・Unique camper and matching caravan combo

・Officially-approved VW conversion

・Freshly imported from South Africa and now in the UK

・Original unrestored condition

The Jurgens Autovilla is an oddball to say the least – converted by South African caravan maker Jurgens for its home market, the snail-backed Volkswagen Type 2, known as the Autovilla, was (believe it or not) an official factory-approved conversion, sanctioned by VW itself. 

Around 1,000 were made between 1972 and 1978, of which only a handful are known to survive, including two in the UK. And now there are three, as this example has just arrived here from Cape Town, complete with all of its Nova paperwork and customs forms. And it has brought a friend with it…

Jurgens is a caravan maker based in Johannesburg and in 1972 it somehow managed to convince Volkswagen that it was a good idea to affix one of its caravan bodies to a Type 2 van, which it could either do to a new van or retrospectively. 

There were two models – the standard, as seen here, or the DeLuxe, which had an extended body over the cab to accommodate an extra double bed. It was also sold in Europe for a short while as the Karmann Gipsy, built under license in Germany. 

This example was constructed in 1975 and built on a new panel van body, with the ZA-spec 2.0-litre flat four – a wise choice for hauling the extra weight about. 

Attached to it – quite literally – is a matching caravan. The wobble box is a 1972 Jurgens in the exact same colour scheme as the VW, and with a similar patina, making them an ideal pairing for shows, events and holding up traffic on the way into Cornwall. 

There’s not a huge amount of paperwork with either the van or the caravan, as is often the way with South African imports where service history doesn’t seem to have the importance it does over here. 

However, the essentials are there. The Nova paperwork, customs forms from both the UK and South Africa, police clearance and South African registration documents – everything you need to prove that the van and caravan both have a right to be here and there are no additional taxes owed. 

While the van isn’t yet UK registered, it will be supplied with a full MOT to prove its roadworthiness. The vendor is a British national who lived for a large chunk of his life in South Africa and works with contacts over there to source unusual cars to bring to the UK. He is more than happy to assist with helping get the vehicle registered here, which is a formality with all the import paperwork complete.

Both the Autovilla and the caravan are survivors, which means they haven’t been restored and wear a charming patina, albeit a completely rust-free one thanks to existing in South Africa for their entire lives. 

So, they have the odd bump and scuff here and there and aren’t going to win any concours competitions, but to counter this they are both 100% original, solid and unrestored. 

Starting with the van, the overall condition is very good, the only really noticeable thing being a crease in the van body on the right-hand-side. The cab is in good order, and the underside is superb – it has some surface rust, but a through clean-up and underseal will ensure it remains good for years to come. Its white-over-beige paintwork is otherwise pretty tidy. 

The caravan is much of the same. It has a few scuffs and the original Jurgens logos are faded, but it retains its original wheel trims and is in solid and very presentable order. 

Together, they look like nothing else. Imagine turning up for a VW show with the family in this and the reaction you’d get, which would be utterly priceless.

Working backwards from the cab… upfront, the Type 2 is in sound order, with only some missing trim from around the driver’s side arch really detracting from its overall appeal. 

All dials and controls work as they should and there’s a suitably tinny Philips radio cassette, if you can hear it over the air-cooled din. 

Behind the curtains is where things get interesting. There’s a gas stove, multiple cupboards, even a can of period-correct insect killer. The fixtures and fittings are all there and are in serviceable condition, and there’s even a dinner service. There’s a working fridge, too, and it’ll run off 12v or 230v electrics, with a plug for the latter under a flap on the side of the van. It also has the original bed/seat cushion, though it is showing its age. What you have here, though, is a blank canvas for an amazing camper. 

And being tugged along behind it is more of the same. Quite literally, in fact, as the Jurgens caravan body is essentially the same as that mounted on the van’s chassis. 

In the caravan, there’s sleeping for a further four (the van is a two-berth because of the front seats) and there’s a banquette seating area at the back, complete with a fold-out table featuring a map of Africa so you can plan where to venture next (given the van’s current location, Great Yarmouth might be a good start). Again, it’s mostly serviceable and usable but in need of some modernisation, while the fridge door has gone AWOL. It’s a standard caravan fridge aperture, though, so this is the perfect opportunity to update. 

In its tail, the Autovilla has a 2.0-litre version of VW’s flat four developing around 80bhp – a useful increase over the 1500 and 1600 air-cooled engines seen in UK models.

But it’s needed, as the extra weight of the bulky body, not to mention the caravan, means that you’re unlikely to make rapid progress.

It runs well, though, starting easily from cold and is easy to manoeuvre once you get used to the cab-forward driving position, while the weirdly offset gear lever works with customary precision, once you suss out its odd diagonal layout.

If you want something truly unique that will turn every single head on the air-cooled Volkswagen scene, you’ve just found it. An Autovilla is bonkers enough, but to discover one with a colour-coded and matching caravan is even more of a coup. It will be sold with a full UK MOT, ready to register with DVLA should you wish to use it in Britain, or the vendor is also happy to help export it anywhere in the world, hence why it isn’t UK-registered yet. 

It’s a remarkable, one-off opportunity. There won’t be another.

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