This article (link below) ain’t wrong, dear worst-reader. It ain’t wrong because it applies to the majority of camper vans on the market. I guess. You know. If you’re into that sort of thing.
Here in #Eurowasteland I can confirm that the camper-craze, including prices, with or without Covid, has to break soon. But will prices fall significantly? Worst-writer doubts it. But. The article forgets one very important thing. At least in #Eurowasteland there is an alternative class of camper van that it has completely missed, more on that here.
I’m worst-writing, of course, about the cult vehicle aka camper-van known as the VW Bulli? Now. This class of van is also made by Mercedes (called the Marco Polo, which I check-out) and there’s also one by Opel, Toyota, among others. But the VW is the bomb IMHO. In fact. VW has been making this camper van–in the same basic design–since the friggin 1950s. It’s secret sauce? It is just a car. In other worst-words. The only time where this thing isn’t a car–at least on #Eurowasteland roads–is if you’re trying to pass through some alleyway in a small town in Italy and the only vehicle that can fit is a Fiat 500 (did you miss the pic above). And don’t you know. I just traded in a Mini Clubman to buy a Bulli camper because I wanted something that transcends the camping crazies. That’s right, baby. Transcends enough that I only have to worry once or twice a year while traveling #Eurowasteland about how to avoid a street that can only fit a Fiat 500. Tell that to most mobile-camper nuts.
Ok. The Bulli is über expensive. It has limited space–compared to the big guns of mobile home life. But now that I’ve been using it for the past six weeks, camping regularly, it actually has too much space for my needs. Then there’s the idear that it’s not officially for sale in most countries. I think, since the T5 version–I bought the T6.1 version–it’s only available with a diesel motor, which is probably the reason you can’t get one officially in North America, although I’ve heard that some really really really expensive homogenised imports are available. Although I would have gladly purchased the ID-Buzz, VW’s new electric version, its camper configuration isn’t gonna be ready until 2025. So I made the jump anywho–diesel cost be damned. And get this, dear worst-reader. The thing that makes the Bulli so awesome is that it’s actually no bigger than an SUV. Even when it’s equipped with a pop-up roof, it fits in most garages (in the down position, of course), all parking lots and even the occasional small street in whatever medieval #Eurowasteland town.
And one other thing about diesel. I would gladly go full electric–if I could. It’s just not feasible for me right now. Or am I the only feeling the tension once again (compared to how the Dotcom boom had to give way to the old-economy at the end of the 90s). Tesla and electric cars be damned, don’t you know. Governments just aren’t doing enough to push these things through. That’s right. How do you think American car makers did it when mobility went from the horse-n-buggy to the auto-mobile? Do you think the Musks of that day did it all by themselves? Or did government build the roads for them? Did government, with its military might secure natural resources around the world for petrol and tyres? Of course we all know how far the likes of Musk & Co. are gonna milk us #consumetosurvive schmucks as we lust for the future. Or? But I’m also confident that diesel (and petrol) is gonna be around for a long time–with more and more environmental improvements. It’s sometimes called a free market. I guess. Anywho.
When the time is right, let’s see what offer I get to trade-in my diesel Wunder-van and then move on to the ID Buzz. I’m willing when the market is able.
Rant on.
-T
SEEINGLAND 