FREEDOM ON WHEELS

THE CAMPER VAN IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A VEHICLE TO SLEEP IN, SAYS MOTORHOME LOVER MARTIN DOREY

Everyone loves a camper. Why? Because the camper van is more than just a bed on wheels; it’s a universal symbol for the open road, free spiritedness, love, peace and harmony that everyone and anyone can relate to – even if the road ahead seems impassable sometimes. The camper van is about getting out, off the couch and living life. It’s about taking you to the places you love the most, to places you haven’t seen before or the places you yearn to see one more time before work, life and the mortgage drag you back again. Yes, it’s just a vehicle with an engine and a steering wheel. But if you own one, I’ll bet it’s got a name. And what does that tell you about the way you feel about it and what it does for you?

But before we drive off into the sunset, let’s take a trip back in time. In the early 20th century, camping and touring by car became popular so it was inevitable that someone would forget their tent and kip in their car at some point. Thereafter, it was only a little leap to making it more comfortable. One of the earliest ‘production’ self-powered camper vans was the Pierce Arrow Touring Landau, unveiled in 1910 at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. It included a rear seat that folded into a bed, a sink ‘behind the chauffeur’ and a chamber pot. A little later in

“When all around windbreaks are being blown down, we’ll be cosy in the van with the kettle on”

Australia, GC ‘Pop’ Kaesler, an engineer from Nuriootpa decided he wanted to go walkabout, so in 1929 he built a home from home on top of a 1924 Dodge 4 motor truck. It now resides in the Goolwa National Trust Museum in South Australia.

THE VW STORY

Although other makes are available, it is the VW that people think of when they picture a camper van. What they lack in speed, they make up for in style. You’ll get more smiles per hour when you drive a vintage ‘ VeeDub’ than with any other vehicle.

So, we head back to mid-century Germany and one of the favourite cars of all time, the Beetle. In the late 1940s, a Dutch VW dealer named Ben Pon sketched an idea for a van with a side door, a rear air-cooled engine like the Beetle and two front seats that would go on to become the Type 2 Volkswagen Transporter van. The sketch, happily, still exists, and so does the van, which is now on its sixth incarnation and still selling in its hundreds of thousands.

The humble VW Type 2 Transporter was first converted into a camper van by American servicemen looking to explore post war Europe, so the story goes. A German company previously well known for making trailers and horseboxes, Westfalia, created the first ‘camping box’, a removable kit that converted the 1950s white van man’s new favourite mode of transport into something that you could sleep and live in. Hey presto! The VW camper van was born.

The Type 2 has evolved a lot over the years, but the firm favourite remains that early ‘Splitty’, which was introduced in 1950 and made until 1967. These are the really cute ones, with the split front windscreen and the windows that fold up to give you some added ventilation on hot days. Almost a million and a half were made in Germany. They’re also the most soughtafter (and expensive) campers, so unless you’ve got (at least) 20 grand, forget about ever owning one. The great news is that you can rent them and can enjoy hassle-free, albeit temporary, ownership.

After the Splitty came the Bay Window, a VW that’s just as cool, a little bigger and perhaps a little more reliable, although only just. These beauties were produced in their millions in Germany until 1979, and by VW in Mexico and Brazil, with production continuing in Brazil until 2014. The Brazil Bays are still very popular – and it is still possible to buy one in the UK that’s been converted to a camper van by Danbury near Bristol – but they’re not as sought-after as the European versions. Devon conversions are probably the oldest in the UK, formed in Sidmouth in 1956. Its Moonraker model is the one people want, with a full-length, side elevating roof that offers a double bed upstairs, and a cooker that can be used inside and out.

HOME FROM HOME

The success of the VW camper was its affordability, adaptability, reliability and association with living easy ( plus a great dealer network that meant you could get parts anywhere). Surfers slept in them at the beach to get the first waves of the day, overlanders drove them to Asia looking for adventure and hippies took them to festivals in search of enlightenment. I’m no hippy (OK, I am) but I love the freedom and comfort my campers give me. Many a day has been saved during a wet festival or stormy day at the beach by these lovely, simple vehicles. It may not be California here in Cornwall, but in a camper it can feel like it. When all around windbreaks are being blown down and everyone is running for shelter, we’ll be cosy in the van with the kettle on and the good times flowing. Maybe we just like to be able to take our kitchen diner, lounge and bedroom with us when we go away. The camper van is castle and keep, a home from home, a shelter and sanctuary.

Now manufacturers are coming up with all kinds of new ideas to attract buyers, like beds that drop down from the roof or solar power, but one thing remains constant: the appeal of simplicity. Take a little van, put a bed, sink, cooker and table in the back and you’ve got a recipe for living. There’s nothing you can’t do with them: from births to last journeys the camper van has seen it all in its long and celebrated history. Between the two lie the very best times, a dream of freedom, graduations, prom nights, festivals, parties, wild camping trips, quiet times alone, happy times with family and friends, eating well, sitting around a fire, enjoying nature and – best of all – not being in front of the TV. A life lived in full, glorious, natural technicolour. The way it should be. »