4×4S.ORGTHE REGISTRY NAMED MODEL · 1968–71
NAMED MODELSpecial · Expedition & CampersUnited Kingdom

Carawagon Safari.

The Carawagon Safari, R.J. Searle's short-wheelbase camper conversion of the 88-inch three-door Land Rover: no elevating roof was offered, the conversion instead removing the bulkhead and fitting seats that fold into twin beds, curtains, a removable rear table and a cooker on the rear door.

Sources & evidence
BASE VEHICLESeries II 88″CONVERTERSearle Ltd (Carawagon)IN SERVICE1968–71OPERATED INUnited KingdomPRODUCTIONBuilt to orderLAYOUT4 wheels · 88″

The record

Alongside the Model 80 on the 109 hard top, the Continental on the five-door station wagon and the Model 100 on the Range Rover, Searle's Carawagon range included the Safari on the short-wheelbase 88-inch three-door. expeditionlandrover.info's Carawagon page notes that no pop-up roof was available for the Safari, which makes survivors hard to identify in the field: the conversion was all inside, with the bulkhead behind the seats removed, opposing rear bench seats that folded down into twin beds, under-seat storage, a removable rear table, privacy curtains for every window and a cooker that folded up on the rear door. The factory specification brochure survives as a scan on the site.

The registry's model, as directed, is a limestone Series IIA 88 station wagon with curtained rear windows and a roof rack of touring kit that drops as cargo in the game; no photograph of a Safari was available, so the exterior is the standard 88.

Specification

MANUFACTURERSearle Ltd (Carawagon) ↗
Rover Company, Solihull (Series IIA) with R.J. Searle Ltd / Carawagon International conversion, Sunbury-on-Thames
MODIFIER / COACHBUILDERSearle Ltd (Carawagon) ↗
R.J. Searle Ltd (Carawagon Safari)
MANUFACTUREDLate Series IIA; Searle/Carawagon International price list June 1970
ENGINERover 2.25 L petrol inline-four
PRODUCTION RUNBuilt to order; count unknown (Carawagons were the most numerous Land Rover camper conversions overall)
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INUnited Kingdom
STATUSunknown
ROOFNo elevating roof offered
INTERIORBulkhead removed, seats folding into twin beds, rear table, rear-door cooker, curtains
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries IIA
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE88″
CATEGORYSpecial · Expedition & Campers

Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.

Variants & colours

Factory colours

  • Limestone
  • Marine Blue

Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.

AI rendering impression

An AI rendering impression starts from a 3D model of this vehicle, which an image model then paints into a scene. It is an artist's impression of the type, made to give a feel for the vehicle in its element — not a photograph, and not a record of any particular vehicle.

Proportions, fittings, markings, colours and the setting can all drift from the original in the process. For the vehicle's actual details, rely on the specification, the photographs and the cited sources on this page.

Where it was

GB United Kingdom1970–1975
  1. ConvertedR. J. Searle Ltd, Sunbury-on-ThamesUnited Kingdom · 1970–197251.41, -0.41

Sources

  1. 1Carawagon Safari model description and factory brochure ↗Hermen Vlothuizen's Land Rover brochure archive · accessed 2026-09-14SOURCE
  2. 2Searle designed luxury vehicles manufactured by Carawagon International Ltd — special approved brochures ↗Hermen Vlothuizen's Land Rover brochure archive · accessed 2026-09-14SOURCE
  3. 3Land Rover Carawagon ↗expeditionlandrover.info (TeriAnn Wakeman) · accessed 2026-09-14SOURCE
  4. 4http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/Carawagons.htmhttp://www.expeditionlandrover.info/Carawagons.htm ↗REFERENCE

Registry record updated 2026-09-16T05:55:32.068Z · status: researched