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Caravelle goes Camper: A VW bus mechanic and his surf mobile.

_bullisurfer_

Volkswagen T4 Caravelle | 1999
Sebastian, 22 years

#vanlife #bullilove #classiclifestyle #vwt4 #t4caravelle

A student who loves to surf buys an old VW bus and renovates it as a camper himself: It has been the perfect script for automotive love stories for decades, and remains so to this day, if the almost 8,000 followers of the YouTube channel “Bullisurfer” are anything to go by! Host Sebastian uploads a new do-it-yourself video every single week. Not because his T4 is constantly in need of repair – he just loves working on and optimising it.


"Moin Leute..."

...is how Sebastian starts most of his videos. He launched his YouTube channel in 2017 with a video from the Midsummer Bulli Festival on the island of Fehmarn. Since then, he has added around another 100 videos, which have been watched more than 1.2 million times. They have long been about much more than just his impressions of meet-ups or holidays. Most of the videos show him hard at work: from simply changing the oil to taking apart the entire engine in slow motion, Sebastian shows all the repairs that he conducts on his T4 himself.

And there have been quite a few, as he has renovated and optimized his VW bus multiple times since buying it in early 2017: his T4 was originally an eight-seater Caravelle with the 2.5 l TDI engine (engine code ACV). Back then it already had more than 300,000 kilometres on the clock, needless to say with the original engine and gearbox. As the first step in its transformation into a camper, Sebastian installed a used Multivan interior and gave his bus a homemade kitchen module. But that was just the start – it was followed by auxiliary heating, insulation and a completely new camping structure, all done by Sebastian himself. The addition of a used fold-out roof finally made “Windcent”, as Sebastian has nicknamed his T4, a full camper.

And it did not take long for him to go on his first short and long trips. In 2019, Sebastian and "Windcent" joined other VW buses on a four-week tour of Sweden and Norway. He also regularly takes part in meet-ups such as the Midsummer Bulli Festival, the Bulli Summer Festival and various van life events. What does the 22-year-old love about his T4 more than anything? “I love the freedom, always having my bed with me, and being able to camp with a few friends wherever I want.”