New bespoke B-van upfitter

[avanti]

There is a new player in the greater Sportsmobile, CMI, Advanced-RV space. They just announced themselves over at the Sprinter forum.

Their name is "Creative RV", and they are located in Florida. They claim that they have been doing Sprinter upfitting in Europe for 15 years.

Creative Rv – Bespoke Motor Homes and Race Trucks for touring and sports enthusiasts

There is certainly a need for more capacity in this market segment.

[mumkin]

Bespoke??? Can't get more pompous sounding than that.

Definitely a term not used on this side of the pond...

[avanti]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Bespoke??? Can't get more pompous sounding than that.

Definitely a term not used on this side of the pond...

Oh, I don't know. Kind of "Grey Poupon"-ish.

[GeorgeRa]

Interesting business, small shops are popping up everywhere but major manufacturers are not stepping up.

I believe that a $50K simple family camper based on Promaser is achievable if right engineering resources are pumped in upfront for camper design and upfront manufacturing tooling and facility. Distributed and supported by Dodge dealers following past example from VW.

This is my saga:

In 1977 new VW Westfalia from VW dealer - $7K, Volvo was $7K. (today’s value $30K)

In 1985 new VW Westfalia from VW dealer - $20K, Volvo was $20K. (today’s value $47K)

In 2018 new Promaster Camper from Dodge dealer - $50K, Volvo is $50K.

I was hoping for the Hymer Company to stepped in, but it seems as Dr. Jekyll sent his twin to NA.

[Technomadness]

Bespoke is a popular word these days among hipsters. Like “artisanal”.

Like the high bed and big garage. Some nice work there.


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[gregmchugh]

It is a UK company so they are just using the British English term for custom made...

Not pretentious in my view, just normal British English...

[mumkin]

This board is not exactly brimming with Brits... but many who likely haven't a clue what it means.

Do we really need another top end Sprinter converter? Perhaps so with the backlog at Advanced. But Sportsmobile also has over a one year wait.

What about units with a more realistic price and a more basic, but quality, build... like Sportsmobile. I think we need more custom builders who will use shorter Promasters or Transits.

It seems that it is super expensive long Sprinters or tiny Connects or Metris. Tough to find anything in between.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Do we really need another top end Sprinter converter? Perhaps so with the backlog at Advanced. But Sportsmobile also has over a one year wait.

What about units with a more realistic price and a more basic, but quality, build... like Sportsmobile. I think we need more custom builders who will use shorter Promasters or Transits.

It seems that it is super expensive long Sprinters or tiny Connects or Metris. Tough to find anything in between.

Beyond being exclusively Sprinter-based, I don't get the impression that the are super-high-end in the ARV tradition. From the pictures, they appear to use mainstream finishes.

[Davydd]

They don't show a lot yet and some of it from English conversions but they seem to fill a different niche than either Sportsmobile or Advanced RV. Sportsmobile is mostly a kit of parts you put together, Advanced RV starts with a basic plan and customizes it. Creative appears to start with a cleaner slate of criteria. That's my impression.

[gregmchugh]

I like the design and materials they are using. It will be interesting to see the prices and the delivery times. I think there is plenty of opportunity for more custom builders at all the price points but it would be nice to see more options for high quality builds at the low end of the market using the Promaster and Transit.

[mlts22]

With ARV and Sportsmobile both having 12-18 month lead times, I would say there is plenty of room for more custom "B" upfitters, both on the basic end (shelves, racks) and more complete, self-contained models.