Volkswagon LT
My gorgeous converted ambulance Campervan/motorhome needs a new home. In short, she is a complete one-off. Designed by a man to convince his wife that van life is a win-move: the van has high specs throughout with no expense spared on the quality of the electrics, fixtures, fittings, and style. I’d call her boho-chic but that sounds too generic for what she actually is. The partner being wooed by the making of this van was a Japanese sculptor, so the kidney-shaped light fittings on the ceiling are designed by her and give a stylish feel to looking up. Plus the multiple lighting options make for a wonderful mood to fit what you want to create. The whole look has a minimalist Japanese design that shares the attributes of the Scandi look that everyone loves. She feels spacious, even when fully loaded, and is an apartment on wheels.
The space is split into two vibes:
1) Bedroom: with light grey walls around, a lovely big tinted window and an adjustable bedside lamp, a clean set of 4 stained dark green wood cupboards overhead on the cab side, with slow-close mechanisms. The bed is a big full-size double with room for tall people. It has a memory foam double mattress that folds into a sofa bed on a fixed-frame with loads of storage for sports gear and other big stuff. Above the bed there’s a skylight with mozzie net and blackout options as well as an opening for air circulation. Under the bed are now 2 layers of deep storage, each accessible with clip-away doors on the front accessible from the living space, and two with lids for easy access from the bed. I’ve added another layer of storage since these photos.
2) Living space: clad with tongue and groove, the finish is lush and homely. You have a kitchen with 4 hobs, a 60 litre fridge-freezer with 3-way variable gas, electric or mains power (current fridge working on 12v atm – brand new fridge ordered, awaiting delivery). A deep square sink and silver arch tap pours water direct from the 70 litre tank on one side and filtered water on the other. I also installed a showerhead attachment that easily goes out of the detachable window and fixes outside to wash off the salt from all your sea swims without bringing any inside the van. 😉 The sink is to the far left of a big yellow worktop space offering heaps of prep space for food and living, with a stylish wooden lip that houses two sets of sliding 4 drawers that can keep food, cooking, living and sports gear as needed. There is a magnet door under the sink cupboard that has housed the portable loo (loo not included in sale). The yellow worktop runs to the 4 hobs on the right-hand side. It’s a camber-chef’s kitchen! I’ve even used a dutch oven to make cakes and pizzas in that has worked a treat! On the other side of the van is a flip up table, which now has legless hinges (I’ll provide extra pics of this later this week) and two Japanese chairs with stylish green cushions. The green brings together the colour theme for the cupboards overhead in the bedroom and the double cupboard over the table. The chairs being separate mean you can move these around as you like, or have them out of the way if you fancy doing some yoga inside at any point so the whole floor is clear. The floor and head room in the van is a rare and precious feeling. I also have an upright bike rack that is rigged indoors, can me flipped from being secured across one of the back doors (to save room) and if your back doors want to be open, the bike can rotate easily to be secured on the side wall in the doorway cavity so it’s out of the way, but it’s indoors – and so it secure enough to bring your nice bike with you on the road! The bike rack hides under the linen macrame curtains when you’re indoors. When it’s sunny you can open up the two back doors full and clip in the hammock seat and sit with nature as your garden! With the back doors open, the big back step is an easy additional bench and adds a ‘garden feature’, and the curtains offer a lovely feeling of privacy while you keep access to the view, and the sun!
All receipts and some additional conversion photos are available on viewing.
Additional pics of the bike rack and new table hinge coming very soon! I’ll add them to the post so come back and check over the next few days.
The van had a full service on 24/6/2023. MOT expires 24/6/2024. Taxed until June 2024 too. Only 137k miles.
2 previous owners, the couple who did most of it up, and West Yorkshire ambulance service.
Full Re-spray in Peacock Blue
Summer of 2023 I had her re-sprayed a dark turquoise with mat finish durable vehicle paint, in a ‘peacock blue’ colour, by a guy who does up vans professionally. I also have some touch-up paint in the same colour if you ever you need it.
Storage
Being a paddleboarder, diver, and yoga teacher I doubled the storage under the bed so I could bring my yoga mats and watersports gear with me while still having plenty of storage left to live comfortably. So I doubled the height of the bed, and the queen-size special sofa-bed mattress is perfect for the campervan and fits easily, so it also swivels to become a sofa, which is great for comfort and comes in handy for guests. There is still plenty of headroom when you sit and there’s an adjustable LED bedside light for reading before bed.
Shower
I wanted to be able to rinse off salt without it getting in the van so I installed an external shower head with a privacy cubicle. It’s just a cold shower directly from the 70-litre water tank. I am a health advocate and cold water gives us 200 times the dopamine than a hot shower, plus it’s refreshing in the summertime. The cubicle is the same colour as the van, insulated and reinforced so you can shower in private outside. Or simply rise off in your swimmers straight out of the sea. The 70-litre water tank usually lasts me 2-4 weeks.
Seating
Macrame Hammock Seat with a View. One of my fave things to do is to sit with my coffee and overlook a glorious view of nature. So I installed a hanging macrame chair that allows you to rest your legs on the floor if you like, or swing them off the back when you have both rear doors open – and nature is your garden! Utterly glorious. Also great when friends are sitting on the back step as well as on the sofa bed inside the van. I’ve had dinner for ten in there before overlooking the beach. The hammock seat is built through a reinforced steel panel on the roof with fittings to withstand 240 kg weight and is specifically hinged to hang securely and move freely.
Flip up wooden table with legless hinges
There is ample surface area in the van for cooking and living so I don’t always need the table. It’s a varnished wood fold away so you can use it for hosting dinner or remote working as you like and wipes clean easily. There are two Japanese / Scandi-style fold-away padded chairs I use. The chairs are also great to put outside in the sun with the doors open. The table has plenty of space for pads and books alongside your laptop and I put a corkboard for visioning, posting pics, or your wall calendar. There is space to sit on all three sides and the legless hinges are supported through the body of the vehicle and silicone-proofed to insulate, so you have loads of leg room. Above the desk, there is a double shelving cupboard with a stylish green stained wood finish that can house your reading and printed material. You also can still do yoga inside with a full yoga mat laid out with the doors shut if it’s raining.
Amby is lovely and spacious inside! She feels minimal even when she is full of gear.
Recent work done:
New driver-side wing mirror in December 2023, 3 second-hand tyres in April 2023 after driving to Portugal’s Algarve, rotated with three more second-hand tyres in June 2023 on arrival back to the UK, and then one brand new tyre and new battery in November 2023 here in Bristol. New upgraded fridge freezer is also provided with the van. The deisel heater can be bought with the van but is not yet installed, parts provided.
Please come and see the vehicle with your own eyes. Any inspection is welcome. There’s so much gone into this project it’s too long to list here.
No time wasters, please.
Bank transfer is preferred.
Deposit acceptable to hold it for a short period, please ask.
Any questions or enquiries please ask.
Van Conversion Details:
– VW immobilisers on 2 keys, 2 alarm fobs, ABS, twin airbags, central locking, Cat 2 Toad alarm, elec windows, elec heated mirrors.
– Complete engine rebuild (with receipt) to OE spec in 2017 by a reputable engineering Co in Manchester.
– Other replacement parts/last 7k miles include radiator, brake discs/pads all round, clutch master and slave cylinders, ABS unit, brake booster, oil cooler, brake load comp valve, and exhaust. All parts used are OE quality only.
– 16″ spare wheel in later VW OE spare wheel carrier modified to fit at the rear. The underbody is rust-protected.
– Serviced regularly regardless of use. All fluids changed including coolant, brake fluid, gearbox, and diff oils.
– Recently remapped to 180bhp by Celtic Tuning. Lovely to drive with a smooth, strong pull from low RPM, no matter what the incline. Enjoy the hills without causing traffic build-up behind!
– 16″ later style wheels, 60 profile Continental/Goodyear tyres. Tread depth 5.8/6mm rear. 6.8/7.2mm front. The previous owner who converted the van removed everything ‘ambulance’ that wasn’t required and started again with mostly a blank canvas.
– The build quality in ambulances made by Wilker Group is so superior to motorhomes that it bears no comparison. The conversion included removing 2 unwanted doors on the nearside and using aviation flush rivets into a 2mm aluminum sheet with PIR 40mm insulation board behind. High-security lock fitted to the side door, rear doors de-locked outside.
– The ambulance body is aluminum externally with 40mm PIR (aka Kingspan etc) insulation throughout including the floor.
– Skylight with a blind and mosquito net option.
– Original roof-mounted, variable power extractor fan still in use for when cooking.
– Sterling Power Products Alternator to Battery Charger system (130Ah) installed – a rapid and reliable state-of-the-art split-charging system from one of the best manufacturers. 170Ah gel leisure battery fitted.
– A 100w high-efficiency solar panel and Votronic solar regulator also charges the leisure battery and maintains the starter battery when not in use. No more flat starter battery after being unused for a while.
– All conversion fuses and wiring are labelled, AC consumer unit is installed.
– Xantrex 1000w (actually plenty more) Pure Sine Wave inverter and remote display.
– Shurflo water pump 30psi/10,6 litres per min.
– Royal Doulton ceramic water filter fitted to the hot side of the kitchen tap – which now needs a new clean water filter, easy to replace.
– Fiamma 70 litre water tank, with external filler cap, located under the bed with easy access if required. A 25-litre waste tank will be supplied but not fitted.
– LED displays for fresh/waste water & LPG gas level.
– Autogas 15kg LPG tank installed underneath the vehicle for fridge and hob. Berker (German, best quality) electrical switches and sockets throughout.
– Replacement side windows are 6mm thick reinforced glass, full hopper style (removable glass), and tinted, manufactured by Caldwells of Wigan.
– Electrolux RM2260 3-way fridge/freezer, fully serviced and in excellent working condition on all inputs.
– Switch-operated 80mm whisper quiet fan fitted behind external upper fridge vent to increase fridge cooling efficiency in really hot weather.
– 12mm Birchply board used for cupboards/doors, worktop, and bed base top (except kitchen carcasses). 1mm Altofina durable kitchen worktop laminate.
– Light switches, AC and DC sockets, AC inverter remote display, and extractor fan control on the worktop upstand. Separate 12V LED light switches for dining table and worktop areas.
– Loads of storage areas throughout. Some minor work needs to be carried out inside flexible ply around windows needs a bit of sanding at the join, then hard wax/oiling, needs curtains,
– Details you might want to attend to: Birchply under-bed fascia needs hard wax, also removal handles/holes and clips to hold it in place. The wiring needs a trim/cover in 2 places. Maybe a floor laminate or vinyl.
– Plenty of space left for various options depending on needs/wants. Plenty of space left underneath the vehicle for a night heater if desired. I have bought the diesel heater but not installed it, this can be provided with the van if desired, but have not yet installed it.
– The glue has partially failed on the blue laminate bed base cover in places and has cracked a bit in a small area but it does not hinder the function in any way and all works fine with a mattress.
– Very comfortable, recent new large IKEA mattress included FOC if wanted.
– The white passenger door is a recent replacement due to some old damage on the original door edge that I thought had rusted too much to repair reliably.
– Before painting any patches that were exposed or bubbling were sanded down to the metal and applied with Kurust, an anti-rust treatment, which covers wider areas as a preventative, covering much smaller patches of surface rust to preserve it.
– Some minor bumps and scrapes on the moulded fibreglass leading edges around the rear wheel arches and one or two corners of the box underneath some protective black/grey sealant I applied but again, easily removed and prepped with fibreglass before spraying.
– Cracked paint around the nearside arch, minor dent in the bonnet and wear and tear marks on the paint at points throughout. Overall look and feel is good to very good.
– 3 leisure batteries (an additional 2 installed for winter dwelling in the UK).
– Recommended to install a second solar panel if live in is intended in the UK over winter, currently, the 1 solar panel has been perfectly sufficient for regular use across the UK and live-in in Europe during spring and summer.
– NB the van does not have electric hook-up (EHU) active. The electrics are installed but the location was deemed too close to the gas hook up, and this was disconnected, you can relocate the electric hook-up point and reconnect this at your own arrangement.
– The compact caravan fridge works with 12v only currently. It is a 3-way so may need the fuse replacing to get it working on gas again. I have ordered a replacement Vitrifrigo VTR5070 DG 3-way LPG 12v 240v Compact Caravan Fridge but it has not yet been delivered.
King size double with ample space around the bed for books and longer people! The bed itself is 1.8 meters wide from the cab into the living space, and 2 metres long going the full width of the inside of the vehicle. The mattress has a memory foam topper and is very comfy. There is an additional 15-20cm around both sides of the bed to stretch out or slot in books and bedside mod cons. A tall man can sleep in this bed comfortably. I am a tall woman, 5″9″, and I can sleep with my arms above my head and plenty of room by my feet without sleeping diagonally. This is rare for a camper, as you might already know. Sleeping space is paramount for me. It has fabulous spacious under-bed storage and it is just over hip height to get up onto the bed for me (I’m 5’9″/ 175cm tall).
The contact details for this vehicle are no longer available because it has either sold or the listing has expired.
Quirky loves this style means that Quirky Campers would potentially approve this vehicle for hiring. However, Quirky have not approved a Gas Safe certificate, a Weighbridge certificate, or the vehicle's electrics. Buyers must check these themselves. For some tips on what to look out for read this. If the listing has no Gas Safe certificate, no unladen weight and no electrical sign-off please proceed with caution!
Insurance options are available through our partner, Ripe Insurance.
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