Abbey Caravan History, Help!?!

[AsheleyC]

Good evening All,

We have purchased a gorgeous little Abbey Cambridge, we think its 1974 as the plate is quite hard to read.

We have been trying to find out some history behind the Abbey brand and, hopefully, a bit more about our specific caravan.

Unfortunately, our few hours searching online have produced nothing, can't even find out which year Abbey first started trading?!?!

Where would be the best place to research such a thing please?

Many many thanks for any information or point in the right direction

 

[ProfJohnL]

A quick Google search "Abbey caravans history" provided some links to several sites where snippets of information can be found.

The original Abbey Caravans manufacturer, was based in Grimsby, an area where there were several caravan manufacturers. and seemed to have started trading in the 1960's

It merged with some other local companies, and then was bought out by Swift Caravans in 1992 Swift continued to brand some of its products as Abbey's up until the financial crash in 2008 when Abbey and a number of other smaller brands the group had acquired were discontinued, probably to streamline production.

 

[Raywood]

The original manufacturer was a firm called COSALT based in Grimsby and made statics as well although neither was their main business. From what I remember they decided that caravans did not fit in their business plans and sold the business to Swift.
If you want brochures try NationwideCaravanninguk website.

 

[AsheleyC]

A quick Google search "Abbey caravans history" provided some links to several sites where snippets of information can be found.

The original Abbey Caravans manufacturer, was based in Grimsby, an area where there were several caravan manufacturers. and seemed to have started trading in the 1960's

It merged with some other local companies, and then was bought out by Swift Caravans in 1992 Swift continued to brand some of its products as Abbey's up until the financial crash in 2008 when Abbey and a number of other smaller brands the group had acquired were discontinued, probably to streamline production.

Thanks for this, we managed to find a few snippets but it would be great to be able to find enough history to do a nice little write up to display in our caravan when at shows and whatnot.
Amazing that there is nothing about them specifically and yet everyone has heard of Abbey Caravans

 

[AsheleyC]

The original manufacturer was a firm called COSALT based in Grimsby and made statics as well although neither was their main business. From what I remember they decided that caravans did not fit in their business plans and sold the business to Swift.
If you want brochures try NationwideCaravanninguk website.

Hi,
We have been led to believe that Cosalt bought Abbey Caravans when they got in to trouble.
The makers plate with the caravans details does not mention Cosalt, only ABBEY and Grimsby.

It's all rather fascinating, if not a little frustrating also

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi,
We have been led to believe that Cosalt bought Abbey Caravans when they got in to trouble.
The makers plate with the caravans details does not mention Cosalt, only ABBEY and Grimsby.

It's all rather fascinating, if not a little frustrating also

Yes that is what my imperfect recollection also suggested. I'm 90% certain it did start as a separate brand, which was then involved with a number of buyouts or mergers over the years. The Wikipedia entry on Cosalt Caravans suggests Abbey was first consumed into to the original Caravans International company which subsequently folded and Cosalt acquired most of the assets. Ultimately most of the brand names the Cosalt held were purchased by the Swift Group.

Abbey Caravans should not be confused with Abbey Caravans and Leisure Limited.

 

[AsheleyC]

Yes that is what my imperfect recollection also suggested. I'm 90% certain it did start as a separate brand, which was then involved with a number of buyouts or mergers over the years. The Wikipedia entry on Cosalt Caravans suggests Abbey was first consumed into to the original Caravans International company which subsequently folded and Cosalt acquired most of the assets. Ultimately most of the brand names the Cosalt held were purchased by the Swift Group.

Abbey Caravans should not be confused with Abbey Caravans and Leisure Limited.

Indeed! We cannot find any mention of Abbey with Caravans International but did find a mention of ABI which another one to not confuse it with.
We did find some interesting information about Sam Alper, who founded Caravans International and did buy quite a few other brands before Cosalt bought the lot.
It is all interesting, nonetheless.

 

[Beachball]

Why not try Abbey caravan Club you might get to know the history of your caravan

 

[ProfJohnL]

As BB suggests the Abby Caravan Club would likely to be a good source of information, BUT when I googled it I got a warning that the website as not secure- so be carefull..

http://www.abbey-caravan-club.co.uk/

 

[AsheleyC]

Why not try Abbey caravan Club you might get to know the history of your caravan

Great idea! We have looked in to this but Google won't let you go on to the site as it comes up as unsecure, will try and find another way. Also, it is not specifically for Abbey owners anymore, hasn't been for a great number of years so still ot sure that paying the membership would prove to be beneficial. Still, we wouldn't be any worse off then we are now lol.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I suspect that if you are only after some historical information about the brand, I doubt you would need to pay to join. Most enthusiasts clubs will be happy to supply that sort of information free of charge.