Well, this is how it all started. For 1500GBP back in 2019 we found this ‘beauty’?
We had just got back from traveling Asia, had been watching people doing ‘vanlife’ on YouTube and knew it was a means of life & travel we wanted to try.
We arrived back in Mallorca and were struggling to find something within our very low budget. We almost purchased an empty ex builders van, before realizing the engine had been replaced with no documentation or no idea of how many kilometers the van had done. It was starting to look like we were not going to be able to try this crazy lifestyle anytime soon.
Then out of nowhere, I found this old LDV Convoy for sale on ebay in the UK. I called the seller, arranged a deal for him to put a fresh MOT on it, paid a deposit and booked a flight to the UK. The MOT had been booked in for the next day, we flew and arrived the same day, luckily landing with a message on the phone that it had passed the MOT. Everything was going perfectly.
We got a train from the south where my family were living all the way up to Sheffield. The owner picked us up from the train station and took us to see the camper. At first, Gracie wasn’t exactly a looker, she had character but had definitely seen better days. But we didn’t care, it was our beachside home on wheels. We paid the balance, sorted the paper work, insurance etc… and took her immediately on the 4 hour drive back down south. And she did not miss a beat, by far the biggest and slowest vehicle I had ever driven but put just a bigger smile on my face.
We arrived back south late, got a little sleep and the next morning started ripping out everything we didn’t want, including the large wardrobe / toilet / storage thing in the back corner. And what a difference, immediately much more space and light came flooding in.
We fitted some solar panels to the roof, added some batteries and a basic electrical system, finished clearing the camper out, added some new covers to the sofas, took her for a full service and we were ready to head to Europe.
We drove straight to Paris, just spent the afternoon then rushed through France to get the next boat from Barcelona to Mallorca as we had some bits to deal with there and also new we could more comfortably finish converting the camper somewhere warm and on the beach…
Again, once we arrived in Mallorca we didn’t waste much time before ripping everything out the camper and rearranging the layout. For us we wanted the sofa/bed at the back, so we could open the doors and enjoy the views wherever we are from the bed.
Be sure to check out the next post to see how the next upgrades turned out.
Hi, I’m Luke.
I’ve personally renovated three camper vans from the ground up, including complete electrical systems, plumbing, solar, networking and smart automation.
This website documents my latest project: building one of Europe’s most advanced smart camper vans.
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