| [ Total Views: 1927 | Total Replies: 14 | Thread Id: 102618 ] |
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 PorscheKombi
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| posted on July 1st, 2013 at 08:20 PM |
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Why so few camping interiors?
So, having been in Oz for 3months (as of tomorrow) and looking at the fab selection of all Vw's you have out here I have noticed a big difference
betweeen here and back in the UK. the very few number of Kombi's with camping interiors.
Back in the UK i would say that the high majority of busses are running camping interiors - be it a simple rock and roll bed or full on camping
interior with cupboards and tables - some with fridges too.
So it begs the question, how come there are so few out here. considering the weather is SOOOO much better - both temperature and consistancy of good
weather.
is it because:
people dont camp that much?
its too hot to camp in the busses?
there was never a very good conversion company like Westy, dormobile, danbury, viking etc.?
are there many companies that retro fit full camping interiors. there are probably 30-50 companies in the uk who upholster and or retrofit camping
interiors.
I was originally thinking about getting another bus out here to continue our love for camping and exploring with vw friends, but if there arent many
camping interiors out there i may not be restricted to a bus 
NaFe
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PorscheKombi
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| posted on July 1st, 2013 at 08:24 PM |
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Sorry Mods, probably best to be in general chit chat. it was originally meant for people with buses, but thinking about it its more for everyones
opinion.
NaFe
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 barls
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| posted on July 1st, 2013 at 08:45 PM |
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sorted
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helbus
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| posted on July 1st, 2013 at 09:41 PM |
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Our bus has no camping interior. We always pitched a tent
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bitemeoz
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| posted on July 1st, 2013 at 10:23 PM |
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Too HAWT
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PorscheKombi
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| posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 08:27 AM |
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so its genuinely because its too hot sleeping in the busses.
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 matberry
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| posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 08:30 AM |
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There are many campers in Oz. Check out how many show up at shows, will give you a gauge as to quantity.
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hellbugged
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| posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 08:58 AM |
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No its not too hot to sleep in a bus 
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vlad01
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| posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 04:07 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by helbus
Our bus has no camping interior. We always pitched a tent
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yup.
The UK market is full of campers and caravans and what not.
most of the traffic in UK is caravans right?
Here we do it more outdoorsy.
71 notchback,
Past owner of, 70 NB, 73 SB and 72 FB TLE |
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DubbyDo
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| posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 04:28 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by hellbugged
No its not too hot to sleep in a bus
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Thank Gawd!! Thought we were going to have to wait till winter next year before starting our trip
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DieHard1963Fan
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| posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 05:38 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by PorscheKombi
there was never a very good conversion company like Westy, dormobile, danbury, viking etc.?
are there many companies that retro fit full camping interiors. there are probably 30-50 companies in the uk who upholster and or retrofit camping
interiors.
NaFe
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Sopru is the company who did the factory campers out here, and they were a great fitout (but becoming increasingly rare in their original form, There
were plenty of others as well, so there was no shortage of them back in the day.
There are also a bucketload of companies who will do fitouts for them nowadays too, based on an original layout, or anything you can imagine 
Call stockers boring if you want, but VW sure sold a lot of them that way
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tweety
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| posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 10:03 PM |
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Campervans Vs caravans? Caravans you can leave it at home for the majority of the year and enjoy fuel savings. A campervan like a snail, you gotta
carry that weight around all year long. Maybe thats a good reason.
But I can recall in the 70's the number of Kombi camper/pop top units around was staggering not to mention the Hi-aces even Commers. Also popular
were the glide on vans for utes and trays now not so popular- hard to find a glide on builder now.
Tenting is becoming more popular now. Look in caravan parks during school holidays, tents everywhere. Most of the van owners are grey nomads. That
leaves the backpackers and tourists that buy Kombis and Toyota vans that often are resold to newly arrived tourists. There are car parks in Sydney
where they conregate to sell their vans to new arrivals.
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kombi1976
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| posted on July 3rd, 2013 at 01:43 PM |
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There was a time when Aussies used caravans a HEAP and in the 70s VW Campers like the Sopru and Campmobile conversions were very popular. But tents
have got better and VW campers don't do amazing mileage or speed on the freeway and holiday destinations can be a long away in Australia. More people
have holiday homes and caravans have got bigger as have modern camper vans. If people buy new campers they're after something the size of a VW
Crafter or the like. And even a modern Caravelle conversion is over the $100k mark. Most guys on the Splitty scene have Rock'n'Roll beds and I'd
like a couple of cupboards and table in my next Splitty project but the culture is different here.
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waveman1500
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| posted on July 3rd, 2013 at 11:28 PM |
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It's not a VW, but here's my Australian camping vehicle, which I sold earlier this year:
No need for a campervan when you can just as happily roll a swag out!
If I was going on a big trip (at least 6 months plus) with a girlfriend/wife (highly unlikely!) then I would consider buying a campervan, but for
weekend use they are too much money and too impractical for a daily driver due to their high fuel use and slow performance. A lot more people go for
4wds these days.
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Phil74Camper
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| posted on July 4th, 2013 at 07:25 AM |
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Back in the 1970s there were plenty of companies converting VW Kombis to campervans. As Diehard said, Sopru Pty Ltd were the official converters. They
were an Adelaide-based company formed by Eric Sopru, who first began converting VWs in the late 1960s, then set up a second shop in Melbourne.
Sydney's LNC Industries (owners of VW Australia then) bought 50% of Sopru in 1971 and 100% in 1973, and opened a new headquarters and workshop in
Beaconsfield st Auburn. Being owned by LNC, they were the 'official' converters, with brand new Sopru Campmobiles sold new through VW dealers with
full VW Australia warranty. From 1971 to 1979 VW sold over 12,000 VW Sopru Campmobiles in Australia, the biggest selling campervan in Australian
history.
Dormobile was also an 'official' converter for a few years, with a workshop in Canberra and in Sydney (at Camperdown, next to Lanock Motors). Their
conversions had a side-lifting roof rather than the 'straight up' roof the Soprus had. They also had LNC VW warranty and parts support. In the VW
Australia parts catalogues of the day, Sopru and Dormobile had VW part numbers that began with CMP and DOR.
There were also numerous aftermarket 'non-factory' converters, such as Swagman, Trakka van, Discoverer (John Terry the Kombi King), Sunliner and
Camperize. Some of these still exist today, making large motorhomes or caravans. Trakka (based at Mt Kuring Gai) is now the 'official' VW converter
of new T5 and Crafter vans, due to the VW-built California van not meeting Australian Design Rules.
Percentage-wise, bewteem 1969 and 1979 VW sold around 64,000 VW Commercials in Australia, of which 12,000 were Campmobiles. The rest - the majority -
were the workhorses, the delivery vans, pickups and window Kombis. In 1975 VW sold 8,974 Commercials, more than Toyota sells Hiaces or Hyundai sells
iLoads today.
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