CamperKing Le Mans campervan

Base vehicle: VW Transporter Price from: £55,000 Berths: 4 Travel seats: 5/6 Length: 4.90m Width: 1.90m Height: 2.07m Gross weight: 2,800kg

Words & photos: Peter Vaughan

The CamperKing Le Mans

CamperKing’s entirely VW Transporter-based range includes the usual array of side kitchen conversions, all built on preregistered panel vans (usually with between 5k and 30k on the clock), avoiding any requirements for Type Approval. Delivery mileage vehicles are also available, however, and the company intends to type approve its conversions in the future, so that it can convert unregistered vans.

Most are based on the lighter T28 version of the T6.1, unless the DSG automatic gearbox is required, in which case the T30 (3,000kg) van is selected. Typically, the entry-level Startline van is used (spot the unpainted bumpers), but a Business Pack is added to give you the benefit of cab air-conditioning. This is a typical example, with the 110PS engine, five-speed manual gearbox, rear barn doors (rather than a tailgate) and registered on a 21-plate.

It’s the Le Mans featured here, which has a wider rear seat than the entry-level St Tropez and the Monte Carlo. Unlike those models, however, it is only available in short-wheelbase form. The compact, sub-5m length is still the most popular size for VWs, though, and the alloy wheels and roll-out awning give the vehicle more of a leisure look. The side windows are mostly fixed but include one small, recessed opening section on the offside.

The roof

The rear-hinged rising roof is from PopTops UK but here, too, ventilation is lacking, with just a tiny strip of flyscreen at the top of the roof canvas, at the front, and even this can be covered over with a Velcro’d strip of material. None of the three windows in the pop-top open, so expect condensation issues, especially when cooking.

The roof does include a bed – 1.86m by 1.09m with a thin mattress on a solid base panel (an upgraded mattress is optional).

The interior

Down below, the wide rear seat – from Titan Beds – is more impressive. It has a neat reclined position for chilling out on site, Isofix for two child seats and a trio of head restraints. Remove those and it simply pulls forward to make a flat bed, measuring 1.82m by 1.27m.

This example had a single swivelling passenger seat, which is massively preferable to an awkward-to-rotate double bench, but that option is available if you must have six belted seats (in which case, you’ll probably need a T30 or T32 van for adequate payload). There’s a lockable safe under the cab seat and two petite tables are provided for mealtimes.

The kitchen

The L-shaped galley widens out behind the driver, where you’ll find a combination sink and single- burner gas hob from Can. Below here is the 51-litre Vitrifrigo compressor fridge. The kitchen’s best feature is its long worktop (complete with two USBs and two 230V sockets, as well as a wireless phone charger).

Storage in the kitchen is limited to two top lockers over the window and two unshelved cupboards behind tambour doors (below which, the 20-litre water tank is built-in).

Storage

Unusually, the Le Mans also has a wine rack but we’d recommend that bottles should be secured for travel.

The lack of a door on the front-facing locker above the rear seat renders this impractical for use while driving but there is a usefully large drawer under the back seat. There’s more storage in the boot area, where the rear section of the bed can be left flat (to accommodate bedding, etc) or raised vertically to carry taller loads.

It’s a pity, though, that the floor here is carpeted – not ideal in the zone where walking boots and a soggy mains lead are likely to be kept. Alongside this area, what appears at first to be a wardrobe, opens to reveal only the RCD and habitation fusebox, not more storage.

Below, in the corner, is the gas compartment for a Campingaz cylinder.

Other features include more USBs alongside the rear seat, a 110Ah leisure battery, an array of LED lighting and an umbrella rack.

Where to buy

CamperKing sells direct from its showrooms in Banbury, where at time of writing it claimed to have 64 vehicles converted and ready to drive away. All conversions are covered by a 12-month warranty, which is renewed every time you return for a habitation check.

But you don’t have to buy direct – CamperKing currently lists 13 dealers on its website, stretching from Your Camper in Glasgow down to the two branches of Dolphin Motorhomes, in Dorset and Hampshire.