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If you were to transport a VW Camper owner in the 1950s through time to the present day, they would scarcely believe how far Volkswagen’s basic commercial vehicles have progressed. Let alone just how advanced and sophisticated they’ve become inside, particularly those kitted out for life on the road.
What started out as Spartan machines providing just the bare necessities for camping have become palaces on wheels, offering levels of luxury and technology that, not so long ago, many people would have been delighted to have in their actual homes. Or at least in a hotel room.
But while today’s VW Campers are broadly similar in what they’re designed to do, the evolution from the classic models shows up some fascinating quirks and idiosyncratic options that appeared 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 magazine, a publication sent to dealerships, the company previewed what it called a , with a mocked-up camping-style interior of beds, seating and cupboards, plus windows covered by press-stud curtains. But it seems the manufacturer decided not to take the idea
