The Carawagon Model 80 mobile education unit, one of R.J. Searle's standard 'special versions' of the Series IIA 109 three-door Carawagon: an outdoor classroom on each side of the vehicle with a large extending awning, a folding blackboard and audio-visual connections, an insulated cupboard for heat-sensitive tapes and films, an internal central AV console with a fixed swivel chair, and its own generator.
BASE VEHICLESeries II 109″CONVERTERSearle Ltd (Carawagon)IN SERVICE1960–70OPERATED INUnited KingdomPRODUCTIONUnknownLAYOUT4 wheels · 109″
The record
R.J. Searle Ltd of Sunbury-on-Thames built Carawagon camper conversions on Land Rovers from the 1960s, the Model 80 on the long-wheelbase three-door Land Rover being the most common. Alongside the campers Searle offered a range of standard 'special versions' — a mobile clinic, a mobile bank and this mobile education unit — aimed at export customers and aid agencies working in remote areas. The education unit carried an audio-visual-equipped outdoor classroom on each side of the car: a large extending awning on each side, two folding blackboards, AV connections on both sides feeding from an internal central AV operations console with a fixed swivel chair, an insulated cupboard for heat-sensitive tapes and films, and an independent generator so that it could run film and tape lessons anywhere. How many were built, and for whom, is not recorded in the source, which is the brochure summary preserved on expeditionlandrover.info.
The registry's model is its civilian Carawagon with both awnings extended on their poles, the blackboards folded down on their stays, AV connection panels and a ventilated generator box at the rear; no photograph of the education version survives in the source, so the fittings follow the brochure description.
R.J. Searle Ltd (Carawagon Model 80 mobile education unit)
MANUFACTUREDCarawagon Model 80 specials, 1960s-1970s (dates not stated in the source)
ENGINERover 2.25 L four-cylinder petrol or 2.6 L six-cylinder (Series IIA 109 options; not stated in the source)
PRODUCTION RUNUnknown — a catalogued Carawagon special version
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INUnited Kingdom
STATUSunknown
EQUIPMENTExtending awning each side, two folding blackboards, AV connections both sides, central AV console with swivel chair, insulated film cupboard, independent generator
ROLEMobile outdoor classroom
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries IIA
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE109″
CATEGORYSpecial · Expedition & Campers, Special · Utility & Heavy
Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.
Renders & references
Front three-quarterRegistry renderThree-quarterRegistry renderSideRegistry renderRearRegistry renderFrontRegistry renderCarawagon brochure cover showing a standard Model 80 camper — the base for this model; the education unit itself is not pictured; linked only.Carawagon brochure cover via expeditionlandrover.info ↗
Where it was
GB United Kingdom1965–1975
ConvertedR. J. Searle Ltd, Sunbury-on-ThamesUnited Kingdom · 1965–197551.41, -0.41