Fine Art Class

Sun-bleached paint, worn- through primer and dull paintwork doesn't always take 40 years, it can happen near Plymouth using Scotchbrite and an airbrush.

- James Wallace

There’s something quite odd that I like to do when I know we’re about to feature a certain Van. I like to stand, or sit, by it at a show and listen to how people react as they wander past, thinking nobody’s listening. “This one’s weird, check it out dad.” “Now that I like. Proper inventive.” “Oh my good god, what have they done to it?” “Why? Just why?” “Look at what this idiot’s done.” Those are just some of the comments from onlookers I jotted down in the 20 minutes at Busfest last year I stood soaking up the shock, awe and admiration that comes from building something that really doesn’t conform, and that we don’t yet fully understand.

Paul Andrew Young’s brilliantly inventive T5 is unlike anything we’ve ever featured before. It shuns the typically shiny paint and perfectly trimmed interior in favour of loads of, ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ and ‘how did they do that?’ moments. Paul also reckons he’s built the entire thing on a very sensible budget indeed, but we’ll come to that in a minute.

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