Cheltenham sable makes a final trip

I recently became the owner of a not-very-well 1970 Cheltenham Sable, that I'd initially hoped to be able to save. The caravan had been another victim of a so called professional restorer, Phoenix/Burtree Caravans. I have spoken to several people who have fallen fowl of this company and their shoddy workmanship - worse still, some never got their caravans back. All had paid thousands for a full restoration.

From a few paces away the Sable look good but upon closer inspection it was found that the entire body was twisted, all of the fibreglass panels had been chopped about, and a considerable amount of framework missing (not rotten just missing).What was there was not usable, with only 1 upright intact and original. As a result, the body had been fastened directly to its newly fitted chipboard floor which, as you can imagine, didn't like the rain, meaning the body to slowly sink around the chassis. The framework around the skylight had been broken, causing water to pool and leak in as the roof collapsed. On top of all this, there were gas pipes that had been cut and not capped off, the wiring was not to the best standard with joins all over the place, the cupboards had been so badly put back together most of the drawers were either stiff or impossible to open, and the oven door couldn't be opened                                                        because of the cupboard stopping it.

As it would need completely stripping down to the chassis and rebuilding, the hard decision was made to break it up for spares. Although in such a state, it had many new and original usable parts and fittings that could help others stay on the road. 

I started by removing all small fittings; lights, cushions, pelmets and small cupboards. I then starting to remove the rest of the interior. Easier said than done! It turned out that the entire caravan had been glued together with car body seam sealant! The guy must have had shares in them by the amount that was used! The job of stripping out the interior should have only taken a day but took nearly a week!

The body was a similar story. The more I took out, the more of the horrendous workmanship was revealed. It was totally unsafe with pieces of chassis missing, amongst other things.

On the plus side, it has saved me a lot of time and money in parts for my Puku, with plenty of spares for my other Sable too. I have a full set of windows with new rubbers, interior and exterior lights, soft furnishings, running gear, and various cupboards and doors, which will definitely save time on my Puku.