Anyone who has ever built or converted a campervan, or even just dreams of doing so, knows the feeling: the countless ideas you gather, the numerous designs you sketch and discard, the many articles and posts you read, the numerous discussions you attend, all to finally arrive at a result that meets your own needs but, of course, also fits your budget. I think we all agree that this can ultimately only be the best compromise. Here, we want to share our experiences and our own developments. Perhaps others can benefit from them as well.
„El Bicho,“ Spanish for „The Buzzer,“ is our project. It began in mid-2018 with the purchase of an IVECO Magirus Deutz 170D11 chassis. The vehicle had already undergone extensive restoration and was fitted with a pop-up roof on the double cab. Actually, the timing of the purchase was a bit too early for us, as we were still a few thousand euros short of financing. However, the seller was a nice guy and said he wasn't in a hurry to sell, so we made a down payment and agreed to pay it off within the next few months.
Then came Covid, and we too suffered significant income losses, and it took considerably longer to pay for the car. To make matters worse, we've lived in Spain for years, and therefore, during the Covid lockdowns, we would have had to transport the chassis over 2500 km and across several borders to Spain, which is simply too risky for us at the moment. That's why the car is still in Germany.
But that doesn't stop us from planning and learning. We'd like to share with you on this page what we've learned, discovered, developed, or simply seen over the past 18 months, and of course, the construction progress of our expedition vehicle.
Here are some pictures of the restoration and conversion carried out by the previous owner:
