Best Volkswagen Campervan
As popular as ever, there's no denying that if you're in the market for a VW T6.1 campervan, nothing else will do.
Best Volkswagen Campervan 2025
Knights Custom Prestige Tourer Plus LWB
For Knights Custom Conversions it has been a case of ‘close but no cigar’ over the last couple of years. This year, however, the planets have aligned for this bespoke Lincolnshire converter as the whole judging panel was blown away by its latest top-of-the-range conversion, the Prestige Tourer Plus, based on a long-wheelbase T6.1. You don’t have to look long and hard at this camper to realise that it’s something special.
The quality of finish is immediately obvious, as is the passion behind each and every one of the vehicles designed by Jon Nightingale, the founder of Knights. Although this converter offers a range of standard vehicles, we suspect that none ever leaves the Fenland industrial unit quite the same – each one is tailored to its customer’s tastes, spec and budget. Of course, if you tick a lot of options – as on this show model – you will end up with a substantial bill (totalling £99,595 in this instance). But you needn’t go that far, with LWB conversion-only costs (including the pop-top) starting at £35,820, which seems competitive considering the spec.
For a start, the Prestige Tourer Plus is a gas-free conversion with Clayton Power LPS II electrical system, including a 100Ah lithium battery, 50A AC Charger, 50A DC Charger, 2,500W inverter, remote display with 12V and 230V switches and jump start feature for the base vehicle battery. Cooking is on a Sterling Power induction hob and there’s a 43-litre Vitrifrigo top-loading fridge, so you can get to the milk when the bed is down.
But, perhaps, we’re getting ahead of ourselves because this camper includes stuff you can’t see, like 100mm Dodo Thermo Fleece insulation and 2mm Silent Coat sound deadening. Externally, Knights uses only the top-quality Reimo Easy-Fit pop-top with sprung roof bed, while here that’s upgraded to fully electric operation.
The seat system is from Reimo, too – shown with £3,600-worth of fabulous Nappa leather. It’s the 1,155mm-wide Variotech 3000 unit mounted on bonded rails, so it can slide fore and aft as well as having three seatbelts. Of course, the seat height is more comfortable than other systems and bed-making is a cinch, while a large drawer underneath offers practical storage. Isofix is included, too.
Then, in the cab, the individual seats have a Phantom upgrade for better comfort. The long, low-level furniture ensures more daylight in the camper and increased all-round visibility but, again, it’s the quality that’s the star, from the edge-banded ABS trims to the domestic-quality soft-closing runners on the drawers (there are plenty of drawers, too) and the solid wood worktops. Items like the printed splashback and night sky design on the underside of the roof bed show how bespoke a Knights camper can be.
Then there are options like the Momo alloys, VB air suspension, external shower, Webasto heating, 330W solar panel and more fitted here, but even a more modestly spec’d example will feel special.
Fact File
Highly commended
CMC HemBil Go-Camper
This isn’t a Transporter-based conversion but one built on the car-like Caddy. So, the driver sits lower, which will appeal to those unfamiliar with driving a van. And, if you need your camper to be a car, too, then the five belted seats and twin sliding doors make a strong case for the Go-Camper (priced from only £49,500). At just 1.92m high with the roof down, it’ll also fit into most car parks and even domestic garages.
Obviously, this is more of a weekender, but it uses its compact interior cleverly. There’s a single-burner hob, 20-litre fridge and a small sink, while the Reimo pop-top gives over 2m headroom. There’s a roof bed, too, as well as the downstairs berth.
Highly commended
Incline Campers Classic
This family-run company only started out in 2021 but has already impressed us, starting with the fact that it developed its own pop-top, which it had M1-tested at the Millbrook Proving Ground. There’s nothing new about the layout, but Incline aims to produce a fully spec’d camper on a good used VW for £45k. And that price doesn’t indicate any corner-cutting in terms of finish or fittings. It uses an RIB seat, Vanshades blinds and a Loc8 table that stores inside the sliding door. It adds gloss black exterior details, 20in alloys and even adjusts the rear springs to ensure that the camper sits level. The sliding
windows are flush-fit and Incline’s in-house furniture is all CNC-cut and edge-banded.
View the rest of the awards
The Out & About Live Campervan Awards take every campervan launched for the new season into consideration, with our judges travelling to manufacturers and converters across Europe to discover hidden gems and exceptional innovation. Each award winner must pass a thorough examination from editors with decades of experience. Discover the rest of the award winners here!
