Bri Ray Microvan "pop down "

[mycaravan]

Hi all,this is all new to me so not sure if I'm doing this properly, I have a late 60s Bri Ray Microvan "pop down" that I wish to move on and not sure of its value. It's in fairly good shape for its age and has annexe and floor liner with it. Any information would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks in advance.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Mycaravan,

Welcome to the forum.

It is forum policy not to discuss valuations of vintage caravans, partly because the value of a particular van is dependent on so many factors, some of which cannot be easily assessed even from a description or photos. The value is also dependent on what a buyer is willing to pay. Unlike cars, there is no price guide for vintage caravans.

In the case of the Bri Ray Microvan from the information we have, it was only built for a short while and wasn’t a great seller because the “pop down” concept didn’t really catch on.  That means that it is quite rare compared to other vans, which could be a good thing for you if there are any keen buyers out there, but at the same time means that there are unlikely to be a lot of keen buyers, which is a negative for you.

The best thing is for you to check out the prices vintage and classic caravans are being offered for on Gumtree, and set a price you think is reasonable, but you probably need to be willing to be flexible on what you are asking. You also probably need to be willing to be patient. In a case like the Bri Ray you might be waiting for someone to come along who grew up with one, has a fondness for it, and is wanting to buy something similar.

You are welcome to put up a post in the ‘For Sale/Wanted’ section of the forum describing the van, and including some photos. There are instructions on how to post photos in the ‘Forum Guidelines & Helpful Hints’ section of the forum. Be sure to explain what “pop down” means in your description. It might not make a lot of sense to the “pop up” generation!

Good luck with the sale.

Don Ricardo

[shesgotthelook]

Oh gosh, I just met a BriRay van this week!. The owner has only ever found one other which had a dropped floor?. Is yours anything like this one?

[Don Ricardo]

G’day SGTL,

That’s an interesting van you’ve shown us. Because it has a ‘pop-top’ I gather it isn’t the ‘pop-down’ van to which you referred? But I’m also assuming that it is the Bri-Ray you saw?

If so, it must be Bri-Ray’s version of the Hi-lite. As we know, the Hi-lite concept was sold to Foldvan, and it is interesting to compare the van you saw with Foldvan’s version of the Hi-lite, an example of which you can see here. The van you saw has a curve to the roof and “outboard” wheels, while the Foldvan version has no curve to the roof and inboard wheels. (Note that there is an advert in the post I referred you to which shows a Hi-lite with the curved roof but inboard wheels, just to add a bit more diversity to the matter. )

So tell us more about the van you saw.

Don Ricardo

[shesgotthelook]

Thanks for that FoldVan link Don Ricardo. I will pass that on to the owner. With her permission, I will post some photos in the pop top caravans thread as it mentions BriRay.