Frankie , keep it for 5 years , sell for whatever its worth . Its actually made me appreciate how much is right about Frankie -- to move up a bit ( is going for something 25 years older moving up ? ) that will cost 5 or 6 times as much , and be almost unusable for 2 years , worth it ?

always good to review and appreciate what we already have

In 2009 , we bought the transporter . The previous owner had had it built at a cost of about $400k , we paid $200k . Then we paid another $80k for a mid-80's Kenworth to tow it with , and $25k for painting and signwriting . It really lifted our business and our credibility , but it meant money was real tight for the next couple of years .

In 2015 , we upgraded the Kenworth to a 2006 Freightliner Argosy so everything is even more professional .

In 2017/18 we bought and built our tow truck ( it took several months as we concentrated on every little detail ) -- it is one of the flashest in NZ -- lots of stainless , lights , custom paint .

Even our utes are quite custom , they stand out , fit our image . Big wheels , shiny paint , imaginative signwriting .

Frankie isn't to the same standard ( it is slightly different , as it's owned by me , not the business , but it is judged ) , but like you say , $20-30k will get it close to that level .

Well I got some of that having had a boyfriend who was into cars when I was young and then I married a man who is into aircraft, Maybe it was meant to be just you and Frankie

Aircraft are probably even more expensive toys than cars . Mobile homes aren't much cheaper either , as I'm finding out haha .

We've had a good look at Frankie , talked about some ideas .

This winter we'll do a few subtle mods and repaint it . The painters actually suggested removing the muddy gold and green stripes , and repaint it white , and put some red and orange stripes and a whole lot of motorsport brand stickers . White ! That wasn't going to happen , even though it would be the most sensible and probably cheapest .

No , we're going for basic bling . A motorsport inspired spoiler on the front , with a decent airdam and big off-roadtype spotlights . More modern rear LED lights . New paint .

Top half , basically from the cab windows up will be a metallic silver . Then a red line . And the bottom half in Black Cherry , basically a very dark Candy Apple Red over a black base . Dark at night , red in bright lights .

The interior at present is quite plasticy woodgrain veneer walls , wooden cabinets , wooden veneer doors , and I pulled up the greyish 'marble' lino and laid light wooden planks . The front seats and booth seating ( which makes up into a 1.2 metre wide 'double' bed ) are grey vinyl . So its obvious .

The kitchen cupboard doors will be sanded and painted lipstick red ( or maybe it will get red wrap ) , The front seats and booth seats will be reupholstered in cream leather edges and red leather diamond patterenedinserts .

Give us a few months and I'll post pictures .

Yes make me smile.

Pottsy , you and all of we Houzzers know that you are not sane ! Orange or red ! Life and fun ! You are never boring ! Viva !

Loving that Cherry Red, I know we will all be expecting your individual style

if you build it some one will want to buy it but my husband suggested pulse jets from a WW11 V1 rocket for the roof

You've been watching too many Back to the Future Movies!, My husband worked on and then flew the machines that had the real deal, eat your heart out. Love the retro but must come with all mods and cons, hot towels any one?

I have always said that I liked a bit of crazy in someone, they are creative thinkers

Just a bit of an update , and possibly a brand new idea for kitchens !

The kitchen cupboards in Frankie ( the Frankenstein motorhome ) are a timber veneer and I thought of painting them red , but I was worried that the paint will soak in , and it will become sort of a 'nothing' reddish brown , so I considered a bright red vinyl covering , maybe with a sparkle ?

Anyway , a bit more lateral thinking , and the idea now is to get our company logo as well as the NZ flag and a chequered flag and a couple of racecars printed onto self adhesive vinyl ( like some companies do for company vans etc ) and wrap the kitchen doors in that !

We'll see how it goes , we'll do it over the next couple of months , but imagine your kitchen at home , maybe with the cupboard doors wrapped to look like Hawaii , or Mt Everest , or the outback , or as a sports field or whatever ? A true one-off kitchen every time !

Photos on completion , if you please Pottsy .

I suspect it will be one of those 'rolling' projects that won't ever be fully completed haha . The intention now is to keep it 10 years or more . The exterior will be the biggest task , and by the end of the year that will be done , and will likely stay that way .

Here's one example -- two weeks ago , I thought I'd get the 2 front seats recovered . Best guess is they are 1980's Ford Falcon or similar . But then I realised I had a pair of early 2000's Mercedes S class seats -- 8 way electric motors that lift and tilt the seats , as well as built in heaters . So they will get reupholstered and custom brackets fitted . Cream and diamond pattern red leather .

But then the cab is 2005 Hino , and the dash and door panels are factory plasticy , and in 2 tones of grey , and charcoal vinyl , and chrome plated plastic . At least the dials ( and it has about 10 factory ones ) have red numbers and needles . So at some stage I'd like to add some padded leather ( probably cream and red ) , polished wood -- up the lux level a bit .

Likewise , the shower and toilet both work well , but look 90's .

The bench top is stainless , its clean and tidy and functional , so will stay for a few years . But in the longer term , as we do the rest , maybe we'll get an engineered marble top ? Maybe we'll paint the roof panels like the Sistine chapel ?

I think you need a chandelier in there too.

You are probably tongue-in-cheek , but I have seriously considered that in the 'master bedroom' -- anyone that knows me knows I do slightly weird stuff . Without getting too boring though -- the motorhome part was built in 1995 ( or thereabouts ) and the main power is 240volt ( there is a onboard generator that is in the front right , accessible from the outside only , and one of those Reyrolle plugs to plug in at motorcamps ) , but they did put some 12 volt lamps around the walls .

Then at some stage solar panels and house batteries were also added , and there is a 12v to 240 inverter . Gets a bit confusing , but 80% is 240 volt , the rest 12 volt .

At some point the ceiling may have to come out and we'll go 12 volt and LED downlights , but at present to do a chandalier I'd have to go 240 volt , which is okay , but I'm worried about anything 240 volt swinging around . I guess all good things are challenging haha .

Not at all. We have a Bedford CAC that we also plan (eventually... when the house renovation we're currently in the middle of is completed) to turn into a motor home style vehicle - and I am completely determined to have a chandelier in there somewhere, thanks to a childhood book I loved. I'll be watching your work with interest as we will follow in about a year. Probably less red and eyecatching than yours though.

Wow , I just googled and it looks like they were an Australian only model ( made in Melbourne on Bedford chassis ) , with enclosed wheels and the Art Deco scalloping . Mine is a white shoe box in comparison . Remember those Art Deco china cabinets with handles that had round scallopy bits and the varnish went yellowish -- if you did your interior like that it would be amazing !

Things are ticking along . We have a whole lot of long skinny flush-mounted LED taillights -- they won't be fitted until we take Frankie off the road to re-paint , as the existing lights come off , and these ones will need holes cut , the exterior repainted , then these lights bonded ( glued ) in .

The Mercedes seats have had new certified mounts made ( being a safety item , we spent about $150 getting them certified -- keeps it legal , although there are literally thousands of vehicles out there that have had seats changed , and no certs ) and we made little 'boxes' that have walnut tops , and all the controls for the electric seats are in these ( on Merc cars , they are on the doors , but our auto sparky has made new mini wiring looms ) .

We dropped the seats to the upholsterer last week , so in the next month or so they will be recovered -- a sort of bone/cream leather for the surrounds , and red leather with diamond stitching up the middles .

This is almost what my cab looks like , mine has 1980's Falcon or similar bucket seats in a grey vinyl . I assume that was done so that there is only the 2 seats , and you can get through to the back , whereas in the pic with 3 seats , you can't .

My interior is the same colours -- 3 different charcoal/grey tones on the dash , then a black on the doors ( why , I have no idea -- I would have thought charcoal would have been better ? ) . Once the seats are back and fitted , I am tempted to get the door cards redone -- do a padded charcoal vinyl that matches one of the dash colours , but do a 'scallop' from the rear of each door in the lighter leather , then a red maybe 150mm wide scallop in the middle . I feel that will tie in the doors , the dash and the seats better .

The booth seating ( table and chairs basically ) in the rear will get done the same cream/bone and red leather , to tie it in a bit more .

Which then brings up 1 problem . You may have noticed I have used a downloaded pic , and I was going to post a few 'before' pics of the cab and the rear , so you can see it in its 90's wooden and tacky lino glory , but that turns out to be a problem . All the 'before' pics I have are ones that the last owner e-mailed to me . I downloaded them all , they are still on my computer , I can look at them no problem . BUT for some reason , they aren't JPG's -- they show as 'Google Chrome Files' , and I can't work out if I can post them here -- I've tried but nothing happens .

Are there any experts that know how to post these 'files' ( pictures ) ?

Progress is slower than planned , but thats probably a good thing ! Our business started as a Motorsport business , which meant that Summer was really busy ( all-nighters every 2nd or 3rd week were regular occurances ) , but we now do a lot of hot rods , high performance street cars and the like , and are busy all year around .

In the last 4 months , we've taken on 4 new staff ( never used to do that over Winter ) although 1 didn't work out , and one longer term employee has left to persue his own things , but we are currently 22 staff and looking for 2 or 3 more .

The front seats are all done , and look and feel brilliant ! All the electrics work apart from the 3 pre-set programmes . To ensure that we get the same tones right through Frankie , I bought heaps of bright red and bone white leather so it is all the same tone -- $3100 worth , although the seats have only used about 1/4 of that . Cost to add do the stitching etc just over $1200 .

We have made new seat mount brackets -- probably got carried away , they are CNC ( computer ) machined , chamfered sides , powder coated , all certified , very professional , in fact they look at least as good as factory manufactured ones . Likewise , control boxes for the electrics , made in solid steel with a carbonfibre covering and polished wooden tops . Estimated cost to a retail customer for all of those would have been around $5000 , but most customers would have probably opted for powdercoated boxes etc , so they would have paid probably $3000 -- we wanted to show what we can do , plus its training for staff etc .

The only other thing so far has been I was put onto a crowd who made a one-piece cab carpet -- it goes through the 'cutout' back into the living area , and is quite cool -- it fits every angle perfectly . Apparently they take a matting product , cut and glue and stitch and even steam bend it all to shape , then use a loom to 'carpet' it when they have the shape right . $820 all up , which isn't cheap I know , but makes the whole cab way more finished compared to the old rubbery vinyl .

Hopefully the rear cubicle type seating will get done before Christmas , likewise still hoping I can get the exterior painted , but paying customers take priority haha -- basically my bill gets offset against any profits , so 'the business' sort of gets paid , just not as clear-cut as paying customers .

always good to learn a small business is doing so well and some photos would be interesting

Doing well is a pain in the arse right now haha .

We basically have 2 parts to our business -- we import a lot from Europe , USA , and to a lesser degree England , China and Aus ; and we build and fix cars ( and boats and trucks and a motorhome ) .

At Christmas 2016 we moved into our brand new purpose built premises , 14 staff in 2500 sq mtrs . I don't know if it matters , but I own the building ( my business partner was 57 years old at the time , and didn't want to take on half a 20 year mortgage -- I was 50 and already owed lots haha , so another mortgage wasn't as daunting for me ! ) . Our 'old' premises were 1050 sq mtrs , leased off a 3rd party , still 2 years of lease to run .

The 'old' premises we still lease , and it holds about 3/4 of our import stock , plus about 15 race cars , some vehicles were are wrecking , some that are longer term projects , etc . there is a reasonable sized lock up yard , so our Transporter , a couple of customers trucks , several race car trailers , a couple of containers , etc , are all there . No-one works there fulltime , but one of our parts guys heads there every day to restock our main premises .

We are running out of space at our 'new' ( main ) place , and regularly take longer term projects to our 'old' place .

And with Covid , import stock that used to take 6-8 weeks is now taking 3-4 months , so it means we have had to double the stock we hold , plus we have twice as much 'already paid and on the water' as we used to have -- so our bank OD has really blown out !

But to throw a real spanner here -- I am now seriously looking at a 20,000 sq metre bare site , literally 400 metres down the street from our main premises -- literally waiting on geotechnical and engineers reports . The land alone is multi-million dollar , so its scary but also exciting !

keep on keeping on pottsy as you love it so much. Re your photos I'am no expert but you could try making a copy of one on your computer ," save it as" and see what happens when you open it, or even use the "Open with" to get a different format

Well , after 3 years and around 50 road trips , Frankie is . . . . . . still pretty much as I bought him !

Getting ready for 3 days away --

So its still got the 1990's stripes , the cab is still a different white to the body part , and the joiner is different again . About the only thing done externally was a month or so ago it was rubbed and scrubbed with paint thinners . 2023 will be a big year , but the idea is to paint Frankie , buuild another race car transporter and paint that , and paint our existing transporter , along with about 1000 other goals haha .

See you in a few days !