Caravans get a bad press and lets be fair, if you’re wanting to push on down the M5 past Bristol on an August Saturday with the Mrs feeling frazzled and your brood on the back seat threatening simmering rebellion, the sight of a long hill with two solid inside lanes of Mr Smith’s finest products out of Cottingham, limited to 60 and some struggling to keep up 40, you will not feel kindly towards them. It’s understandable.
But let’s forget the lemming like summer migration to the West Country and consider some altogether different journeys, trips that take you through a voyage of discovery. Journeys that will tell about European social history over the last 50 years, journeys that illustrate inventiveness and a determination to be different, that facilitated holidays for thousands and defied all the accepted norms of leisure vehicle construction. Whilst ‘normal’ caravans went along the route of timber construction with all the risks and problems of rot and delamination caused by north European dampness one name shone out from the 1950’s onwards, with their unique steel framed caravan bodies covered in aluminium panels. That name was Eriba, designed by a German, but manufactured in north eastern France for 40 years and the very antithesis of the enormous shiny US Airstream cigar tubes for which they are often mistaken.
But let’s forget the lemming like summer migration to the West Country and consider some altogether different journeys, trips that take you through a voyage of discovery. Journeys that will tell about European social history over the last 50 years, journeys that illustrate inventiveness and a determination to be different, that facilitated holidays for thousands and defied all the accepted norms of leisure vehicle construction. Whilst ‘normal’ caravans went along the route of timber construction with all the risks and problems of rot and delamination caused by north European dampness one name shone out from the 1950’s onwards, with their unique steel framed caravan bodies covered in aluminium panels. That name was Eriba, designed by a German, but manufactured in north eastern France for 40 years and the very antithesis of the enormous shiny US Airstream cigar tubes for which they are often mistaken.
Our journeys will trace the history and development of Eriba. We’ll visit the birthplace in Germany and the, so sadly recently closed, French factory at Cernay. We’ll meet the people who screwed Eriba together for so many years; we’ll hear their stories and their memories of a unique product and what it was like to be a member of the Eriba family. We’ll visit the UK Eriba dealerships, journeying up to Scotland to meet Sandy and Jean the owners of Scotland’s official Eriba dealership and we’ll cruise down to Poole to meet someone who’s built a very successful business importing used Eribas for sale in the UK and who is now England's official dealership. And we’ll meet the Eribaists, the Eribaistas, the Eribae, the Eribanauts, the enthusiasts, the people who’ve taken the little vans to their hearts and treasure them for their idiosyncrasies and for the values they represent. The people who take these caravans, old and young, from 2 berths and no loo through to 4 berth and a proper washroom. From bare European spec. caravans with no hot water or interior heating through to new high spec. Eriba Jet motorhomes with every imaginable luxury .
The contrasts and values embodied in Eriba are unique and the difference between owning an Eriba and an Elddis, a Bailey, a Swift, a Lunar or Coachman product are evident just by taking one glance. Eriba speak of times past, but with modern facilities, they speak of adaptability with their pop-top roofs, they hark back to less stressful times, but have a happy knack of being able to cope with anything that the modern world can throw at them. Practically they tow like a dream, slim and elegant, low and streamlined there’s nothing out of scale or over the top about an Eriba.
These journeys will visit the very best campsites en route and discover the joys of caravanning in the 21st century in a van originally designed in the middle of the 20th century. Looking at landscapes, villages and towns along the way at local unique attractions and specialities, at campsites and tourist sights that are both stunning and a cause for wonder.
These journeys will visit the very best campsites en route and discover the joys of caravanning in the 21st century in a van originally designed in the middle of the 20th century. Looking at landscapes, villages and towns along the way at local unique attractions and specialities, at campsites and tourist sights that are both stunning and a cause for wonder.
Above all that is what Eriba are all about
That's the intro to the blog, on the next page we look at some of the history of Eribas.
That's the intro to the blog, on the next page we look at some of the history of Eribas.
Hi Andy, missed you! Have you tried Lulu for publishing? My son has used them for his poetry book. They sell your book on their website and on Amazon as they assign you an ISBN too. Hope this helps, Sharon (shazt from the Eriba forum)
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