Campervan design is tricky and getting started is the first hurdle most people seem to blunder.
Working out what you’re actually going to use a campervan for is a good place to start when designing a vehicle. Everyone is going to be different.
Requirements for a retired couple will be quite different to those of ,say, a moneyed Essex brick layer.
The former will prefer to use most of their available space for a toilet and shower suite whilst the latter will opt to fill his VW van with bassbins, blue LEDs, hair-gel and David Guetta CDs.
Tailoring the van to meet your needs revolves entirely around where you plan to go and what you plan on doing when you get there.
The retirees are likely to be found on quiet campsites discussing bladder problems while the VW owner is going to be parked up in Weston-Super-Mare searching for severely eyebrowed girls into which to insert his finger.
Both, however, will ultimately want to watch telly.
Because nothing screams freedom like watching TV in a stationary vehicle.
Campervan Design Summary
To summarise what my campervan design needs to provide:
“A van that a family of 4 could spend a week inside and not want to kill each other”
Plus some surfing.
That’s pretty much it.
The goal is to build a camper van inside which you could spend a rainy, windswept Britsh holiday and still have a good time. It’s still got to tick all the usual boxes of praciticality but it’s got to be a nice thing to actually inhabit. Nobody designs boat interiors or houses to look like felt lined margarine tubs so there’s plenty of places to draw inspiration from.
If you live in the UK the chances of enjoying a sunny jaunt on these shores is pretty much bugger all so this is not going to be a van in which you sit.
This must be a space in which you can live.
And not kill anyone.
I would like to need to start out with a mini van because I have to have an automatic sliding door with a ramp for a small scooter that can turn around on a dime. It can serve as one of the chairs once it is strapped down in place. Once inside the van, I am able to get off the scooter and walk around. I’m looking at mini vans with raised roofs, possibly a ford transit or other mini vans but there has to be some kind of ramp or lift for the scooter and an automatic door. I have been told that the doors on the larger vans are not automatic at this time. The RV only needs to sleep one or two people at the most. I live in the United States, but I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for such a design for the handicap vehicle.