By William Coleman
Recently I had the absolute pleasure if speaking with someone who has been touring the world in his camper van for almost 50 years. After all this time he has now put together, perhaps, one of the most expensive VW Campervan ever.
Jeff Williams has had many amazing adventures throughout his travelling career and has seen some of the most amazing parts of the planet. Having clocked up thousands and thousands of miles he seems to have only just gotten started.
What got you into touring holidays?
When I left university in 1975, I bought an old Series IIA Landrover with a friend and we converted it to a campervan with a couple of beds in the back and a few cupboards. We kitted it out for an expedition and drove from Birmingham to Cape Town across the Sahara, through the Congo rainforest and then across the East African savannah. I met my wife, Nikki on this trip in Johannesburg and we travelled back up through East Africa to Nairobi. After a short break back in the UK we then carried on through the Middle East to Kathmandu and then back to the UK. The whole trip took 3 years but we got the touring bug and Nikki has always wanted to cross the Sahara. We’ve not managed to return to the Sahara yet, although we have done quite a few self-drive safaris in East and Southern Africa.
How comes you chose a VW camper and not a caravan or motorhome?
We wanted a campervan that we could use every day as our main long distance vehicle. Also the access to our house in St Ives is very narrow (2m max width) so anything bigger than a VW would not make it. We also wanted 4 wheel drive so that we could go off road and get back to Africa.
So what work has gone into this VW to make it one of the most expensive camper conversions?
We bought the van as a kombi with 4 motion and DSG with quite a few extras (diff lock, led lights, satnav, adaptive cruise control etc) and wanted to have some power so we went for the 204 HP engine. So the starting price was quite high. We did not want to carry gas so we have gone for a Wallas XCduo diesel hob for cooking. We wanted to be energy self-sufficient for wild camping so have a Clayton Lithium ion leisure battery that is charged by the solar panel on our roof and has an inverter so we have 240 volts for our kettle when we are wild camping. The lithium ion battery has twice the storage capacity of a lead acid battery for the same size. The whole set up means we have enough energy to run the fridge, lights and kettle without being hooked up to the mains.
We also wanted hot water so had to get a special hot water tank made up that fits under the floor and is heated by the engine coolant or an immersion. We have a drop down shower tent on the tailgate. We had a cold water tank made up that fits under one of the seats and has a 50 litre capacity.
We decided on a LWB van so that there was room for a swivel flushing toilet and extra storage for the longer trips we plan. We have a roof bed capable of sleeping 2 adults and two RIB seats that convert to 2 single beds or can slide together to make a double. The van is fitted with blinds and fly screens to keep out midges and mosquitoes (including over the sliding side door). We went for a bit of luxury with leather seats and had top quality converters at Ecowagon build the conversion.
Finally we decided to install VB air suspension so that lets us drop height a bit for low car parks and ferries, raise it when we go off road for better ground clearance and it has automatic levelling when we camp.
What makes this so touring home so unique?
Its versatility. We can use it for local shopping trips or long distance and have seats for 4 people. We can go on off road trips for several months at a time. It’s also small enough to get through narrow town streets and country lanes. The 4motion means we have less chance of getting stuck.
Are there any trips planned once you have finished all the upgrades?
We’re heading up to Scotland at Easter but our first big trip is to Iceland via the Faroe Islands. We are taking the ferry from Denmark and are planning a route over the mountain roads that are only accessible for 2-3 months in summer.
We would like to drive back to Cape Town along the west coast of Africa – more or less sticking to the coastline – and the take the van to Australia and New Zealand. Could take a few years to do all this!
