Thistle Rose VW T6.1

From Yorkshire with some neat ideas

IT was the duo-tone, mint green and white colour scheme that caught my eye first in the halls of the Harrogate show, but even a quick look inside suggested that this wasn’t just another budget entry in the overcrowded world of VW campers. For a start, the £56k price tag on a T6.1 T28 Startline with 110PS engine, five- speed manual gearbox and Business Pack, puts the Thistle Rose conversion directly up against some highly respected competitors.

Company owner, Peter Occardi, was also quick to point out his previous working life in the world of emergency vehicles – and his passion for creating campervans with an emphasis on safety. The conversion shown here uses an RIB three-seater bench, with a double crossmember underneath the vehicle. In his own words, “If I wouldn’t put my kid in it, we won’t build it.”

That approach continues with the fitment of the Drivelodge elevating roof, where a frame is used to maintain rigidity between the B-posts – the corollary of which is a useful shelf at the front of the pop-top when it’s raised, where the original cab roof is retained ( not cut out).

The roof bed also has a hinged base to create more headroom – Peter is a tall chap!

A further detail is that Thistle Rose even extends the VW exhaust to exit at the rear of the vehicle, rather than behind the cab as it does on the latest bulkhead-equipped T6.1 panel vans.

So, there’s clearly a desire to go about things the right way here and, not only that, but this North Yorkshire converter offers a huge amount of choice. Side kitchen layouts are to be expected in a T6 but here they come in versions with a two or three-person bench

seat (both from RIB). Then there are rear galley layouts, too, in short and longwheelbase forms and even an unusual rear U-shaped lounge offering.

Whichever floorplan ticks the box for you, Thistle Rose makes all of its furniture in- house and the model shown here features an aesthetically pleasing curve as the galley worktop sweeps up to incorporate the rear corner wardrobe. The company makes its own laminate, too, so that it can offer units with an inflection curve, with the worktop rounded down at the forward end as well as upwards at the rear of the camper.

Here, though, it’s a slightly more conventional L-shaped kitchen unit with the 50- litre compressor fridge jutting out quite a way into the living area and a combined twoburner hob and sink unit mounted above, thus freeing up more preparation space to the rear (albeit over top-loading cupboards). There’s a single drawer over the fridge, while the tambour- door cupboard in the slimmer section of the kitchen hides the twin 13- litre water carriers.

Another tambour door is used for the wardrobe, while rear boot space (both above and below the mattress) is pretty generous.

With a double passenger seat (mounted on a swivel base), and the broad, 1.29m, RIB bench, this camper has belted seats for six – and seats for five when camping ( the driver’s seat doesn’t swivel). This example also comes with a 100W solar panel and a 2kW Mikuni diesel-powered space heater, but Peter is keen to stress that every camper the company builds is configured for the customer, so no unnecessary kit is added and the total price of the complete vehicle is kept down.