Northern Campsite.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Walker Viva.







Offered: Old Walker Viva trailer tent. This is a Dutch trailer tent made in 1978. We bought it second hand several years ago but for the last seven years it has been sitting in a friend's garage. We pulled it out today to see how it looked.

The Viva was a 4+2 berth trailer tent with one large upper bedroom area, a very large double undertent that easily takes two and benches in the cabin living area that can convert into two narrow beds. These have highly useful storage lockers underneath. There is an awning which doubles the cabin area and a small zip-on sun canopy for over the front door. There is no integral kitchen but there is a fire resistant panelled area in the awning where you can use your own camp kitchen. The colour is vey retro and typical of the '70s...lime green, orange, brown etc, as in the pictures. The pictures btw are not of our specific trailer tent as last time we used it was pre-digital camera days.

Good bits.

Canvas is Ten Cate, the best in the world. It was totally waterproof the last time we used it. No rips or tears as far as I recall.

Tyres seem in fair condition for age...they were not flat even after seven years (!) and we could pump them up again to wheel the trailer out. There is also a spare.

Cover is filthy but seems to have remained watertight.

Wind down steadies still working.

Upper mattress still there, with extension cushion.

Inner tent for bedroom, undertent and cabin ceiling liners still there.

Poles are all present, including ones for sun canopy.


Not so good bits.

The zip that attaches the awning to the cabin is broken so you cannot take the awning section off...the zip is stitched firmly shut at the damaged end though so the awning is perfectly usable.

We have lost the "key" to take the rear panel of the trailer off, for access. A large flat bladed screwdriver makes a good substitute!


Cushions for narrow extra beds are missing. (Will check the attic.)

Curtains missing. (Will check attic for these also.)

One of the bed legs for a pull-out bed got damaged and OH's uncle re-welded it for us. Unfortunately this meant it didn't fit back very well on the locker top. So that bed/locker section is a bit wobbly.

The trailer electrics did not work even in our day so we used a lighting board when towing.

We looked under the cover and the canvas etc still seemed bone dry. However we did not open it up fully so there is still a faint possiblity it might have some damage. No smell of mice. No promises though!

The trailer is actually wired for internal electrics, with a blue socket on the outside which would connect up to the campsite electrics via a long lead. We never used these internal electrics because they looked scarey, so we don't know if they work or not. We don't have a camping extension cable for these.

The towhitch is working (we checked) and the securing split pin is still there. There is a secondary coupling as required by law.

Other bits.

No jockey wheel. Never had one.

Trailer section seems in good condition, with no rot or damage. Bit grubby but would clean up pretty well I think.

It is an old trailer tent. Walker was a top company though and their products were excellent quality so despite the flaws of age there's still a few years of camping in the old girl yet. We'd like to see another family give her a good home and have some fun with her. Anyone want to give her a home?

3 Comments:

At 2:47 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Val, here is a link to my web site with some pics of the TT the day we bought it :)
http://kevyoung.com/my_cars.htm

Kevin

 
At 5:30 PM, Blogger Tony Destroni said...

hi good day thanks for sharing this post . it nice and so many to learned. nice set up too . big tent for big space like this . i think i can have this one a little bit smaller for my garden together with my garden wind spinners and other accessories . very nice .my kids gonna love it !

 
At 3:59 PM, Blogger Kayla said...

Hey i;m interested in knowing how much you're asking for your trailer? In case I missed something I didn't see a price listed. my name is kayla

 

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