Inspired by the old culture of the gypsies, then popularized by rock stars and surfers until late of the 19th century, Van life is a lifestyle of living in a vehicle full or part-time and has changed the basic meaning of a vehicle, not only as a transporter, commerce or support, they also can be a house.
Van life: The Volkswagen camper was made popular by the classic conversions from the 1950s through to the end of the 1970s, which were conversions under Westfalia Camper builder officially offered and sold by German manufacturer Volkswagen worldwide.
Volkswagen Campers are designed to accommodate a van's life and have life support amenities to be able to live in it. Are contained interior features such as a bed, stove, cabinets, and refrigerator. Some versions had a pop-up roof to allow extra room, ventilation, and a sleeping room 'upstairs', and even some of their modern versions have a lavatory.
Here's the list of the companies making campers based on the Volkswagen Type 2 (VW Bus):
Westfalia
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| Westfalia Camping Box based on T1 (split-screen) |
Westfalia is the official Camper conversion throughout the 1950-2003 VW bus production. After success with the first car, Type 1 known as the Beetle in the global market, Volkswagen launched Type 2 in 1950, the first generation of the VW bus dubbed the T1 (split-screen). Just a year after the T1 went on sale, camper conversions were launched by German camper builder Westfalia, which VW developed an official relationship with, and Westfalia camper is sold at authorized Volkswagen dealers.
Westfalia built the first “Camping Box” starting at the request of a British military officer to convert a van into a hotel room featuring a sofa bed, a folding dining table, and even matching window curtains. Unexpectedly followed by many next subsequent requests and it was such a hit that the company soon started making conversions regularly.
Westfalia began making early camper conversions based on the Volkswagen T1 for 1951 through 1958 model years, about 1000 units were built, well known as Camping Box. Then continued to make a camper with the SO code (Sonderausfuhrungen) which means a Special Model known as SO-23 for the 1959 through 1961 model years, after that 6 more models the SO-34, SO-35, SO-33, SO-42, SO-44, and SO-45 were build upon the 1962 through 1967 model years.
Westfalia also does camper conversions based on the next generation of VW Buses such as T2, T3, and T4, made until 2003. The California name began to be used for Westfalia campervan conversions for the 1988 through 2003 model years.
In 2001, Westfalia was bought out by VW rival DaimlerChrysler, so Volkswagen decided to make campervans in-house.
Westfalia's for sale and looking for a new owner
Dormobile
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| Dormobile Campervan based on T1 (split-screen) |
Dormobile is a campervan manufacturer based in the United Kingdom that made camper conversions based on the early generation T1 through the current generation of VW buses and is still going today. During the '60s when VW camper sales were booming worldwide there were a large variety of conversion companies that enjoyed the popularity and Dormobile was one of them.
Dormobile was unique with two large sunroofs and two large vents above the pop-top that could only be opened from one side to the right or left, and they have maintained that design to this day. And also the back of the front seat can be flipped so that it is possible to face backward.
Dormobile's for sale and looking for a new owner
Devon
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| Devon Campervan based on T2 (Late Bay) |
Devon is another big name of the UK-based company that has made camper conversions upon VW buses. Devon Conversions has built a good reputation for design and quality, for nearly 60 years the company is still in business today.
Devon's for sale and looking for a new owner
Danbury Motorcaravans
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| Danbury Motorcaravans based on Brazilian T2 |
Danbury Motorcaravans was a UK-based campervan conversion company since 1964 and still runs businesses today. Danbury made exceptional campers upon each vehicle on a VW Transporter chassis fitted with quality and eye-catching designs.
Holdsworth Motorhomes
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| Holdsworth Campervan based on T3 |
Holdsworth Motorhomes was a UK-based campervan conversion company running from 1968 to the mid-1990s. Holdsworth was one of the first UK campervan conversion companies to hold approval from Volkswagen.
Holdsworth Motorhomes design some outstanding campervan conversions that blended a nice combination of a sense of romance and adventure.
EZ Camper
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| EZ Camper Camper based on T1 (split-screen) |
EZ Camper starting in 1957 located in Loyal, Wisconsin running a business as a pop-up camper trailer builder. In the late 1960s or early 1970s, EZ Kamper expanded into van conversions and acquired a plant in Littlerock, California, they serve conversions for various models and brands of vans that were quite popular at that period, which one of them is the VW T1 bus.
EZ Camper's for sale and looking for a new owner
Riviera
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| Riviera Camper based on T1 (split-screen) |
Riviera Camper based in Oregon doing conversions from 1963 to 1967 for T1 also continued with high-top and pop-top styles for T2 and T3. Starting from a Volkswagen dealership in Beaverton, Oregon named Riviera Motors, it was difficult to bring in Westfalia campers, which at that time sold like hotcakes in the Pacific Northwest, but the VW factory didn't give it easily. To bring in a unit of Westfalia camper, dealers were required to bring in many pickups and panel vans, and that regulation was quite burdensome for many dealers at that time.
Finally, in 1963, Riviera Motors decided to build its own Wasty clone based on a panel van, and they did very well, then official production began in 1965 until the 3rd generation VW bus.
Riviera's for sale and looking for a new owner
Sundial
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| Sundial Camper based on T1 (split-screen) |
Sundial is a camper conversion company based in the US and is one of the most popular of the few American camper conversions to VW buses. Generally regarded as an "inferior" conversion in quality compared to the Westy (Westfalia). The rarity of the Sundial makes it quite valuable today.
Sundial's for sale and looking for a new owner
Sportsmobile
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| Sportsmobile Pop Top Camper based on T2 (Early Bay) |
Sportsmobile is a specialist conversion of vans based in the US. Founded in El Paso, Texas in 1961, it made camper conversions for a lot of brands including a VW bus starting from 1961 T1, T2, and onward. Sportsmobile is still operating today, the main business is still working on van conversion for all types of uses.
Sportmobile's for sale and looking for a new owner
Adventurewagen
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| Adventurewagen High Top Camper based on T2 (Early Bay) |
Adventurewagen is a product of the Adventure Campers builder based in California, US. they made camper conversions VW buses from the second generation onward. The Adventurewagens are of high-quality construction and claimed a better alternative than the Westfalia campers.
Adventurewagen offers better aerodynamics thanks to its high-top form, also roomy is possible to stand fully inside, and doesn't need to bother with setup when camping, all those considered advantages over other traditional forms of campervans.
Adventurewagen's for sale and looking for a new owner
Country Homes
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| Country Homes Camper based on T3 |
Country Homes Camper based in California stopped doing van conversions many years ago, but they still maintain their website for posterity and parts supply. The frugal and sensible layout of their VW campers is their mainstay. Some enthusiasm says the layout of the Country Homes Campers closely resembles the old Riviera conversion from Oregon.
TRAKKA
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| TRAKKA Campervan based on T3 |
TRAKKA is a Sydney, Australia-based designer, manufacturer, and retailer of high-end campervans, motorhomes, and 4x4 accessories, with over 50 years of experience and specializing in VW Transporter. TRAKKA is still running today, the main business is still working on the conversion of the van especially for Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz vans.
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