World's most expensive VW campervan
Could this be the world’s most expensive VW campervan?
This manic 500bhp VW campervan is a full road-ready model built for a private customer by German auto specialist TH Automobile.It was spotted by our motorhome team at the Dusseldorf Caravan Salon - the largest motorhome and caravan show in Europe – which runs until the end of the week.
This bespoke rear-engined, four-wheel-drive, campervan was enhanced by TH - a company that modifies by hand campervans and pick-ups based on the Volkswagen T5 and powered by either Porsche’s 996 or 997 drivelines and underpinned by Porsche's chassis technology.
It cost the private buyer a cool €250,000 (£208,000).
The internal layout is typical of many VW T5 campervans - it was built by German converter, SpaceCamper - but it's what is in the boot and under the body where the real interest lies.
After being converted by SpaceCamper, it was sent to TH for its power enhancements.
And that's where the magic starts.
Not since 1992 have German-built VW campers had their engines in the back, but that's all changed with the arrival of this T5-based SpaceCamper TH5.
This is no retro throwback, however, nor is it related to Brazilian-built Type 2s.
Instead, this is a current Transporter totally re-engineered – or should that be re-engined – with a Porsche 997 Turbo motor sat in the boot.
Not only that but this 500PS (493bhp) engine (up from 78bhp of the 1980s rear-engined Transporter or the 84 to 180PS of a standard T5) drives through all four wheels and is coupled to a Tiptronic gearbox that allows manual or fully automatic high-speed gear changes.
On the outside, apart from the large black alloys and duo-tone paint, the SpaceCamper looks pretty standard, while on the inside a Porsche steering wheel is one of the few aspects that marks this out from your average campervan.
That and its astronomical price. If you want something similar you'll need to find around 250,000 euro…
Which Motorhome magazine editor, Peter Vaughan, is pictured dreaming of what he would buy should his numbers come in.
