Sarah and Clive’s VW T6 Sportline adventure van built to cross continents
SHE’s cycled across the United States and he has faced some of the toughest terrains on his mountain bike, so it’s no wonder that when Sarah and Clive commissioned Chilli Jam Van’s campervan conversion specialist in west Cornwall to transform their new VW Transporter T6 Sportline it would be put through a bit of challenging continent hopping.
The couple who live just outside of St Ives, both enjoy travelling and spending time outdoors; mainly walking and biking. “Our children are not children anymore and have either left home or will be leaving in the next couple of years. These two things led us to the idea of buying a VW Transporter and having it converted into a livable space for us to travel in,” Sarah explained.
“Chilli Jam Vans was the easy and obvious choice for us. My sister and husband had their Volkswagen Transporter converted by Brett early in 2017 and they were both really pleased with the result. So this great recommendation, plus the fact that CJV was nice and local to us, made them the obvious and clear choice.
“Brett and Kat made what could have been quite a daunting and scary process stress free and really enjoyable. They invited us to their house for a few meetings to work our way through the numerous decisions. Brett and Kat were super helpful and gave us really useful advice and support. As they were converting their own van at the same time Brett and Kat were able to share some of their thoughts and ideas with us. The best suggestion had to be the bamboo kitchen top which looks fantastic with our lime green kitchen and storage units.
“Brett encouraged us to pop by the workshop to see the latest stage of the build. We were always greeted with a cup of tea and enthusiastic smiles from Brett and his right hand man Sam. Brett and Sam overcame every potential issue and challenge during this very bespoke build brilliantly. They left us feeling confident and happy that we would get the result that we were after. Clive and I could not be happier with the result, our van looks fantastic and we can’t wait to set out on our first adventure together.”
Clive and Sarah intend to use their van initially for shorter, more local trips – maybe the odd night or weekend at some of Cornwall’s beautiful spots. In a couple of years’ time they plan to travel slightly further afield, driving the van down through Europe and even shipping it across to the USA for six months.
They added: “We have also bought a bike rack which attaches to the tow bar so we can keep our muddy bikes out of our beautiful new van.”
Sarah and Clive’s conversion included Chilli Jam Van’s full monty lining package, a Rib 129cm bedseat in black leather, a bespoke lime green Evo Design kitchen pod, overhead locker, bed boards and light shelf. In addition the worktop and table were made of bamboo. Chilli Jam Vans also built a custom over arch locker in matching bamboo finished with a custom made cushion that matches the underside of the RIB bedseat making the sleeping space even wider.
A new ply floor was laid and Amtico flooring tiles used on the top to add a touch of luxury to their ride. Chilli Jam Vans also sourced a new passenger single seat which was covered in matching Sportline red and black leather covers – a little feature we think could make this van the only one in the UK with matching genuine VW Sportline single seats.
