VW Camper Vans

The original VW Camper van, the Volkswagen Type 2, is possibly the most iconic of all camper vans. It first built in 1950 by Volkswagen and is still made today. It became extremely popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s and was known as the “Hippie van”. It was small, economical and cheap to maintain, making it an ideal vehicle for new-age travellers. It is still very popular amongst the surfing community, as it makes an ideal vehicle to carry surfboards and provide accommodation close to the beach.

However, Volkswagon have made several other models of camper van. The Volkswagen Type 2 (T3), also called the T25, was designed in 1980, which was a larger van. In 1990 the T4 Transporter was launched which comes with an optional hard top extension.

Although the Volkswagen Type 2 is still made today, Volkswagon also produce a modern van, the California. It comfortably sleeps 4 adults with 2 on the rear passenger seat and a double berth under its pop-up roof.

VW have also produced coachbuild vans with berths over-cab, such as the also the VW Holdsworth Valentine (1996) and the VW Motorhome LT35 2.5 TDI SWIFT Camper van (1998), which 4 berth vans built with a similar spec to major brands such as Lunar, Elddis and Swift.

The VW centres cannot provide spare parts on older models (over 10 years old). One of the top places for VW spares in the UK is Karmann Konnection in Southend-On-Sea (www.vw-online.co.uk) tel. 01702 601155.

There is a VW Type 2 Owners Club, an owners club for the T25; Club 80-90. Many more useful websites can be found on VWCamper.co.uk.