New member

[Scott2]

Long term VW lover hoping to join the T6/T6.1 community soon.
After various Golfs and a Passat estate the time has come to tick another box and buy/build myself a bike wagon.
We have test drove a T6.1 Kombi and a T6.1 Caravelle and torn……
I prefer the flexibility of the Kombi and wife prefers the Caravelle due to being more car like and having better seats, especially for the 5 year old in the rear.
So Kombi and build up or Caravelle and strip……..
I have seen the current T6.1 for sale and made contact as this ticks a lot of boxes.

Hopefully will be with you soon and share some pictures, modifications and experiences.

 

[Scott2]

Sorry, meant to also mention, based in Suffolk in case of any local meets, shows etc

 

[roadtripper]

We went the Caravelle route and have some extras for day tripping, see my thread here:

Roadtripper's Caravelle tinkering

Hey folks, been lurking for a while gathering useful advice as we considered if a van was right for us and now we have one on the drive the time was right to join fully and do the VIP thing to (potentially) do some electrical tinkering. Thanks everyone who posts advice here, it's a massive help...

www.t6forum.com

You can also do a "soft" conversion exploiting the rails, see @TallPaul_S amazing work with his Caravelle.

I'd say that the Caravelle's tend to attract a premium as they have been out of production longer than other models and haven't been directly replaced. So if you are fully stripping one keep in mind you may lose quite a bit of it's inherent value.

 

[TallPaul_S]

Long term VW lover hoping to join the T6/T6.1 community soon.
After various Golfs and a Passat estate the time has come to tick another box and buy/build myself a bike wagon.
We have test drove a T6.1 Kombi and a T6.1 Caravelle and torn……
I prefer the flexibility of the Kombi and wife prefers the Caravelle due to being more car like and having better seats, especially for the 5 year old in the rear.
So Kombi and build up or Caravelle and strip……..
I have seen the current T6.1 for sale and made contact as this ticks a lot of boxes.

Hopefully will be with you soon and share some pictures, modifications and experiences.

A Caravelle is definitely more 'car' like Vs a kombi, with the extra soundproofing, and extra features you can't get on a van (climate control etc).

You can build a decent camper in a Caravelle, but just be aware that things like adding a pop top is much more complex due to the roof vents, and as @roadtripper says you devalue the Caravelle if you removing everything that makes the Caravelle unique. The rear bench seat folds into a bed, and you can buy or build kitchen pods that attach too the seat rails which might be all you need for your van.

Have a look at my build thread (in my signature) to see what's possible. My build is all fully removable apart from the curtains, there zero other alterations to the inside or outside.

My build sleeps a single person, can store 2x mountain bikes inside (and sleep inside with them) and has a fridge, sink, fresh and waste water, storage, full off grid electrics etc. if I had a pop top or roof tent I could sleep 2/3 people in it!

If I was doing another build, knowing what I know now and having had the experience of building around a Caravelle, I'd start with a basic panel van.

 

[Scott2]

We went the Caravelle route and have some extras for day tripping, see my thread here:

Roadtripper's Caravelle tinkering

Hey folks, been lurking for a while gathering useful advice as we considered if a van was right for us and now we have one on the drive the time was right to join fully and do the VIP thing to (potentially) do some electrical tinkering. Thanks everyone who posts advice here, it's a massive help...

www.t6forum.com

You can also do a "soft" conversion exploiting the rails, see @TallPaul_S amazing work with his Caravelle.

I'd say that the Caravelle's tend to attract a premium as they have been out of production longer than other models and haven't been directly replaced. So if you are fully stripping one keep in mind you may lose quite a bit of it's inherent value.

Great hints, I have spent many hours reading with amazement what has been done, especially tallpaul.
When I strip, I really mean selling the rear bench and adding screening to stop unwanted eyes on my bikes.

 

[JOG]

Caravelle all the way! Gets senior management on side for all future developments!!!

 

[Scott2]

A Caravelle is definitely more 'car' like Vs a kombi, with the extra soundproofing, and extra features you can't get on a van (climate control etc).

You can build a decent camper in a Caravelle, but just be aware that things like adding a pop top is much more complex due to the roof vents, and as @roadtripper says you devalue the Caravelle if you removing everything that makes the Caravelle unique. The rear bench seat folds into a bed, and you can buy or build kitchen pods that attach too the seat rails which might be all you need for your van.

Have a look at my build thread (in my signature) to see what's possible. My build is all fully removable apart from the curtains, there zero other alterations to the inside or outside.

My build sleeps a single person, can store 2x mountain bikes inside (and sleep inside with them) and has a fridge, sink, fresh and waste water, storage, full off grid electrics etc. if I had a pop top or roof tent I could sleep 2/3 people in it!

If I was doing another build, knowing what I know now and having had the experience of building around a Caravelle, I'd start with a basic panel van.

I have spent a few hours in the past weeks reading your write ups. Great work by the way. I particularly like your sliding bike rack and the flexibility it gives. I will have mtb, emtb(wife’s) and Frog 48 for the kid.
Not really looking to camp, just somewhere to change, eat, safe overnight storage and travel in luxury of everything contained.
If I attend a race on my own I could remove the seats and sleep in there but now with family life this is rare.

 

[TallPaul_S]

Great hints, I have spent many hours reading with amazement what has been done, especially tallpaul.
When I strip, I really mean selling the rear bench and adding screening to stop unwanted eyes on my bikes.

Ahh, well that's what I've basically done! Curtains all round (which imo are a great addition to the Caravelle) and removal of the big bench seat.