E52 Camper becomes a reality!

I have been driving my Elgrand for over a year now and over that time I have become increasingly more surprised that there hasn't been an E52 camper van developed yet. The E51 gang are always commenting (complaining..) that the E52 is much smaller (which isn't true if you go and check my earlier size comparison post) and wouldn't make a good camper.  The truth of it is that the E52 has a slightly lower roofline (5-10cm), the rear seats have less height as the car floor slopes slightly and the other elements are similar/bigger than the E51.  That aside, have you seen some of the camper vans out there?  Some of them are tiny in comparison to the mighty E52.  The Nissan Serena, Citroen Berlingo, Fiat Doblo, even the VW Caddy have conversions and avid fans.

Now, the key to a camper conversion seems to be getting the right roof height, and that essentially comes down to the availability of pop top roofs.  Having looked at a converted E51, it was clear that without a pop roof then you would end up cooking dinner on your knees.  I discussed this with one of the big conversion companies earlier this year and the problem was very simple. Nobody has done it. Well that is about to change!

Ollie over at T29Customs.uk has just posted pictures of his first E52 pop roof installation.


He says that the roof is more similar to the one they fit to the Alphard rather than the E51.  The fitting is a little more complicated as there is a few more struts to remove, and apparently more wiring to work around in the newer Elgrand.  Even so, he is still quoting 1 day for installation!


The roof can be either white or black and has the popular scenic canvas allowing for it to be opened up for air, light or views of the night sky.


The roof includes 4 LED lights as well as an elevating bed with foam mattress for your little ones to sleep up there.


As you can see from the pictures there is an extra infill piece above the windscreen which is due to the more aerodynamic shape (or less boxy if you prefer) of the E52 and required to flow upto the roof.


Its an incredibly exciting development for the E52 market, as the E51's are not getting any younger and it makes sense for convertors to start offering these conversions based on the new Nissan.  My guess is that it won't be very long until we see a rock and roll bed, a side kitchen/cupboard with a fridge and even solar panels. The next holy grail might be to solve the swivel passenger seat and then we will all be travelling and camping all over the UK in our E52s! 

If you are interested then get in touch with Ollie, Facebook page is here and his website is here.








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