Fiat Ducato
Florence (a former Camp Quirky ambassador) is a 1990 Fiat Ducato. This is the same vehicle as a Talbot Express, which means there are lots of parts/panels etc. readily available, both new and used at scrap yards, at affordable prices.
Florence is a classic vehicle and as such requires regular maintenance. Itβs no different to owning an older VW (apart from the parts are a lot cheaper) they can be temperamental, mostly for silly reasons and you need some mechanical knowledge to own a vehicle of this age. Scott knew nothing when we first got her -he soon learned though. Talbot express groups on Facebook have been a big help for trouble shooting and advice.
Things we have replaced since owning her:
β’ Starter Motor
β’ Water Pump
β’ New plugs
β’ Engine Ignition Coil
β’ Engine Mount replaced
β’ Radiator (replaced very recently)
β’ Clutch
Florence is a bit scruffy on the outside – the only upgrade we didnβt go for was a respray – this is because we would often travel down narrow country lanes and didnβt want to be precious about the paint work. We also hoped it would make her less desirable to potential thieves.
Internally sheβs been used but loved and taken care of, so there is some general wear and tear, sheβs not a showroom model β she has character!
MOT until November β so all covered for the summer season
Manual gearbox
Mileage approx. 125k. A few years ago we replaced the dashboard and the speedo in it had an extra approx. 11k on the clock (we werenβt able to swap the speedo for the original one). If you look at the MOT history, you will see one year where we did far more miles than average β we didnβt, it was just the speedo was not accurate due to the replacement, so it is currently reading 136k.
We have spent over Β£8000 on Florence over the years (not including our many, many hours of labour). We would love to recoup this if we can, any extra would be a bonus, the money from the sale is going to be our on the road fund, the more we can achieve, the longer we can stay on the road creating content for our social media channels. It is impossible to find a comparative price because she is one of a kind. Florence has been a very popular van on social media and we anticipate a lot of interest.
Talbot expresses with the standard factory fit interiors are currently fetching around Β£5000- Β£6000 on eBay, this is without all the upgrades and custom interior.
We will consider reasonable offers from the right buyer, so let us know a little bit about why you want to buy her and your experience with maintaining older vehicles. It is more important to us that she goes to the right home, where the buyer will love her as much as we do and continue to keep her well maintained.
It has been a really tough decision deciding to part with Florence but we are entering a new chapter with #vanlife and have bought ourselves a bigger van for full time living and we cannot afford to keep both.
Viewings/collection in Weston-Super-Mare
Florence has been an important and life changing part of our family since 2016 and we have taken her on many adventures across the UK. Many of these have been captured on our YouTube channel βExplorer Buddiesβ and Instagram @florence_and_the_morgans
Florence came to us with her original melamine factory fit furniture. We ripped it all out and started again, self-building to create a cosy and rustic home from home. Florence is the most pimped Talbot Express that exists and she has been well loved on our social media channels, where we have shared our adventures with her, exploring much of the UK! Over the years we have given her every upgrade possible including:
β’ LPG conversion to engine, with a flick of a switch, will run on petrol or LPG (overdue a service)
β’ Power steering conversion – game changer!!
β’ Under slung 230mm x 30ltr GAS IT tank for LPG powering:
β’ Flavel B600 cooker – highly desired cooker with grill and hobs
β’ Propex heater -with thermostat, keeps you warm and cosy, tried and tested in the coldest of conditions, including heavy snow!
β’ 3-way fridge with small freezer compartment (currently not hooked up to the electric, we only ran it on gas)
β’ Pancake Air filter
β’ 3x 110Ah Leisure battery’s, 2 x for Propex, 1 for Lights.
β’ Custom manufactured roof rack (if we had a pound for every time we have been asked where we got them from, we would be rich! -We had friends who owned a metal fabrication company, that made it for us) with:
β’ Optional Roof box, not shown in photos- handy extra storage (has been damaged and repaired with fibreglass (Scott drove it into a height barrier! So doesnβt look the prettiest) -doesnβt lock β you can have this if you want it. Pictures of Florence with the roof box on can be seen on our Instagram @florence_and_the_morgans, you may prefer to get a new one though, which does lock and looks smarter β the roof rack is there and ready to put one on.
β’ Solar panel 100w which trickle charges all batteries.
β’ Ladder on back door to access top of van.
β’ Comfy fixed bed -6ft width ways or extend the bed length ways for longer legs, with our custom extension setup. We would extend the bed to sleep as Scott is 6ft tall and no one sleeps at the top of their pillow, I am 5ft 6β and I am comfortable sleeping width ways. If you are sleeping alone then you could position yourself diagonally to avoid having to set up the bed extension at night.
β’ Thick, comfy, quality memory foam mattress. Cut from a real bed mattress.
β’ Custom textile headboard in scandi style
β’ Handmade curtains – the cab ones are great, messed up the side/back ones though, I made them to fit the width of the windows exactly, to show off the lovely mountain fabric panels, which I had stitched onto them, forgetting that fabric naturally creases and so they are slightly short on the sides, need replacing or extending for full privacy at the edges
β’ Plenty of USB and plug points
β’ 1000W Inverter
β’ 12v Television
β’ Solid wood cabinets and oak worktop
β’ Weight is under 3.5T can be driven on a standard license
β’ Good amount of storage
β’ Table -collapsible with pole
β’ Storage bench cushioned seat (the fabric has a stain, you may want to replace this)
β’ Swivelling Captain seat (passenger side)
β’ Baby Belfast sink with custom copper tap
β’ 40L water tank
β’ No water heater (we used a jam pan to heat water on the stove to wash up, which will be included)
β’ Currently no grey water tank fitted, removed for the engines LPG tank. We used to put a large plastic bottle under the outlet to collect grey water.
β’ Not currently equipped with electric hook up but you could put that back in. We just used an electric hook up extension lead, when EHU was available -we mostly parked up off-grid
β’ Carbon monoxide detector
β’ Mini wall mounted fire extinguisher
β’ No toilet/shower -we used a folding toilet seat with Disposa John toilet bags-you are welcome to the toilet seat if you want it, we donβt have any bags left though and they are no longer very cheap since camping took off big style in lockdown.
β’ Rear mounted bike rack or could hold an additional storage box.
Double fixed bed, with extension option for taller people
The contact details for this vehicle are no longer available because it has either sold or the listing has expired.
Insurance options are available through our partner, Ripe Insurance.
