Knights Custom Mountain Tourer campervan

The ultimate rear kitchen T6.1 conversion?

Words & photos: Peter Vaughan

The Knights Custom Mountain Tourer

The idea of a VW Transporter campervan with a rear kitchen and cassette toilet is nothing new but you can trust Lincolnshire-based Knights Custom Conversions to add its own spice to the recipe.

This is a converter that’s making its mark with some very appealing high-end campers. Here is its latest model, the Mountain Tourer, which eschews the bodykit and big wheels style for something much more subtle, and very OEM. 

With VW’s own 17in Davenport alloys, fully flush windows and LED headlights, it’s how a California might look if you could have a long-wheelbase version. Or one with twin sliding doors. Or a rear kitchen. Or a front-hinged pop-top…

The spec

As usual, Knights uses only the best brands for the components here, so the roof is from Reimo – and has roof rails and holders for two surfboards, as well as a 350W solar panel. 

There’s a Thule awning and bike rack, too, plus neat details like the mains hook-up point hidden behind the grille’s VW roundel. The exterior shower point is equally well concealed behind a panel below the offside tail light. 

Of course, with a £95k price tag (as shown, including all the toys), you’d expect a high-spec base vehicle and this Bay Leaf Green Highline campervan doesn’t disappoint. It’s a T32 to offer maximum payload, while the  150PS engine and DSG automatic transmission is a desirable combination. Then there are extras such as sat-nav and heated cab seats with factory swivels. 

The bed

The factory swivel feature enables the front seats to face inwards when making the bed, so Knights has been able to create a 2m-long mattress that’s not encumbered by the steering wheel.

Bed make-up also involves flattening the rear RIB Neptune seats and sliding them together, to make a good-sized double bed that will be enhanced with a Duvalay mattress topper. Or, of course, you can have twin beds and a centre aisle, if you prefer. 

The roof bed

Where the Mountain Tourer really differs from the norm is in having a pair of sliding doors that close off this bedroom from the kitchen (and also provide privacy for the rear toilet). With the roof bed above pulled down, it’s also a cosy space that will be easy to keep warm.

And that upper bed sits on a sprung base for comfort and has a ladder to make reaching it easier. Of course, with the doors closed downstairs, upstairs sleepers can also have private access to the loo.

The lounge

In ‘day mode’, the front lounge is conventional, with four individual seats and two round swivel tables mounted on the B-pillars. Drawers provide convenient storage under each seat and the upholstery is a luxurious mix of Nappa leather and Aquaclean-treated suede, while the cab seats are upgraded with deeper side bolsters. But it’s the twin sliding doors that are the real USP – a real boon for daily driving and continental holidays.

The kitchen

There’s more of Knights’ no-expense-spared approach in the rear kitchen, where all-electric cooking is enabled by a Clayton 3,000W pure sine wave inverter. In the counter is a single-ring Tefal induction hob, while most of your cooking is likely to instead be via the Neff combined microwave, grill and air fryer – is that a first in a VW campervan? 

There’s plenty of kitchen storage, as well as a real wood worktop, but already the Mountain Tourer’s creator, Jonathan Nightingale, is looking to improve it by moving the sink further forward for better access.

All the rest

Other features of this stylish camper include a Webasto Thermo Top 5.5kW diesel-fired heater combined with a boiler that supplies hot water to the sink’s hose-type tap and the outside shower, plus a Vanshades pod that provides neat storage for outdoor chairs on the inside of the rear tailgate.

Where to buy

You can only get a Knights Custom Conversions camper from the factory near Spalding in Lincolnshire.

Most models are built to order and tailored to the customers’ individual requirements.

It offers a range of VW T6.1 campers – the Ocean Explorer, Prestige Tourer, Fu-Tourer and Woodland Adventure, all with side kitchen layouts, and the Mountain Peak with a rear galley and toilet and shower. Then, there are the Kombination Kombi and Grand Tourer with slide-out rear galley units.