Rare Caravan Under Wraps Our partners, Swift Group, were founded in 1964 and this is their 50th Anniversary year.  Since their inception they’ve had huge success in the caravan industry and as such now have many brands under their umbrella.  Safely nestled in the arms of the Swift family is the historic Eccles brand and to celebrate Swift’s half century in the leisure industry, they have taken the stunning 1938 Eccles President to the NEC Motorhome and Caravan Show this week. The President was first revealed at the 1937 Motor Show and was the height of luxury when it was launched and is just as luxurious today, even when compared to some of the most exquisite caravans on show at the NEC. Inside is awash with real oak veneer, sumptuous leather and soft furnishings that any modern day interior designer would sell their soul to replicate. It came with the very latest Calor Gas cooking range as standard in the end kitchen which leads onto the plush double dinette.  Two entrance doors on the nearside provided easy access to both ends of the caravan, a feature more at home with huge statics these days. It cost approximately £335 when new which sounds miniscule in today’s money but at the time you could have bought a brand new Ford V8 car for £230! It wasn’t cheap but the target market was the affluent middle classes who were taking to caravanning like a duck to water. [caption id="attachment_5822" align="aligncenter" width="1632"]1938 Eccles President 1938 Eccles President Interior[/caption] The classic tourer on show today at the NEC is the exact same van that first debuted at that 1937 Motor Show.  Swift acquired it in 2000 from the family of it’s original owner, an ex Cunard Line Captain. In 2009 work began stripping it down and lovingly restoring it to the exact specifications and standards of the day it was built. No stone has been left unturned and no detail over looked. The result is a truly beautiful classic caravan of extreme rarity and beauty and it’s been turning heads and gathering crowds at the show all week. And well it should, opportunities to see a 1938 caravan in such pristine condition are very few and far between. [caption id="attachment_5823" align="aligncenter" width="962"]1938 Eccles President Interior 1938 Eccles President Interior[/caption] All of this makes what happened next an incomparable tragedy.  A mishap at the NEC resulted in the one of a kind classic receiving a blow and sustaining considerable damage to the double panelled exterior! Now swift were faced with the dilemma of getting the President back home, in the British Autumn weather, without incurring any further damage to the outside or allowing any rain to seep through to the painstakingly restored interior.  They did have a cover from our competitors, Pro-Tec, but decided they wanted the best protection money could buy for this treasure.  So they went to the originator of Tailored Caravan covers in the UK, they asked us. [caption id="attachment_5829" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]Caravan Cover Caravan Cover[/caption] They needed a cover and they needed it yesterday! They knew our unique Torrent fabric boasts the best waterproof and breathable qualities available and that we can deliver outstanding results under tight time constraints. Nothing here is standard or off the shelf, every single cover is made from scratch and to exact patterns so we were in our element.  We thrive on a challenge at Specialised Covers so we leapt into action to help out friends in need.  Measurements were taken on the show stand by our staff with a lifetime of experience and whisked up to the office in West Yorkshire.  The minute the dimensions arrived our cutters got on the job straight away and work began tailoring the panels to specification. Within a couple of hours the cut panels were making their way to the Sewing Floor where the best seamstresses in the business were anxiously waiting to sew the panels together with double strength lap seaming.  Our Quality Control Team gave the finished cover a meticulous finger-tip check, the same check that all our covers are treated to before we let them out of our sight. And in 24 hours of Swift setting us to task, the finished cover for their beloved 1938 President was with them at the NEC. [caption id="attachment_5832" align="aligncenter" width="800"]factory Our Cutting Floor[/caption] We are proud to have played a small part in the continuing history of this iconic caravan and honoured too that the multi award winning Swift Group asked us to cover one of their most prized possessions.  We and Swift will rest peaceful in the knowledge that the President will make it back home to be restored once again, without sustaining any more damage. This is what we do every day of the week, it’s our bread and butter, our raison d’etre, our purpose. We would be just as honoured to create one of our tailored covers for you.  Every job we undertake is just as important to us, just as every vehicle you own is as important to you as the 1938 Eccles President is to the Swift Group. [caption id="attachment_5824" align="aligncenter" width="1632"]1938 Eccles President 1938 Eccles President[/caption] Innovative. Tailored. Protection. It’s what we do.