Motorhomes. Am I too you young?

[Hot Flatus]

Another day gone and I'm not investigating self-importing, and have discovered the Nissan Elgrand and the Toyota Alphard...

[adenough]

I really like my old Yaris. Cheap to run, stupendously reliable, but it's no Bongo however it can make a decent mini camper when required. I've slept in comfort in mine with the bike in there as well.

[Polar Bear]

How did you change it's colour for the bottom picture?   

[adenough]

They are just examples from the web to show possibilities. I've made my own version for my conversion, but did not have pics. What you can do with a small everyday car. Great car, turns into a van when the rear seats slide under the front to give you a flat floor. The Berlingo is a popular one for a mini camper but I allready had the Yaris and it is  more reliable then the Berlingo.

[rogerzilla]

You could go for the 1970s British version of the VW camper: a well-used Ford Transit panel van with a mattress in the back.

[Ashaman42]

I looked at the roof top tents when I last had a car but the cheapest I could find at the time was about two grand which seemed daft to put on a car with maybe five hundred quid at best.

[Feanor]

REI (US outdoor retailer) and Yakima are just rolling out the concept in the US. It'll be interesting to see how it does. Not as hard on a car as towing a trailer/caravan, but it doesn't take up as much space between trips as an unused motorhome.

Indeed.  I think they are a really good design.
As I said, it's a common thing in Southern Africa; we've hired self-drive safari vehicles from these people before, the pictures in the link show the kind of things we've rented.

http://www.drivebotswana.com/vehicles/

Of course, in Africa, there's also some practicality in being a bit inaccessible to the local wildlife on the roof of the car.

[Cpt Sisko]

How about one of these? You can look down on those with mere on story motorhomes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBWvAj4h7JE

[Ripio]

Or how about building your own solar powered electric campervan, 50 mile range,
https://youtu.be/fGZ1zbqAGA0

[LEE]

Vanlife TV is full of good stuff on converting panel vans...etc.

>>HERE<<

[Charlotte]

Having met several ex-owners this weekend at the Great Scottish Spoon Hoolie (it's a thing, really), I've changed my mind on the Bongo Wagon.  They both said that the inaccessible engine and lack of pattern parts made it an expensive way to maintain a vehicle.  They are also, apparently, thirsty as fuck.  The camper of choice for the green woodworking community would appear to be a self-build VW Transporter conversion, with a pop top and an awning for longer stays.   I've joined some FaceFriend groups where people often sell finished ones on...

[Veloman]

Or how about building your own solar powered electric campervan, 50 mile range,
https://youtu.be/fGZ1zbqAGA0

Surely a horse pulled one is the only way forward regarding this subject?

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=horse+drawn+caravans&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNmtjEoIPUAhUmLsAKHZ-VABgQ_AUIBigB&biw=994&bih=368

[JennyB]

Yesterday I hosted a  French woman who was travelling in a Renault Espace.  Big double bed in the back with lots of storage under accessible through the side doors, and a nice kitchen space (naturellement ) at the back where you could stand or sit under the shelter of the open hatch.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Has this concept made it across the pond yet?
https://www.yakima.com/skyrise-tent-small#

c. 2000 I stayed on a caravan park at  Saint Carles de la Rapita between Barcelona and Valencia, Spain.  And there was this guy building his own on a small van.  I've never seen a commercially produced one though.

[Polar Bear]

Rooftop tents have been common on expedition type vehicles such as landrovers and Hiluxes.   You have to be aware of the weight limits on your ordinary car or van which are generally not as high as people imagine that they would be.

I like the eNV200 conversions that firms in Surrey and Derbyshire are doing.   They have interesting electric hookups to allow a trickle charge from the campsite electrics so you can enjoy your stay and get on the road next day all for the price of the hookup.   Folk will cite range anxiety but that only affects you if you are intending to cover hundreds of miles non stop: something that most people in fact do not do.

[Kim]

They have interesting electric hookups to allow a trickle charge from the campsite electrics so you can enjoy your stay and get on the road next day all for the price of the hookup.

All EVs can do this.  All you need is a portable EVSE - preferably one that lets you control the charge current for the more stingily-breakered hookups - which most EV users will have, in order to use a normal mains supply (or the handful of ancient public charging points with BS1363 or Ceeform outlets) and the right connector.

It's quite a reasonable approach, as many camping destinations are some distance from the rapid charger network.

[Polar Bear]

It's a very reasonable approach.   When the eyes and willing pilots have dwindled I shall hope to travel in such a contraption, perhaps even a self-drive one!      

[JennyB]

There's also what the Americans call a 'teardrop trailer.' I've never used one, but they seem  kinda cute. 

[LEE]

There's also what the Americans call a 'teardrop trailer.' I've never used one, but they seem  kinda cute. 

Caravan manufacturers have started making them.  Some are rather amazing in the amount of indoor space.  Very TARDIS like.

GOPOD were the first I saw in the UK but they are still Caravans, and Caravans are different to Motorhome/Campervans. 
There's just something special about actually driving your home around, with everything on-board and accessible. 

I've never had a Caravan but I've had a bloody big Folding Camper like this

We had a wonderful time in it but they need setting up, they need to be totally dried if you intend to store them for more than a couple of days, they can be very cold and very hot and they take up as much room as a car. 

I think the big advantage of getting a Transit Van type base vehicle is that you then own a Transit Van.  Surely the most fabulous thing to own.  It's basically a bike shed on your drive.

[Veloman]

Take and standard van and have someone do a nice conversion:

http://www.centralcamperconversions.com/

[Hot Flatus]

Having met several ex-owners this weekend at the Great Scottish Spoon Hoolie (it's a thing, really), I've changed my mind on the Bongo Wagon.  They both said that the inaccessible engine and lack of pattern parts made it an expensive way to maintain a vehicle.  They are also, apparently, thirsty as fuck.  The camper of choice for the green woodworking community would appear to be a self-build VW Transporter conversion, with a pop top and an awning for longer stays.   I've joined some FaceFriend groups where people often sell finished ones on...

I went to an importer yesterday. It was like spending an hour with a double-glazing salesman. Apparently it would seem that all Bongos other than his would be an unmitigated disaster. However he did seem to have a lot of low-mileage units in excellent condition.

It's hard to know what to do. I'm concerned about diesels as long term they seem to have the crosshairs on them. However there are so many diesel vehicles on the road that it might be many years before they are forced off. Bongos fuel consumption is high, mid 20s seems to be the most one can expect. LPG conversions are possible, but again, like the Bongo, it's a bit too esoteric for my liking. Production of the Bongo ceased in 2005, and although there is a thriving Bongo scene, I wonder just how much of a pain it will prove to be.

Maybe I should just spend £10k on as good a Mercedes Van as I can find and get it converted. VWs seem very expensive.

[Charlotte]

Merc, VW, maybe even a Ford or a Fiat.  I think the main thing for me is buying something reliable, ubiquitous and simple to work on with a good availability of pattern parts.  Much as I hate the idea of a big petrol engine, I'm also beginning to think that it's a better bet in the long term.  The problem is, it's easy to be seduced by the funky interiors and forget about the platform it's built on.

[TimC]

The boxy VW campers are generally known as "wedges" and have a proper engine, not an asthmatic and raucous air-cooled thing that isn't really powerful enough to move a Beetle, let alone your home on wheels.  The first generation are "splitties" because of the split windscreen, and the second generation are "bay windows".

I used to sit next to a VW camper nerd in work.

The first few years of the T3 (sometimes known as the T25, Wedge, or Brick) were air-cooled. From around 1982 they became water cooled. The 2.1 fuel-injectd version is actually able to keep up with traffic! They have a tendency to rot from the panel seams, but if you get a good one, they're increasing in value and they're a lot larger inside than even the modern T5/6.

Edit: my 1992 T3 LLE 2.1 in full-blown tent-city mode:

[LEE]

Merc, VW, maybe even a Ford or a Fiat.  I think the main thing for me is buying something reliable, ubiquitous and simple to work on with a good availability of pattern parts.  Much as I hate the idea of a big petrol engine, I'm also beginning to think that it's a better bet in the long term.  The problem is, it's easy to be seduced by the funky interiors and forget about the platform it's built on.

It's worth a call to a local commercial garage to see what their mechanics say about the various platforms.

I'd warrant you're never far from a Ford Garage.  VW & Merc cars are notoriously expensive to work on, not sure if that's true of their commercials.  On the continent it would be Fiat/Renault (same thing).

Diesel commercial vans, and hence parts, will be around for decades.  Motorhomes are generally carrying a lot of weight, in my case equivalent to a fully laden 3,500kg commercial truck. 
That would take quite some petrol engine to get moving.  Horse Power is secondary to torque at 3.5 tonnes.

[pcolbeck]

A friend of mine runs his own business and has run a small fleet of  Mercedes Vans for years. Loves them. Then he bought a Mercedes car (brand new) and it was nothing but trouble. He still loves the vans though.