If you’re looking for something really car-like, this could be the answer
Words ❚ Peter Vaughan
REVIEWED
We first spotted this at the inaugural Campervan Campout event earlier this year, and it certainly stood out.
It’s hard to be noticed when your neighbours are a pair of VW Transporter campervans, one in an extremely bold mauve and another featuring an equally unconventional duo-tone scheme of metallic blue and fire engine red.
This isn’t the first time that CampAway has caught the eye with its colour schemes, but this ’van is not the brand’s usual T6.1 fare and it’s not here on account of psychedelic paintwork.
The as-yet-unnamed prototype conversion here is, instead, based on the Transporter’s baby brother, the Caddy. It’s not the latest fourth-generation model (because CampAway hasn’t been able to source a roof for that), but the pre-2020 van in long-wheelbase Maxi form. Not only does that mean that this is a very car-like camper, ideally suited for daily driver duties, but it offers a saving of at least £20k compared with CampAway’s typical T6.1-based offerings. And, of course, from this colourful converter, it’s not a white van man design but in a far racier red with contrasting black alloy wheels.
The conversion is described as “similar to a T6 but scaled down” and the example seen here is a guide to what’s coming.
This is far from the first conversion we’ve seen of Volkswagen’s long-running compact commercial vehicle but it’s much more of a complete camper than VW’s own in-house Caddy California. That starts, of course, with the Westdubs pop-top, a rear-hinged roof in black with matching black canvas. Not only does this create standing room, but it comes with a fully opening scenic canvas, as well as the usual flyscreen windows on either side. It even includes a roof bed; although, with dimensions of just 1.47m by 0.73m (and a thin mattress on a solid base), this will only be suitable for younger kids.
Down below, it’s the typical side kitchen layout, as seen in hundreds of small campervans, but, despite an overall length just a few centimetres shorter than a T6.1, there’s a lot less internal living space here. The rear seat is by FabworX and has a comfortable rake to its backrest, as well as two three-point seatbelts. To make a bed it simply slides forward and flattens, but, again, its size – 1.68m by 0.91m – caters for the more petite versions of human being. With the bed made up, a small floor area at the front
