Full review

Words & photos: Peter Vaughan

The Standout Campers VW Crafter

This isn’t, perhaps, what you’d expect from a campervan based on Volkswagen’s big van, the Crafter, but then Standout Campers specialises in bespoke builds. This particular conversion was designed for a family with three kids and a Weimaraner dog, so it was never going to be your typical, run-of-the-mill conversion.

It started life as a medium-wheelbase 21-plate Crafter van, to which Standout Campers added flush, single-glazed, glass windows (more minibus in style than the usual double-glazed plastic motorhome windows). These give a larger daylight opening but are also quite heavily tinted and only include one small opening (sliding) section on the offside. Also adding a dash of style are a set of black multi-spoke alloy wheels, while BFGoodrich all-terrain tyres should reduce the chances of getting stuck on campsite grass.

More intriguingly, the VW Deep Ocean paintwork is contrasted by a bright yellow canvas for the pop-top, a Westdubs roof here that Standout Campers has adapted to fit the Crafter.

The roof bed

The Westdubs roof is there solely to provide a pair of the campervan’s quintet of berths, as there’s already full standing room inside. However, the company reports finding that the size of the Crafter appeals to families as it offers considerably more living space than a Transporter. Just as importantly, the roof bed is a good size, at 1.84m by 1.20m, although it comes with just a thin mattress on a solid, carpeted base, so will probably suit teenagers best. They’ll have no trouble scaling the long telescopic ladder to their upstairs bedroom.

The interior

Down below, you might have expected a campervan of this size to have a walk-in washroom but here you’ll be reliant on campsite facilities instead.

What you do get is a fixed bed across the back, with the large space underneath divided into two zones. At the front, accessed by a sliding door is the dog kennel – the circular ‘window’ in the door, perhaps, giving away that this isn’t just locker space. Then, reached through the rear barn doors, is a large garage for all the family’s outdoor gear. The space measures 1.22m by 0.76m with headroom of 0.86m.

What’s included

 The large garage also includes a locker at the nearside for the twin 100Ah lithium leisure batteries, plus an external shower. Those are the more premium aspects but, looking very utilitarian, are the windowless rear doors which are largely untrimmed.

What it doesn’t fit is a spare wheel as the company directors are former firemen who have witnessed accidents involving people changing tyres at the roadside. Instead, it uses the spare wheel well to accommodate a 68-litre fresh water tank, while a 12-litre gas tank is also underslung. An external barbecue point is fitted, too.

The bed

The untrimmed rear doors are disappointing as you’ll be sleeping against these uninsulated metal panels in the rear bed. The mattress is 1.84m by 1.36m but Standout Campers says it often fits rear flare panels to allow for a longer transverse bed.

Inside, the conversion retains the Crafter’s double passenger cab seat, to give the five seatbelts required to go with five berths. Here, though, it swivels to face the table and a rear passenger seat made by Diamond Engineering. This bench slides forward and folds flat in one very simple action to create a 1.78m by 0.87m bed.

The kitchen

Completing the layout, the kitchen is adjacent to the large sliding door. There’s a Dometic combination hob and sink unit, just as you’d see in a smaller VW, as well as plenty of cupboards. What’s unusual is that the cooler isn’t in the galley but under the back seat, where a 30-litre Alpicool drawer fridge is installed. But then that’s the beauty of a bespoke-built campervan – you can have whatever you want.

Where to buy

This converter sells directly from its factory at Chivenor Cross, near Barnstaple in north Devon. It also exhibits at some of the specialist VW campervan events, such as Busfest.