in the beginning...

there was Otto Van Kamper. He was old, a little bit rough around the edges, but he was a good bus. We spent fourteen months getting him ready, and a small fortune buying little bits (and big bits) so that he was more comfortable to live in; several thousand pounds later, we started to use him to travel around the country.


We went all over the place in Otto: Volksworld show in Surrey, Vanfest in Malvern, Kelso Scooter Weekender, Gathering off the Hill near Chorley, VW Festival in Leeds, BusFreeze in Staffordshire, VanSurf in Wales plus many great weekends away over the summer.


Otto was a 1981 VW T25, and had an LPG conversion and a high roof. We got used to his little foibles: He didn't like starting, particularly in the cold, but when he did, he plodded along at 55mph, swaying in the slightest of breezes or whenever an Artic overtook us (which was often). we once got 70mph out of him, but that was on a long downhill  with a favourable wind. He was comfortable, though, with his leather Jaguar seats and bespoke interior.


We had a Sony DAB radio and Alpine speakers, so he was quite 'down with the kids'. The Rock N Roll bed had brand new foam, and was really great to sleep on. He was toasty warm with the Propex heater, and he had a huge tank of water and an electronic tap. We bought a new Smev cooker and sink, a new fridge and made him some camouflage curtains and cushions to match his NATO green exterior paintwork.

Overall, Otto was a great bus. Then, at 3pm on Wednesday 27th October 2010 on Corporation Street in Preston, Otto gave a small cough, backfired and burst into flames. With 40 litres of LPG on board, as well as two 3.8Kg Propane bottles, Otto burned for over an hour, taking out a Marks and Spencers billboard in the process. He almost took a Fishwicks Bus which was used to block the road too!

Otto was beyond repair, and worse still, we discovered that he was under insured. The prices of T25s had steadily risen, and the receipts we had added up to much more than he was insured for. We also had a lot of equipment and personal items on board, all of which went up in flames; nothing was salvageable from the wreckage, as you can see from the picture on the right. Otto was officially dead.