The dream began

I have been fascinated by caravan, campervan or motorhome. I love the freedom of stopping and staying anywhere I fancy without having to worry about room booking, check-in and check-out time. Unfortunately such things are rather hard to find in Malaysia, a quick search on the net shows that there are a galaxy of information on this subject in countries like UK, US, Australia and New Zealand but practically nothing in Malaysia. Curiously, the road transport authority (JPJ) and vehicle inspection centers (Puspakom) has category for caravan.

There were a company called Malaysian Motorhome in the 90's that provided rental units, but the company has since became defunct. There are some privately imported units , usually at high cost by well heeled individuals. My budget simply do not allow me to take such route, so I have to look for cheaper alternative.

I started to look at DIY conversion using vans. At around that same time, the local classified website mudah.my started to gain popularity. To me this is truly a treasure trove for my purpose. I started to look for suitable high roofed vans for conversion. The only models that met my requirements are the Renault Traffic (known as Inokom Permas locally), Ford Transit, Toyota High Ace.

Here are some of units I found on sale.



Among the locally available make and models, the Renault Traffic van mostly closely fit into my criteria for DIY campervan conversion. It has sufficient head room for adults of average heights to stand up and the low flat floor provide walk through access between the front seats and the back. The split tail gate makes great rear access. What stops me from getting it? Being an european design, its FWD mechanical layout in a van is foreign to most mechanics who are mostly familiar with Japanese mid engined vans. The availability of parts is another concern.



Then I found this gem advertised for sale. It was a decommissioned ambulance based on a high roof Ford Transit. Most of the interior fitting are intact. It has rear air suspension and a 2 litre DOHC petrol engine (local spec Ford Transit are all diesel engined and with medium or low roof only). The ambulance spec made an ideal vehicle for conversion to campervan, I was very excited at the potential. Unfortunately,there's a legal complication of converting it from commercial use to private ownership. Sadly I have to let this one pass as well.