Table of contents for Issue 163 - November 2025 in VWt

I’VE BONDED WITH MY VAN Hello and a warm welcome to the November issue. I love tinkering around with my T5 and last weekend I managed to while away an entire soggy Sunday in my garage, constructing a cooking pod. That’s right, I was inspired by last month’s ‘camper conversion’ special and decided to flex my DIY muscle and have a go myself. As you’ll see on p6465, it didn’t turn out too bad. That said, it served to deliver a crushing reality check on my crafting capabilities. I rushed it – and I didn’t really have the right tools, materials or fittings to be honest. Still, despite this I managed to achieve something quite special. That sunless Sunday spent busily making something for my Transporter made me bond with…

WIN A TABLE ! THE LOC8 DUO It’s been almost a decade since the Loc8 Table System hit the market, offering owners of VW Transporter vans a lightweight camping table which could be stored safely out of the way in the sliding door of their van when it wasn’t needed. This model fitted the T5, T5.1, T6 and T6.1 models from 2004 to 2024. Now, with the introduction of the new 2025 VW T7 Transporter, Innovative Camper Solutions have designed a whole new table system for this range of vans too. Called the Loc8 DUO Table System (Duo because it fits both the VW T7 and the Ford Transit V710 models), this new product offers the same versatility and it’s just as easy to install, requiring no modifications to the…

Inspired by our conversion special last month, I decided to put my limited DIY skills to the test and have a go at making a simple stand for my stove so I can make a brew or warm up a tin of something in my Caravelle. I wanted something accessible with the tailgate open so I could cook safely without setting fire to anything inside and at the same time, because I often carry my son’s time trial bike in the back, it needed to be removable. I’d seen a cooking pod that would have worked quite well that reader Martin Hubbocks had fitted to his T6 (see right). Martin got it off eBay a while back but when he looked for me, the outfit he bought it from didn’t…

Dubbed Out Festival returned to Knutsford in July, and once again proved why it has become one of the fastest-growing and most-loved family festivals on the UK calendar. At its heart, Dubbed Out is a celebration of Volkswagens, campervans and the community that loves them – but as more than 8000 campers found this year (up 20% on 2024), it’s so much more than a VW show. Over four days, the showground transforms into a buzzing town of campervans, tents, families, music lovers and festival fans who know how to enjoy life on the road. THURSDAY: THE WARM-UP The weekend started with the now-traditional Thursday chill-out, as vans rolled into the fields and awnings popped up under the Cheshire sun. Slippers the Split set the tone with mellow vibes, while…

The Volkswagen Lupo is many things: a perky city runabout, a frugal hypermiler, an affordable means of entry into the VW family. What it isn’t is an obvious choice for hauling bicycles around. But needs must when you’re 17 and there’s a very limited pool of cars you can actually afford to insure. That’s how Aidan Middleton, around a decade-and-a-half ago, found himself squeezing his bike into a tiny hatchback. “At the time I was huge into BMX, and it’s almost like the modified car scene jumps hand in hand with that!” he grins. “So I soon went from swapping out BMX parts to car parts, and then I got really into Japanese cars and ended up buying my dream car a few years later, a Honda S2000. And that…

STEPHEN DAVIES Hi VWt, I bought my van back in August 2024 for £8000 from a guy down near Bournemouth (cheers for the lift dad). It had 105,000 miles on the clock and had already had the PP Tuning remap and an Ikea kitchen fitted inside along with the 3/4 rock and roll bed. I could have taken the van for £7000 but I wanted the number plate to come with it. We went away in it as soon as we got home but realised within the first day that we desperately needed a pop-top because I couldn’t take much more of making food on my knees. I booked the van in with WestDubs to get the pop-top installed which was £3680 and it was some of the best money…

OCTOBER 2025 14th-19thMOTORHOME & CARAVAN SHOW NEC Birmingham Mcshow.co.uk JANUARY 2026 1stCAMPER MART Telford International Showgroundwww.campermart.co.uk FEBRUARY 2026 17th-22ndCARAVAN, CAMPING & MOTORHOME SHOW NEC Birmingham Ccmshow.co.uk MARCH 2026 22ndTHE VOLKSWORLD SHOW South of England Showground, Amberly, West Sussexwww.classicsworld.co.uk APRIL 17-19thALIVE & KICKIN Haughley Park, Suffolk See facebook MAY 2026 5thSTANFORD HALL VW SHOW Stanford Hall, Leicestershire Stanfordhallvw.com 21st-25th DUBS IN THE MIDDLE Hanley Castle Country Estate, Worcestershire WR8 OAA Dubsinthemiddle.co.uk JUNE 12th-14th BRISTOL VOLKSFEST Birches Farm, Bristol, BS48 3RN Bristolvolksfest.co.uk 19th-21st VANLIFE FEST Scampston Hall, Malton, North Yorks Vanlifefest.co.uk JULY 2026 2nd-5th VANS IN THE VALLEY Reeth, North Yorks Vansinthevalley.com 3rd-5th European Bug In Chimay, Belgium Europeanbugin.com 10th-12th VOLKSWEALD Penshurst, Kent Volksweald.co.uk 19th ENDLESS SUMMER VW SHOW Vicargage Farm Park, Basingstoke See facebook 24th-26th BUGJAM FESTIVAL 39 Santa Pod Raceway, Northants Bugjam.co.uk GET ADDED Got a meet or event that should be in here? Drop us an email to ian.cushway@kelsey.co.uk*Please note dates and venues are subject to change. So please check website…

“We’ve seen countless plain Transporters roll into the workshop, only to exit completely transformed into amazing custom campers” Nestled in the peaceful Suffolk countryside near Bury St Edmunds, Mick and Julie Carmody, aged 71 and 68, are living proof that adventure has no age limit. After decades of working side by side – Mick as a lifelong countryside warden on the Rougham estate in Bury St Edmunds and Julie as both a secretary and his right hand through 50 years of marriage – the couple decided it was time to swap forestry tracks for winding coastal roads, with a cool campervan at the heart of their next chapter. But this wasn’t just any camper project – it was a build of passion, inspired by the exceptional work of the team…

Truth be told, Jamie from Mansfield’s a pretty unassuming kind of guy. Meet him at a show and he’s totally low key, shy almost, which is the complete opposite of his van which is pretty damned awesome. The stuff of inspirational Instagram posts, no less. Of course it didn’t always look this way and indeed his first tentative steps into van ownership was on an altogether bigger scale. “I had a MAN TGE 4x4 extra-long wheelbase that I was in the process of converting into a camper when I had a bad motorbike accident,” explains 39-year-old Jamie, who sells flooring for a living. “I was laid up for months so had to get rid of it, and during my recovery I started scrolling through AutoTrader and saw a load of…

NEED TO KNOW Tools required: Knife; spray glue; screwdriver; trim tool; jigsaw; mask Skill level: 3 Time taken: A day (more if it’s your first time) Cost: Parts & labour from Moore’s Campers – £720 When a Transporter leaves the VW factory it’s in a pretty basic spec when it comes to items such as soundproofing, insulation and carpeting. That might be fine if you are just a pallet, but if you are a human and plan to travel / camp in the back then you’ll be wanting a bit more. There are various types of sound proofing / insulation / carpeting available and we are fitting what Sam, the boss at Moore’s Campers, fits on a regular basis, and has been doing for years. It’s also exactly what this…

Own a super-tasty Transporter, Crafter or Multivan and want it featured in these very pages? Then show us what you’ve got! Please e-mail a good selection of images that show the exterior and interior of your van to ian.cushway@kelsey.co.uk along with a spec list and add the subject title ‘Feature me VWt’. If we like what we see, we’ll get back to you ASAP about the possibility of a full VWt magazine feature shoot. So, what are you waiting for? Get snapping and show us your van, we’d love to see it!…