Mercedes-Benz 307D
1984 MERCEDES-BENZ 307D CAMPER
While our Citroën C15 Romahome camper has proven to be a brilliantly useful van for days out, its improved condition has presented me with a quandary – to use, or not to use?
It’s all about the bodywork and, more specifically, the glassfibre camper panels. If the camper body is damaged, it’s not easily repaired, and so far nothing untoward has happened.
And we’d like to keep it that way. That meant there’d be a vacancy for another ‘user’. But looking for a decent older camper van can be a chore, especially if you really don’t want a bay-window VW.
The general consensus – ie, what ‘er indoors thought suitable – was something that bit bigger than the Romahome, and with a steel body. I left the missus to it and it wasn’t long before she’d found a Merc 307D camper.
Some will sneer when I say this is a home conversion, but think again. John, who was selling it after it had been in his family for 30 years, explained how his father was a carpenter and had rescued wood from a Cardiff pub. He’d bought the 307 when it was three years old.
Clearly John’s father had drawn inspiration from other camper vans in the way he designed the interior, and the fixtures and fittings are every bit as good – if not better – than those you’d find in other campers from this era. But it was time to sell.
It was a no-brainer really – bar the slightly scruffy paint, all was good. It drove well, stopped well, and with just over 110,000 miles on the clock, barely run in. The quality of the conversion suited the excellent way these Benzes were bolted together and it’s in stunningly good order underneath.
The drive back from Cardiff on a busy summer Sunday afternoon was pretty good, once I’d mastered the dog-leg first gearbox and the lack of power steering, although wheel-twirling lightens up once you’re on the move. It bowls along pretty easily.
Future plans are to replace the non-working temperature gauge, fit a new heater fan and sort out a slightly sticking throttle pedal return spring. Oh, and a respray wouldn’t go amiss.