Jungle Yacht: The Mad 1930s Adventure Bus with Kitchens, Bedrooms, and Bathrooms

[@CalumRaasay]

See how Odoo can help you!: www.odoo.com/r/88Un PS: Thank you for 300 THOUSAND subscribers! I literally just noticed as I wrote this comment...

[@ARetiredPirate]

Congratulations Calum! Well deserved 300k.

[@jill-ti7oe]

👍

[@aserta]

It might be a long shot, buuut, if these machines were requisitioned by the Belgian state, there's a chance that this was noted (as was the custom - and still is) down in archives, complete with what happened with these machines. Maaybee... give a holler to the Belgian consulate and ask them if they can put a word in for you to find out after you explain what it is that you do and why? It's a non-zero chance you might be given the closure. Gov stuff flies away often, but military stuff is pretty well kept over time. Comes with the territory, they're a pretty paper clip bunch.

[@CalumRaasay]

@@asertawell technically they were handing over fully to the British- which actually might make it easier to track down! Maybe they’re still out there rusted somewhere 😅

[@svenhaheim]

Well deserved you currently have the only Channel where I regularly check every month or so for new content with great anticipation. Stellar host with stellar production value and levels of research.

[@SamGalbraith]

*Calum bursts though the window* "Did somebody say something about an unusual, historical, large vehicle with a galley onboard"

[@althejazzman]

Now he has to find the surviving vehicles

[@euansmith3699]

I love these crazy creations from the 1930s; like the Zeppelins and the Snow Cruiser.

[@CalumRaasay]

👏 show 👏 me 👏 the 👏 onboard 👏 bathroom 👏

[@_SurferGeek_]

That $15,000 trailer cost in 1939 is equivalent to about $340,500 today and the today's value of the equipment that was 'seized' would be about $1,701,000. 😲

[@marcusott2973]

Today's equivalent, one of those 3 axle MAN expedition luxury trucks is like 500K plus plus. Edit: what I mean to say is, such an expedition today with a similar lavish set up, will run up to a similar inflation adjusted equipment value.

[@casualcadaver]

I can see why people used to say that looks grand or that would be grand because even just 1,000 was a lot of money.

[@skylerdavies8228]

The level of research put into these projects would be impressive if done by a tv studio with a team at their disposal but to do it singlehanded while also running a business is astounding. pleasure to watch your content

[@CalumRaasay]

Thank you! Have to also try and build a house this year, it's gonna be busy! 😩

[@skylerdavies8228]

@@CalumRaasay im in a very similar boat down here in wales, running a small business and building a home, its a lot of work, you wont catch me spending god knows how many hours reading publications for a hundred years ago to fine a solid reference, im happy to sit here and watch you do it!

[@petrophaga8523]

​@@CalumRaasay will your house look suspiciously similar to the jungle yachts? You found them, didn't you?

[@CalumRaasay]

@@petrophaga8523 haha I’ve shipped over one of the overland trains!

[@Robutube1]

​@@CalumRaasayI'm disappointed that it isn't going to be an immediately post war pre-fab! They were so well designed and made that, although intended as a temporary housing solution, several thousand are still inhabited today (2025).

[@althejazzman]

Why do i expect that this isn't the last we'll hear of the Jungle Yachts on this channel? In two years time: "I found the last remaining Jungle Yacht and I went to see it"

[@Uufda651]

Looking forward to it!

[@DavidS5118]

Fascinating history of yet another huge vehicle from long ago. Thanks for sharing Calum.

[@CalumRaasay]

Haha perfect summation of my channel there! Thanks for watching David

[@Ntmoffi]

I like how a truck and trailer from decades ago looks nicer than my entire house. 😂

[@CalumRaasay]

@@Ntmoffi the theme of this channel is “look what this person made decades ago that is nicer or more spacious than your house” 😂

[@matsv201]

There was far gone plans to make facrory buils full houses in the 1930s that would be just transported to site and plugged in like a trailer.... .... well i guess... those eventually become trailerparks that was... less than the nicest homes.

[@myparceltape1169]

Postwar there were 'prefabs'. Prefabricated houses where large sections were placed on low walls of concrete blocks and Canadian pine. The internal plumbing had been done, electrical connection partly wired and they included a refrigerator.

[@boxfoxscoot1614]

I think the problem is that we have confused size with luxury

[@Airbournjack]

Well each one literally cost like 3 times the price if the average home. Adjusting for inflation 1 trailer cost 325k in today's USD... so they better look better than your house if you could have bought 3 houses

[@jasonmanley5287]

IH was truly one of the finest examples of American ingenuity in manufacturing. We have a 1950 international M tractor that had never had any major mechanical issues, and still starts and works every time.

[@caw25sha]

Very long shot but it might be worth contacting the Museum of Military Medicine, Keogh Barracks, Surrey.

[@CalumRaasay]

Ooh great idea!

[@CaelReader]

Fascinating video! I'm glad you took a minute to give some context behind the Belgian Congo, often left out of these kinds of adventure stories.

[@CalumRaasay]

@@CaelReader the more you read the worse it gets 😬 Absolutely fascinated by the place though- I go on a lot of google earth adventures there!

[@tatianaes3354]

You will be shocked if you will search for when the last human zoo in Europe was closed. Things are always worse than you think.

[@harrytodhunter5078]

I LOVE OVERSIZED OVERLAND TRANSPORT VEHICLES

[@bartfoster1311]

I've always loved the old International Harvester trucks, but this is the first i have heard of these!

[@CalumRaasay]

@@bartfoster1311 still never seen an international harvester irl! I’d love to. Especially the scout!

[@bartfoster1311]

​@CalumRaasay i have driven a scout II and hope to own one eventually

[@WoodsPrecisionArms]

Absolutely you can find the pick up trucks readily pretty easy in the mid west

[@CalumRaasay]

They never really found their way to Europe as much it seems - though I’ve seen the odd but of farm equipment

[@bartfoster1311]

@@WoodsPrecisionArms i almost got one out of a barn in Wyoming but they didn't know where the title was. It had been used as a logging truck in the Black Hills. My first dig was a trike in the Lance Formation, Weston Co. Wyoming.

[@gafrers]

Calum and big exploration/transport vehicles, an endless love story. Quality as always. Never even knew these existed. Thank You Congrats on 300k

[@Robutube1]

We can always rely on Calum to find these rarities that so appeal the daydreamer within us all; and calling them Jungle Yachts was inspired!

[@andrewmorris483]

When I saw this video, at first I thought it was a reupload of the Baghdad Bus. I'd wager a rather significant sum that this channel is not the first time those two types of vehicles shared something. I think there is common ancestry.

[@SmolRacer]

Love how you find all these old beautiful mega vehicles

[@MADmosche]

A new Calum video about a unique large vehicle, yay!

[@BeeCeeIsHere]

Brilliantly presented and exhaustively researched, as always. 👏 👏 👏

[@CalumRaasay]

thank you! Raced back home for a last minute edit because I’d flown that esquire magazine in first class from America. So glad it arrived in time- such beautiful art in there.

[@GreatSageSunWukong]

Evening Calum always nice to see a new video from you on an obscure piece of history after a long absence, never change I find most YT content creators too obsessed with churning videos out at set intervals, it makes trying to keep up a chore and makes it less exciting when a new video drops

[@CalumRaasay]

@@GreatSageSunWukong I consider myself very fortunate that I’m in a position to be able to release as infrequently as I do! Might not be able to forever but it certainly helps me avoid too much burnout!

[@GreatSageSunWukong]

@@CalumRaasay well I hope you are able to forever. top content takes time. thank you.

[@duncansouthern2255]

Great video as always Calum! Keep up the good work!

[@jamesonpace726]

Absolutely the coolest proto RVs I've ever seen....

[@maszkalman3676]

Yeah even today's "affordable " RV-s have less luxury than these... ultra insualtion and even pollen and bug filtering is almost unheard of even today... likely they exist in very very top of the line rv-s.... for the very rich...

[@ZGryphon]

Another great find (at least in the informational sense). The mid-20th century really was the golden age of weird motor vehicles, wasn't it?

[@harrypenn611]

Absolutely love it when you have an upload , it's always going to be something not covered or rarely and you capture the interest and maintain it for the duration ❤

[@rekietabeatslc9980]

Thanks for not getting off topic into details about the war. Too many creators do that sort of thing. Here to see the cool caravan & you delivered. Sad that this dream of his, life's work perhaps, was robbed from him.

[@blodyholy_]

What an insane story. I absolutely love nuggets of history such as these. Thank for sharing my friend!

[@XMarkxyz]

For once it is refreshing to see an explorer that, at least from what you reported, is true to the name, visiting Africa to gain knowledge and pictures or films instead of hunting trophies; as an italian I'm particularly happy to see that one of the first of this new wave of explorers not hunting or caging fauna was italian too. Great interesting video as always, so well reserched, I love your attention to primary sources and not just repackaging things already fund in internet

[@XMarkxyz]

A little edit: I know that war is war but it's sad to see how fast the belgians confiscated that equipement considering that Gatti didn't work for the Fascist government, nor looked like he was financed by it, and either that equipement was his own property or it was of some american company. It is strange but in italy Gatti si pretty much unknown, while the explore Raimondo Franchetti is far more famous as he explored the east africa which will later be conquered by Italy, although Franchetti wasn't part of the party nor particularly interested in it; tho he was a more "classical" explorer bringing back many hunting trophies, at least was were not totally wasted as now are part of the collecion of a natural history museum. Funnily enough the high school I frequented bring Franchetti's name and close to where I live there's one of his villas; both the school and villa are in veneto

[@cirquestar6618]

One of them ended up on either Bouglione or Pinder circus.

[@thekinginyellow1744]

I think I've watched pretty much all of your videos, but this is the first one with something I'd never heard of before! Two Snaps!

[@nodical802]

That styling is simply gorgeous

[@royalewithbees6541]

Just finished binge watching The Wild Thornberry's when this popped up in my feed! Loving the vintage ComVee!

[@bradyelich2745]

My Uncle got the $10 million contract to do the seismic on Ellesmere Island in 1962. he took all the farm bois from SK, MB, and AB way put north. 4 nodwells with air drills, and a half mile long(?) camp train pulled by 2-3 d6 cats. I worked for Uncle in the late 1980's and he bought one of his original nodwells back and we refurbished it to working order. I worked with all the guys that did that job. all i have is a photocopy of the newspaper article. I did two tours up in Norman Wells in the hottest summers up there ever. I have hundreds of photos.

[@bradyelich2745]

that time in norman wells, when we all had to leave teh bar as it shut down at 3:30am local, still braod daylight, so we went to uncles yard and got every vechile we could started and went up to the dump to look at the bears. ive seen grizz there. but i brought the 'brute' a 1968 kenworth with cummins 250 and a huge 20yard box with huge rockguard that saved me life once, but that another story. i get to top of quarry hil and realise i did not shut air cocks. yeloing at drunken buddy, he runs, staggers, rools, to get the cocks shut so i stopped from rolling down mountain inreverse. Then the bunch of us watched black bears in the dump and drank and some had sex. good times. Uncle was not impressed.

[@bradyelich2745]

Of course he found out, the whole town told him at breakfast.

[@bradyelich2745]

Nothing Uncle never did in his day. Dad knew how to start the model t, so he'd jack it up, uncle being so big and strong, spin rear wheel and start the car, then they go joy ridding, all 7 of my aunts and uncles. Gramps found out, being way bigger and stronger since he plowed with heavy horse, picked uncle by ankle, whipped him, then my dad. gramps could straight arm 500lbs of barrelled gas onto and off truck for sale.

[@bradyelich2745]

Uncle would work witrh gramps, pretent to go to bed, either steal horse or run to town 6 miles aways to screw girls, and be back in time to plough for 12 hours. Commitment.

[@bradyelich2745]

Uncle never drank. Had no time for that shit.

[@marvindebot3264]

I love these '30s land barges, they were quite the fashion there for a while.

[@SmokyPondFarm]

Great video Calum! The aerodynamic appearance of the 1930' s luxury truck and trailer rigs have always fascinated me. BTW, be sure to take a look at the 1936 Curtiss Aerocar.

[@djofnofame8292]

Calum your depth of research is amazing. Another great video with details that are not easily found, until you find them and present them to us (the viewers).

[@WouterWeggelaar]

whoaaa, something to save for watching later with a nice cuppa!

[@ARetiredPirate]

Exactly!

[@CalumRaasay]

@@WouterWeggelaar figured it would be perfect Saturday night fodder

[@Daytonafox1]

Just when you think there's no more vintage strange transporters left Calum finds another one lol. Fantastic video coverage as always Calum this one was very interestingly cool.

[@andreasheld2362]

Calum, again you dug out an amazing wheel wonder out of obscurity. Well done, mate! 🙂

[@CalumRaasay]

Thank you! Was a fun one this - spiritual successor to the Baghdad Bus!

[@joeclarkey]

You have done it again, brilliant video, still my favourite channel by far on KZbin.

[@CalumRaasay]

Thank you! Was a really fun one this - good way to kick off 2025

[@Tom_Emody]

I want one with a weather station and ham radio. That would complete the scene.

[@LittleNala]

Calum's family must have taken him on too many holidays using a cramped little caravan when he was a kid - it is the only explanation for his love for these huge truck/trailer combos! Especially when they go to exotic places, and not just to rainy camp sites in Ireland or the UK! ;-)

[@eekee6034]

A combination of books TV and rainy British campsites did it for me :)

[@Stimy666]

aaah Calum, the man of culture with Smith & Sniff by his side ;) love the podcast! love your videos too, very informative and well put together!!

[@captainevenslower4400]

I love that there is someone as appreciative as myself on "vehicles that you can live aboard"

[@CalumRaasay]

If it moves and it has a toilet and kitchen - I'm interested

[@dwderp]

De Sakhnoffsky was a talented industrial designer, and his dreamy streamline moderne masterpieces were regularly featured in Esquire. I’ve always loved his dramatic renderings done on black backgrounds. Fantastic video!

[@mattskustomkreations]

Art Deco Dreamboats! Love, love love this style.

[@Tom_Emody]

It looks like someone found a magic lamp, and asked the genie to transform their Vespa into a motor home travel trailer. Pretty cool.

[@Kyle_Spivis]

He’s back with another wild vehicle heck yeah you love to see it.

[@griffhawkins8909]

Incidentally, for anyone who watches Matt's Off-road Recovery - the Morr Off-road Wrecker is a heavily modified International Harvester (IIRC it is an R200 series, and I believe it's from the late 50s to early 60s?) They really were amazing machines for the time, and as the folks at MORR have demonstrated, clearly have a lot of life left in them if they're maintained and used well!

[@CalumRaasay]

I love his channel but I never clicked that the off road wrecker is based on a international harvester!

[@mikeklinger1712]

Guaranteed that setup was 20x better quality than most modern day RVs

[@CalumRaasay]

Well especially since they had a whole army of attendants following them around to set everything up for them!

[@ausnorman8050]

Crazy jungle yachts! Also 300k subs WD Calum!

[@AmeliaTahaney]

Checking in from Bristol PA. I had no idea Fleetwing made vehicles like this. Thank you

[@kurtwagner350]

Gotta love the stereotypical jungle expedition hats!

[@abogas1]

Another great video Calum, love these old vehicles!! Also loving the covert Smith and Sniff stickers in your vids, absolute class pods!!

[@euansmith3699]

Another fascinating dive in to vintage craziness.

[@classicme]

wow... I am just speechless with your work you had to put into it... thx

[@ArnoSchmidt70]

Interesting to see how these RVs differ from modern expeditional RVs.

[@PhillyRacer121]

I came for calum, i stayed for international. Im an navistar international mechanic and i love hearing about the company’s history. Typical IH though, whacky and wonderful.

[@JJfromIA]

I own an International semi truck today. Vehicles used to be so beautifully designed!

[@CalumRaasay]

Oh wow! What type?

[@Klowde]

Saw that Smith and Sniff merch and immediately knew you were a man of culture. Great video!

[@TechGorilla1987]

@3:58 - This brings the name "Holling Gustav Vincoeur" immediately to mind. The character from Northern Exposure who gave up the pew pew for the camera. I really do love that show. The actor who played the character has a last name of Cullum which always reminds me of your channel.

[@milofh550]

The effort that goes into these videos is wonderful, more power to you sir. Great documentary.

[@CalumRaasay]

So nice of you! Thanks so much

[@LuckysMotorcycles]

I appreciate you reading the commercials…… makes it easy to skip forward .

[@tatianaes3354]

Not only British army archives, but also local African archives might help.

[@xwiick]

Thanks for all the hard work on these videos!

[@ejkrakowiak6905]

Keep up the great work Calum. Love your videos

[@deeser]

I must get out of the house house; I need to hit the shops. Nope, not now; new Calum video just dropped!

[@CalumRaasay]

@@deeser figured out I’d catch the lot looking for something to watch at dinner!

[@andysvehiclehistorychannel]

Very very interesting i'v seen them before but love the bit of film of the tractor unit.

[@CalumRaasay]

Glad you enjoyed it! It was about 700 pounds per minute to licence in HD 😭

[@eprofengr6670]

Interesting topic to cover, and very nice lab in the background.

[@mzklucas]

This remembers me of Jules Verne novel, the Steam House. Great content!

[@mikenb3461]

Fascinating video. I always look forward to your stuff.

[@fosterkennel649]

I remember many years ago seeing the pictures of airstreams on Expeditions in Africa

[@dwderp]

That was the epic 1959-60 African caravan which went from Cape Town to Cairo. There was an impressive article about it in a subsequent issue of the National Geographic Magazine.

[@JeffBilkins]

Amazing vehicles, look like a background vehicle from the Thunderbirds. Do the drivers sleep in the jungle with the heat and mosquitos?

[@CalumRaasay]

Well there was a massive contingent of camp followers and attendants that followed them around, with a mixture of tents, trucks and trucks and the like. But certainly wouldn't have been as comfy as those bedrooms that's for sure!

[@FernandoSchulman]

Thank you, and once again a great video!

[@Era-d8r]

Brilliant as always dude! Puts my camper to shame :D

[@AlbertCharters]

@CalumRaasay you should do a video with your archive anyway thank you for making these amazing videos😊

[@groeacht8525]

Love the little plugs for the exchange, how much is it to come over on the ferry, lol

[@zenmoto369]

Bambu Lab A1 and X1C Great choice sir!

[@goldenghostinc]

It would be so awsome to see these icons of a for gone era in a museum next to the Bagdad Bus and some other pioneering vehicles from that age. If only wishing made it so...

[@CalumRaasay]

Maybe like top gear Africa special we’ll find them out there abandoned

[@tim0thyd951]

Ah yes, classic exploratory vehicles - my favourite youtube niche

[@icreatedanaccountforthis1852]

Those things are cray cray.

[@Getmcwrapped]

These videos never fail to add to my reading list 😂

[@Professional-struggler]

Another amazingly informative video that I would otherwise know nothing about 💯👍

[@CalumRaasay]

Glad you enjoyed it! "weird stuff you've never heard and and probably doesn't deserve a massive documentary but here's one nonetheless" is the tagline for all my work haha!

[@bikeforever2016]

The grand days of bespoke engineering How wonderful to see it documented and celebrated.

[@21jimmyo]

Interesting little piece of history that I had no previous knowledge of. Well done, brilliant. It would be amazing to find any information of what happened to these trucks. My guess is that someone's grandparents in the Congo has a story about what happened to them.

[@lukehorning3404]

You make some unusual and interesting videos that are right up my alley Thanks and keep up the great work 👍

[@CalumRaasay]

Glad you like them! Was a really fun video to put together

[@caw25sha]

The ultimate vanlife video.

[@MichaelSteeves]

The East African campaign was conducted against the Italians in Ethiopia and Somalia, based out of Kenya. I wonder if the trailers ended up there? I'd imagine the metal would have found many uses as scrap over the decades!

[@NigelMarston]

I would so buy one of these if they existed today. Well, if i could also afford one.

[@codobod9047]

Hiya Callum, if you haven't already seen it, I left a comment a week or so ago on your Nairn road cars video. There's a link in the comment to home movie footage from a European truck driver in Iraq in the late 70s / early 1980. Within the footage there's a quick clip of what looks like both the Nairn trailers being towed by Mercedes units, proving they were still in use up until possibly 1980!!

[@CalumRaasay]

Oh really?! Need to look that up!

[@rcajavus8141]

Bravo! Yet again, The Collective provides!!!

[@Valentijnzz]

Thanks dude for another video

[@guifrakss]

Fascinating history

[@davidbarnsley8486]

Another great one Calum it would be great to find out what happened to them 👍👍🇦🇺

[@TheSheiban]

And here I was thinking you'd go looking for it in the DRC like how you went to the Yukon to find the snow train 😅

[@gavinhammond1778]

You are going to have to stop opening with, the most extraordinary vehicles ever built, you're single handedly making the phrase redundant with all these marvellous contraptions you find. Thanks for the content.

[@joshm3875]

As an IH enthusiast this one was really enjoyable! Not sure if you found, but International Harvester's archives are at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Some of it is available online, but I believe it's all open for research or they will search for things if you give them a phone call. There is some stuff about Attilio Gatti in the online library, interestingly it looks like he had a partnership with Harvester after WWII for some less extravagant trucks.

[@CalumRaasay]

Good shout - and you're right! Forgot to mention it but there's colour footage of his second expedition. I wonder if he found any of the trucks from the first one while on that trip?

[@whyjnot420]

Given the amount of records that militaries tend to keep, I bet there are at least an archive or two that have these in them. But I don't put much stock in them coming to light in a relevant fashion either.

[@davidepperson2376]

Great widow on a fascinating subject - thank you!

[@barnbuilds25]

Ive been waiting for your next video !!

[@spotifyde5979]

it never occurred to me before that Americans and Brits pronounce "esquire" differently. but they do.

[@CalumRaasay]

Probably me pronouncing it wrong 😂

[@adampoll4977]

Yay, more of some of my fave content!

[@Lobo-ih3bh]

Thanks man, so cool and interesting!