Hole Creative VW T5 Mk1

PRICE FROM £32,950 (new base vehicle) Berths 2 Travel seats 5

Hole Creative is an unusual company in the world of motorhomes – it’s métier is as much about design as about building campers.

The boss of this firm, Stuart Holes, has a background in product design and Hole Creative undertakes many tasks, including interior design and prototype model-making – even jewellery and bespoke stationery, to name but a few of its achievements.

The firm provides a range of services from design and planning campervan interiors, all the way up to producing the finished vehicle. Ever fancied some external graphics that no-one else has? Hole Creative can do that too.

All of which brings us to the subject of this test, the imaginatively named VW T5 Mk 1. This vehicle is kind of a prototype, kind of rolling test bed, but it’s a fully-functioning camper, packed with clever ideas and bags of style.

In fact, when I met up with the 'van (at Hole Creative’s Nuneaton base), it had just returned from a successful three-week tour of France, Hole family on board. Enough said.

What’s to say about the base vehicle? Not a lot really, as this one’s rather long in the tooth, but it does demonstrate that conversions can be carried out very successfully on customers’ own vehicles. Brand new VW campers will be based on the latest version of the T5, which sports 2-litre Euro V turbo-diesel motors that can be had in power outputs from 83bhp, all the way up to 178 with twin turbos. The auto transmission option brings seven speeds and silky smooth changes in the twin-clutch DSG unit. Fancy more adventurous travel? Then there’s four-wheel drive on VW’s extensive extras list. And, if your wallet can stand it, you can create a camper base with all the kit of a modern luxury conveyance. And that’s part of the point – the T5 is wonderfully car-like to drive and very suitable as an everyday, or sole vehicle.

To the conversion, and unsurprisingly, it’s based around a rear – crash-tested – twin-seatbelted bench seat that flattens easily to form a double bed. At just a tad under four feet wide, this bed is wider than some, but best occupied by two people who are not too broad in the beam.

Styling is very ‘young’, so it’s no surprise to find a powerful sound system with fancy amplifier and multiple speakers all neatly installed. Linings are in the oft-found felt material, but here it’s been used very creatively, incorporating speaker enclosures and VW logos, all covered with the stuff. Laser-cut acrylic plastic is used to create more logos that finish things off in style.

Modernity extends to the floor covering, which is in a funky honeycomb-style vinyl that sensibly extends up from the floor to create wipe-clean ‘skirting’ in the lounge. The cab features a two-person passenger pew, which makes this T5 into a five-seater.

The double seat swivels thanks to a ‘slidey plate’ system: undo thumb screws to release it, turn to face the living area – a plastic plate providing the slider – and replace the screws. Thanks to another side pew, the result is a five-seat lounge that’s very spacious.

The table opens to allow two to dine from the rear bench and the side seat – the swivelled cab seat is rather far away. I’d carry a free-standing table to solve this problem and provide outdoor dining into the bargain.

Aside from the funky design, all is pretty much standard fare for a VW camper, but things change when you inspect the services. This is very much a camping van, so the top-loading fridge is removable for use outside or on picnics. Cooking too, is done outside as a two-burner hob/grill slides out from the rear and is served by a little sink mounted in the offside rear corner – a removable water container above emptying directly into its stainless-steel bowl.

All this is simple and will be fun and effective to use, as long as the weather is dry – drive-away awnings are the thing with a campervan like this. Modern motorhome technology isn’t completely shunned, however, as inside there’s a great range of LED lighting and a big drop-down TV.

And in the cab, two digital meters constantly monitor both vehicle and leisure battery voltages – why doesn’t every motorcaravan have these fitted?

There is a more comprehensive review of this campervan in the December 2014 issue of Which Motorhome magazine, you can odrer a digital copy, which can be downloaded and read immediately, of Which Motorhome magazine by clicking here

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An innovative campervan from a new company, Hole Creative’s conversion should work well as a multi-use vehicle and weekend camper.