Mobile cinema for sale

Higgins

very interesting story:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Bedford-mobile-cinema-Custom-vintage-Plaxton-CSC-body-Original-trailer-/231537656732?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item35e8b8439c#viTabs_0

Bedford Mobile Cinema - 1967, Plaxton/Coventry Steel Caravans Custom Body

This sale is for a genuine one-off vehicle that is the sole survivor of a fleet of seven commissioned for the Ministry of Technology department of the UK government in the late sixties. It's in fine roadworthy condition and has been used for the past five years as a touring cinema following its full restoration from 2005 - 2010. It comes complete with the exact trailer it was built to tow, which again is the last of its kind as the other six are also believed to have disappeared forever. This pair are an important piece of transport and cinema history, they would suit purchase by a either a collector or someone seeking an incredibly unique and fun lifestyle business. The sale will include the logo, image rights, goodwill of the business and all website, social media accounts etc.

The cinema is built on a Bedford SB3 chassis and has a Plaxton Panorama cab with a custom swing passenger door to replace the standard sliding door fitted to the coaches of this era. The body (including luton/dome) was built by the high end vehicle body manufacturers Coventry Steel Caravans, and is constructed of lightweight extruded aluminium panels, giving excellent strength and durability. The chassis manufacturer for the trailer is unknown but the body was also built by Coventry Steel Caravans and features a full wrap over perspex roof in the mid third of the body, this was presumably to echo the dome of the cinema and creates useful backlighting for displaying blueprints in the trailer's exhibition space.

We've always stored the cinema undercover when not in use and this has helped hugely in preserving the excellent paint job from any sun fading or deterioration. The trailer was only recently purchased but has been barn stored for nearly 20 years, it is in an unrestored condition but is structurally sound and will make a great project.

For more information on the history of the vehicle and its fleet please see our website: http://www.vintagemobilecinema.co.uk/history

The projection kit installed is all of a high modern standard, with full HD and 7.1 Dolby surround sound, complimented by sound proofing fitted to limit external disturbances. There is also a Dometic climate control unit installed which delivers piped hot or cold blown air into the theatre space for the comfort of the audience. The Bell and Howell 16mm projector housed in the original cab mount is a direct replacement for the original which was missing when we purchased the cinema. It's a functioning machine but not currently connected to our digital AV equipment.

Over the past five years the cinema has appeared on numerous television programmes, including elegantly co-starring with Melvyn Bragg on The Reel History of Britain series on BBC 2, George Clarke's Amazing Spaces season two, and has been a feature on many local and national news programmes such as BBC Breakfast and Inside Out. Its popularity has never waned since we launched and we have picked up business with a very wide range of clients; from small local events, to large film/cultural festivals. We've also completed very successful one-off corporate hires as well as substantial tours in both the corporate and arts sectors, sometimes travelling to parts of continental Europe.

The pair of vehicles come with a collection of spares too long to list but most of which can be seen stored in crates on the internal photos of the trailer. Amongst all of this are many usable/characterful parts salvaged from the restoration of the cinema. Perhaps most importantly of all we have a spare panel for the feature perspex dome of the cinema's cab, along with the tooling for making further replacements, which are surprisingly affordable. We can put the purchaser in contact with an excellent company for the commissioning of 'drape forming' new panels.