Internal affairs
If you were to transport a Volkswagen Camper owner of 1950s or 1960s through time to the present day, he or she would be amazed at how far VW’s basic commercial vehicles had progressed.
And how advanced and sophisticated they’d become inside, especially those kitted out for life on the road. What started out as quite Spartan machines providing just the bare necessities for camping have become virtual palaces on wheels, offering levels of luxury and technology that, not so long ago, many people would have just been delighted to have in their actual homes. But while VW Campers today may be broadly similar in what they do and how they do it, the classic models showed some fascinating quirks and idiosyncratic options along the way.
Who was the first to kit out a Type 2 as a Camper is a bone of some contention.
In Volkswagen’s own November 1951 VW Informationen magazine, a publication sent to dealerships, the company did preview what it called a Wohnwagen, with a mocked up camping style interior of beds, seating and cupboards, plus windows covered by press stud curtains. But it seems that it decided not to go any further with the Wohnwagen though – possibly because others already had the task well in hand.
First camper?
Some believe that it was a dealer
