New Kids On The Block
VW Bus T4&5+|Issue 93
Jona and Melissa Turner had never owned a VW before this T6, but they are already lapping Europe in 'Klaus' like seasoned veterans
Simon Cooke
New Kids On The Block

Klaus The Mobile House is a T6 with his own social media pages, he is much more famous that his owners Jona and Melissa Turner from Southampton could ever hope to be. He joined the Turner family at the start of 2018. Prior to owning Klaus, the couple had never owned a VW and had little experience of camping, although they did love long road trips. Before 2018 their only VW camping experience was a weekend in a Splitty, although Jona says that he’d always fancied owning his own camper, 2018 was the time to make it happen. “We knew if we bought one it would need to be reliable enough for more European road trips and it had to have the luxuries we’re used too, including cruise control, air con, electric windows, etc, etc” Jona explained. So that effectively rules out Bays and Splits then.

The original plan was to buy one ready converted and they actually spotted one then liked on Bath VW Campers’ website, only to phone up and find a customer had just reserved it. Undeterred they went to view the T5 and liked what they saw and the company that built it. “We really liked them and their work and started some serious discussions about buying one, but at that point I realised that I’d want something with a higher spec to start with, so we moved onto a T6,” explained Jona. By selling his Focus ST, he freed up some spare cash for the project. Talking of money their base van cost them £22,000, then it was about £16,000 more for the conversion.

This story is from the Issue 93 edition of VW Bus T4&5+.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the Issue 93 edition of VW Bus T4&5+.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM VW BUS T4&5+View All
The Evolution of Van
VW Bus T4&5+

The Evolution of Van

To mark 100 issues of VWBus, David takes a look back at how updating the humble ‘Box on Wheels’ has gone from concept to reality

time-read
2 mins  |
Issue 100
Wild Times
VW Bus T4&5+

Wild Times

Perhaps a sign of the wild times we’re in and a telling sign of how fast we’re adapting to the ‘new normal’. I decide to take a U-turn and zoom out on how things looked as that ‘new normal’ was taking hold, along with how that’s effecting our little sector

time-read
2 mins  |
Issue 100
Story's Story
VW Bus T4&5+

Story's Story

With The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden under our belts and barely two weeks on the road, we were heading to the ultimate van life destination; Norway…

time-read
8 mins  |
Issue 100
Karmann-Go
VW Bus T4&5+

Karmann-Go

When you own ‘The fastest motorhome in the world’,getting to the campsite on time shouldn’t be a problem

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 100
Gran Tourettesmo
VW Bus T4&5+

Gran Tourettesmo

This is a very cool and interesting project, but the question is,is this the ultimate eBay build?

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 100
CBBA
VW Bus T4&5+

CBBA

If there was such a thing as Cool Bus Builders Anonymous, then each meet in Leicestershire would start with the words. “Hello, my name’s Andy Stretton and I can’t stop building seriously cool buses.”

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 100
Honey I Shrunk My Bus
VW Bus T4&5+

Honey I Shrunk My Bus

When Grant Gwyn walked into a VW dealership to buy a Viper green Caddy, little did he know his future was about to be very orange...

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 100
Milk Float Influence
VW Bus T4&5+

Milk Float Influence

Nicknamed Ernie, we discover this custom-created T5 pickup won’t be doing the early morning milk round any time soon

time-read
8 mins  |
Issue 100
Impossible Solved
VW Bus T4&5+

Impossible Solved

A while back we brought you a basic sketch of a proposed project, it was both wild and eminently practical. Well it’s finished now and already in service as a daily driver for a very special lad

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 100
An Alpine Summer
VW Bus T4&5+

An Alpine Summer

In the concluding instalment we pick up Richard and Jackie Pickles’ story of their eight-country Alpine summer adventure on the shore of Lake Como in Italy

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 100