Campervan Conversion (Cammie the Camper) April 2025 Introduction We previously owned a Motorhome, a Peugeot Boxer based unit, so front wheel drive (FWD). Me and the wife loved the facilities and moderate size (Just 6 meters long), but it weighed about 3 ton when packed. This lifted the weight off the front end and reduced the front wheels grip. It would get bogged down really easily. At festivals or when going to remote fishing spots, getting stuck was a frequent occurrence. This spoilt it for me, as I was always anxious when pulling on to grass, even fairly flat stuff, that I wouldn't get off again. I decided to go the Campervan route, this allowed me to design a layout which suited our specific needs and possibly develop a light weight build. I considered Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) fitted with a Limited slip differential to help in the rough and mud. I wasn't sure how much better the traction would be with this set up though. After much deliberation, I chose to go all out and get an All Wheel Drive (AWD) van, which is a type of four wheel drive. As I was soon to find out, these things cost a lot, so I wouldn't be buying new, this meant there were really only two contenders, the Mercedes Sprinter and Ford Transit. It quickly became apparent that the Sprinter was outside of my budget, so I started looking for an AWD Transit with a long wheel base and high roof. This is what I considered to be the ideal size for a well equipped Campervan, hopefully I could afford one that was Euro6/Ulez compliant as well. Transits have always been prone to tin worm, so I looked for the youngest van within my budget and sacrificed low millage, to keep the price down. I thought this was the best compromise. I soon found out that my, quite specific, desired combination is a very rare beast, but persevered with my search anyway. And here she is, after several months searching I saw the van above advertised, about 200 miles from where I live. It turned out to be a genuine one owner vehicle, the decals had been removed and to my surprise, it had no major dents or creases in the bodywork. The doors were also good, unlike most found on these work horses. It's never had a roof rack fitted or hazard lights, so there are no holes drilled in the roof. A few minor chips in the paintwork to deal with, but thats it, so a sound base vehicle for my, or should I say our, project. The van came from a commercial vehicle specialist. They put on four new brake disks, replaced the wet belts, gave her a full service and MOT and even gave a written six month warranty, all this for the advertised asking price. I was well impressed! It's a late 2020, 98k mile, Transit 350 Leader, 2.0L Ecoblue, 130PS AWD L3H3. (What a mouthful). The wife named the van "Cammie". We only do three maybe four thousand miles a year so she should see us through the next ten years, given a bit of TLC. It's almost the same length as our Moterhome was, at a smidgen under 6m it fits on our drive perfect. I consider us very lucky to have found this particular van.