VW Campervan Bilbo Conversions

In the back streets of Amsterdam in the mid 1970’s Bilbo Campers started life. David Latham and his wife Moira found there was a market building campers and they used second hand Army and Dutch Police VW Buses. All the work was initially done by just the two of them with David on the jigsaw and Moira on the sewing machine.

They did this for a couple of years honing their skills and designs before they returned to England in 1977 and rented a garage in Reigate, Surrey to continue their business and soon after they moved to their present site in South Godstone.

The Marlfield was a bay window VW Campervan conversion and was named after the road on which the business was sited.

Bilbo continued during the 1980’s converting second vans but in 1987 they began to convert new vehicles and in the early 1990’s gained VW approval to turn out well appointed popular conversions.

Their T25 range consisted of the Arragon, Arragon Coda and Arragon 2, Marlfield and Weekender. They were built to customers special requirements with regard to upholstery, coachwork, curtains and flooring to create individual looks.

The first of their new T25 conversions kept the original name of the Marlfield. The Arragon line was the top end of the range which had more accessories and fitments. The Weekender was a multi purpose which was both luxurious and spacious.

Bilbo’s also developed their own range of roofs which could be fitted to their conversions. The Astron was a fixed high top which contained another double bed and this could be fitted to any Bilbo T25 conversion. The Westpoint was side hinged three quarter elevating roof which gave extra storage as it had a front moulded over cab section. The Westpoint plus was a full length version of the same roof and both could be fitted with the optional “upstairs package” and the WestPoint Plus could also be fitted with an extra childs berth over the front cab.

T4 Campers
There were 4 models in the T4 range which were The Kompak, The Breakaway, The Celeste which was the top of the range and The Nektar.

T5 Campers

These are the new range of campers and comprised of the Komba, Nexa and Celex. The Which Motorcaravan tested the 5 campers in 2004 and the The Celex which was based on the T4 Celeste was voted by Which Motorcaravan the winner with the best bed, the best kitchen the best dining arrangements and the best roof so it proved to be a worthy winner. Despite this the early models are hard to come by and you can search for one at VW Campervans For Sale.