Have you met Madge our campervan?

Madge is our campervan, I don’t think I’ve shared her here on A Thrifty Mrs but I’ve mentioned her on my Twitter and Instagram, so I thought it was about time I introduced her.
We’ve always wanted to own a campervan, specifically a VW T2. It has been Mr Thrifty’s dream since he was a surfing teen and mine once since we got married. I like camping, I just bloody hate sleeping on the floor! Buying one of these bad boys ladies, has never really been in our budget but at various points over the past decade we have done research and hashed out the sums, always coming back with the answer “not right now.” The only way we have been able to afford Madge was with an inheritance. Sadly , Mr Thrifty’s lovely grandfather passed away. He was a very sweet 93 year old man who we were particularly close to. He left my husband some money and had always spoken to us about doing something “special”. So that special thing was making Mr Thrifty’s dreams come true and buying that camper van of his dreams.
Last summer we test drove dozens of vans, went to lots of shows, spoke to lots of VW enthusiasts and eventually travelled to Birmingham to buy Madge, then drive her home.

Once back up in Manchester we had one successful camping trip (driving 5 hours each way), complete with uneventful (but noisy) journeys there and back. And another which ended in a lift home with the AA after Madge spat her oil out all over the M6 not once but twice. Madge had sat idle in storage until the spring because working on our renovation was taking up all of our time and money.
A Haynes manual and some tinkering from Mr Thrifty fixed some of the issues but ideally she needed her entire engine out and some further work which was beyond either of our skills sets.
Eventually we got her hoisted up on a truck and transported across Greater Manchester to get in with a suitable mechanic and well…long story short she now has a new engine, clutch and gearbox.

The bill was overwhelming – almost three mortgage payments kind of overwhelming but she passed her MOT and is finally up and running.
Thankfully it seemed to be mechanical issues rather than body work which seems to be the bigger issue with these vans. For the moment Madge is relatively rust free (boat cancer as we remember from Friends) and we are going to research keeping her that way as welding prices are sky high.

For those wondering about Madge and what kind of van she is specifically – she is an 1979/1980 (the last year these vans were made) VW T2 Devon Moonraker double top. Meaning she has a pop top roof which allows for decent standing room and a full size double (or two smaller beds) in the top along with a 3/4 width double/rock and roll bed at the bottom.
She comes complete with her original interior which we have no plans to change at the moment. Which means when we go off-a-travelling we do so with a tiny fridge, a 2 ring hob, grill, sink, dining table and lots of storage.
She seats 5 whilst driving and 6-8 when stationary and will comfortably sleep 4 adults or 2 adults and an assortment of small children and dogs.

Our aim with Madge is to have her stocked and ready to go, so we can do weekends away at the drop of a hat or plan longer holidays across Europe with relative ease. Owning a classic car is certainly not thrifty, not by a long way, but we do hope Madge becomes a long-term member of our family.