And that's what camper-vans essentially are; plain social suicides. They are as interesting and desirable as those depressing not-so-white-but-still-white-enough-to-be-called-white plastic garden-tables you find on discount in every cheapstore.
There hasn't been a single socially capable and/or stylish camper-van in history besides the original VW Type 2 "Kleinbus", but that was 60 years ago, and if you want to get there and back, a 50-something year old potential heap of massive problems is not the way to go. Not to worry though because now there's another one, and it's the original Kleinbus' grandson, or it's adopted brother from the UK, the VW Transporter Doubleback. As the name implies, it's a conversion provided by the company Doubleback for the VW Transporter. More specifically the 2.0TDI 140hp long wheel-base version.
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| A Transporter in town, a house-car mongrel in the wild |
Its cool-factor rises yet more of the fact that it has one main gadget, namely an automatically expandable back-compartment. For those short 45 seconds as it expands, you can justify feeling just that bit extra-special and important; the opposite of what a regular camper-van would make you feel.
Does this sound all too good to be true? If so, then here's how you know it's reality: getting one from the UK-based company that does the conversion will set you back about 88,000 dollars (55,000£ if you're British). In all fairness as cool as the Doubleback is it will never reach the original Kleinbus in desirability. Very much respect for the expandable back-compartment, though.
Watch this video below to see how this wacky thing works in real life:
-HS
Does the gypsy in you wake up when you look at the Transporter?
The VW Splitscreen camper will never be matched in beauty and what it stood for, I dream of owning one someday and hitting the open road with a group of friends and an infinite supply of Heiniken, who cares where we end up sleeping. This "transformer" is just plain ugly and dosent represent that freedom in any way. My uncle owned an old VW Camper and it brought smiles to everyone's faces no matter where he drove, he was like a celebrity.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the VW camper, it's untouchable when comes to style and mojo. If a car could have down's syndrome, the VW Camper would definately be patient no. 1, but in a good way.
ReplyDeleteYou know how there's always that one down's syndrome guy waving and smiling from across the street with such sincere friendliness, it makes you feel just generally happy? That's exactly how the Camper is, and the looks fit too. But also in a good way.
On the subject of the Transporter, well, it's a Transporter. What can you say? A van is a van. A van is not the latest in sex-appeal, but I think the T-sporter manages better than, lets say, a Ford Transit or a Vauxhall Vivaro.
You have to remember, the Doubleback is merely a curiosity. Nothing more but a cool gadget for the tech-whore, a bit like a Darth Vader imprinting toaster(http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/34412360-0304-4dba-94e1-24a373073fef/darth-vader-bread-imprinting-toaster -you might want to check that out it's hilariously unsensible and useless :D). But cool nevertheless.
-HS
Oh, you're living my dream! One of my life goals is to get a classic VW camper van and use it!
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