A Unique Safari in Sweden

[Brian M]

I got this email today from Hakan, who I met in Belgium with his partner Karin, and who had just collected a 14-2 from the UK.

Hello Brian
Nice meeting you in Belgium.

The Safari "bug" has stung me hard .....

Last weekend we spent our first nights in the van and according to Karin the first morning :
`this is like going from a bad B&B to Hilton´ - doesn't it say it all ? We are really happy with the 14/2.

This evening i came home with a 14/4 1965, sold new in Sweden !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The story is :
A company imported one and put it on a exhibition for caravans, the found out that it was too expensive for the Swedish market so that was the start and finish of Safaris in my country.
This only caravan was sold at the last day of the exibition to a old lady (yes it's true) she kept it until 1969. Then it was sold to the second owner who I bought it from today !
Last time he used it was 1990. It has always been in a dry storage, so it is in pretty good shape.
I will come back with serial number of it, so maybe you can find out more about it.

Best regards
Håkan Johnson







I have suggested to Hakan that it might be a 15/4 rather than a 14ft, the brochure for 1966 lists a 13/4 and a 15/4 but not a 14/4.

But what intrigues me is the treatment of the rear roof line. I have never seen one like it. All the early Safaris from 1962 had the raised area extended to the outside edge, but this one doesn't. There seems to be an attempt to provide a bit of extra headroom. Why on earth would the Company change the roof line for Sweden where the population are known for their larger size!

I now eagerly await the next information together with loads more pictures, from Hakan especially the serial number, if he can find one.

So another mystery to resolve.

[Deleted]

And just above the door it looks as though a small rectangular section slops upward from the outer roof line to the central portion.

Very odd!

That apart, I am not sufficiently familiar with these early models, but if all the 1962 models had the raised roof extended to the outside edge (as was certainly done in the seventies) I wonder whether this practice started only in 1962, and whether this one might have been a previous year's model?




Oliver

[akkamas]

Here are some more info and pictures from Malmö Sweden
Serialnumber is :65796.
And Brian you are probly right saying it's 15/4.

[Brian M]

Thanks for the extra photos, Hakan.

You have got a really unique Safari, the interior layout (I think) is different to the other 15-4 Safaris I have seen.

It has some elements of the layout of a 17/4, and my guess is that it was very much a prototype for the export market, and possibly to try something new for the UK as well.

15-4's have a middle side kitchen, sink and cooker on the left hand side with wardrobe and toilet opposite, with a single dinette to the rear with a bunk bed over and a double dinette to the front as yours has.

This means they have a large single window to the back, and the small side window on the right hand side is the toilet compartment. Is your right hand side window over the sofa?

I assume there are no signs of extensive modifications to the interior layout?

Also your serial number provides another mystery. By the normal numbering sequence yours indicates a production of nearly 800 in 1965 against a highest other years production of about 300. Hakan can you have a closer look to make sure the "7" is not a "1" which would make a lot more sense.

Certainly a great find in its current condition, and unlike any other!

[akkamas]

Here is the serialnumber sign :

[Brian M]

Thanks Hakan, that is definitely a 7 so now I don't understand the early Safari numbering system!

[akkamas]

Could the 7 indicate that it's for export ?