At the same time the prominent Vee roof, an unmistakable Thomson recognition feature until then, was smoothed into a rather more contemporary line, still Vee -shaped but with end peaks and a bay front, and the model name changed from Almond to Glenalmond .
The model tested was the Mark 1V with toilet room. The layout is basically two single beds at the rear, kitchen and wardrobe amidships and a three- seater dinette and toilet room at the front. For reasons which took us some little time to clarify, the team kept referring to the end with the single beds as the front. Two singles at the front end is, of course, accepted practice in the majority of touring vans these days, and in fact when we tested the original Almond in 1954 we reported that we would have preferred the layout reversed to bring the singles and main dining area to the front, providing this did not affect the weight distribution. But Thomsons can see no reason to change and we found the layout far from inconvenient during our test. The construction is very robust and towing performance was not very far short of being perfect. We took the van over what must surely be the worst stretch of road in Scotland, namely the famous Road to the Isles from Fort William to Mallaig . Although the Caravan Club handbook gave dire warnings that this stretch of road should be avoided at all costs owing to extensive road reconstruction, we argued that we were out to test a van and this seemed as good a way as any.
The Glenalmond stood up to this treatment very well. Certainly the mattresses jumped about hut the gas mantles stayed intact, all cupboard and locker doors remained firmly closed and opened packets of food in the larder retained their contents.
On rather better class roads the stability was excellent and on the well-surfaced sections of the test track 60 mph came up quite easily with no trace of snaking. Slight surface irregularities tended to cause a little uncertainty at this speed behind the Morris Oxford V and probably 50 mph would be the more comfortable cruising speed on Continental main roads.
Our test of the Thomson was slightly longer than usual and the mileage correspondingly greater. It says much for the towability of the Glenalmond that we well exceeded our pre-conceived 'paper' average and were able to put nearly 200 miles into a day without any appreciable effort, stopping many times for photographs and meals, and this on tourist-cluttered Scottish roads, many of which are renowned for being none too generous in width.
The practicality of this van does not end with its performance on the road; obviously a lot of thought has gone into the layout. Immediately opposite the door is a three- seater dinette, comfortably close enough to the kitchen for the table to be used as extra work surface if needed. Although the main dining position would be considered to be at the rear with the table in its prin­cipal mounting position between the single beds, in which case there is ample room for four to eat in comfort, more at a pinch, the dinette is ideal for, say, a late meal or coffee after the children have been safely stowed and the partition flaps closed.
Adequate bedding storage space is provided in top access lockers. The double seat against the front wall of the van has a hinged lid and the lid over the single seat, which although it contains the frame of the pull-out extension still has plenty of storage space available, is fully removable.

A shelf at the bottom of the wardrobe rests on the wheel-arch and there is room beside the wheel box for one or two pairs of shoes. The wardrobe is not full height and the top is lipped to form another useful shelf. The door, which is piano-hinged, has a large mirror on the outside and the partition flap is hinged to the inside. A large throw-over door catch provides security on tow.
The kitchen, opposite the wardrobe, has a Dudley two-ring and griller hotplate in an aluminium -lined recess. The hotplate is on an aluminium shelf with space underneath which we found ideal for storing frozen foods-while the hotplate was not in use, of course-but this space is lost if the optional extra oven cooker is specified. A fall front flap can be chained to a horizontal position for added work space. The hinged lid to the hotplate compartment is faced on the underside with aluminium and the folding plate rack attached to it proved invaluable when raised.

Roof shelves or lockers are placed right round the interior of the van including the toilet room. The shelves are slightly narrower than the lockers and are lipped to prevent things rolling off. The lockers have spring catches and the doors are hinged at the bottom so that they do not have to be held open when in use. The lockers are placed in pairs and could well be divided to stop the contents sliding about while on the move, but this is a minor improvement that most owners could carry out quite simply. The lockers do not go right up to the ceiling and the tops make extra shelves on site.

The roof lockers over the kitchen are fitted with crockery for four people-cups, saucers, tea and dinner plates, and fruit bowls. The crockery is Thomson pattern and is included in the basic price of the van, surely the only van on the market to be so equipped at no extra cost.
The toilet room in the nearside front corner takes in the porch of the only door when in use. When not in use the floor space available is just about enough to take two water cans if care is taken over positioning the closet before it is screwed down. There is a shelf above and below the frosted glass, non-opening window and ventilation is taken care of by a low wall vent and a rooflight . In use the door of the toilet room mates up with the kitchen bulkhead and a small triangular flap on the inside of the door lifts up to complete enclosure up to the peaked roof; if this flap is not used at night a fair amount of borrowed light is available.
The two bijou gas lights give adequate light to the two table positions but leave the kitchen a little dark, especially as the cook gets in the way of illumination from the nearest light. During the day the generous window area makes the interior bright and airy and the amber Perspex roof vents take good care of top ventilation.
The fitted carpet, two-tone moquette mattresses and gay cotton print curtains (on overlapping strainers) lend an air of quiet luxury to the Glen-almond that is worthy of a van in a much higher price bracket. Here and there one can find small irregularities in the cabinet work but they do little to mar the overall effect. The Scots are reputed to extract full value for their money. Certainly in this instance they give it too.

Layout: A dinette, B wardrobe, C roof shelf, D roof lockers, E single bed, F table, G cupboard, H cooker, J sink, K toilet.
Makers: Thomsons (Carron) Ltd., Carron, Falkirk, Scotland.
Towing car for test: Morris Oxford V, weight inc. crew 27 cwt.