Their journey so far...

Growing up I always wanted a campervan, and it had to be a Volkswagen. Our family had a Type 1 Beetle and I loved its character, sense of fun and uniqueness. So my first van was a 1970 VW bay window which took me on some awesome adventures. However after 10 years, numerous breakdowns, constant maintenance and the stress of ‘are we going to get there’, prompted me to start looking for a modern day replacement.

We trawled dozens of websites and went to the campervan show at the NEC (twice) in a quest to find a company to build our dream van. We knew we wanted another Volkswagen. A T6 would be perfect for us: plenty of room to live comfortably but small enough to discreetly park up, and get under the height barriers at the most out of the way beach car parks.

All of the companies we found seemed so generic, none gave us the feeling that they could create a van that felt like an original, a one off, that was truly our van. We were almost at a loss when a friend told me about Retrofitted. As soon as I looked at their website, I felt the excitement kick in…their ideas looked fresh and unique and maybe just what we were after. We didn't hesitate in making an appointment to visit their workshop.

I think our minds were made up within minutes that we wanted Retrofitted to build our van. We hadn't seen any other company offering a U shape layout in a T6, and immediately loved what a large and social living area (and plenty of storage space underneath the benches) it made. The quality of the materials, the beautiful birch and bamboo finish and obvious high quality of craftsmanship sold itself really.

We were able share our ideas and Retrofitted took these and ran with them… coming up with a bespoke van for us, with so many individual and unique touches. Retrofitted made the whole process so straightforward and enjoyable, with updates and progress reports. In less than 3 months from first visiting their workshop, we collected our new van. A week later we were on the road to the Highlands of Scotland! The high tech under the beautiful trim give us the best of both worlds…leisure batteries and solar panels allowing us to survive off grid in some truly wild spots, and an electric hook up for those days when we want to just chill out at a campsite. We have a small toilet that fits in a drawer under the bench, and a portable solar shower that we can set up, out of the back of the van.

Nothing beats the freedom of a van and waking up on a cliff top, beside a loch or in a forest. Some days we will just make a coffee in the van and chill…even though it's only parked up on our driveway.

I never thought a modern van would give me the joy I had when driving my 50 year old vintage van…but Retrofitted have managed this. Not only do we now have a van that can drive at 70mph, tackle steep hills and camp in all year round (did I mention the cosy heater?)…but we have a van that is of exceptional quality, with bags of character and comfort and it makes us beam with pride that this is our van.

The best purchase of our lives? Absolutely. Thank you Retrofitted.

"From the moment we sat in one of their vans we knew they had to build our campervan. They made the process feel like a collaboration, took on board our ideas, and developed them, with their own unique creativity…"

Mark and Anna