This Tiny Vintage Camper Van Carried A Whole Family In A Space Smaller Than A Minivan

The RV industry has been witnessing a change in consumer tastes, with many RV buyers preferring not to drive gigantic buses anymore. Instead, they want a rig that can fit in a parking space and drives like a van rather than a truck. More mini, less maxi – and if that sounds attractive to you, good news: I may have found the ultimate mini camper, and it’s literally a Mini. Back in the 1960s, people living in England were able to buy campers based on the classic Mini that were so tiny that modern minivans dwarf them. Yet, these things still carried whole families!

The modern trend toward smaller RVs is a great one. More compact units are easier to drive, easier to take care of, and don’t necessarily means you get someone driving a giant bus without the skill to take care of. Some of the smallest motorhomes even fit in a garage, further reducing ownership costs and extending service life.

In decades past, compact motorhomes got properly tiny. Forget smaller than a bus, some of these got smaller than regular vans were! In England, a company called Wildgoose produced a camper body for Mini Vans and it thought these tiny rigs were perfect for a retired couple or a couple and their two kids to travel Europe.

This find comes from our secret designer and enabler of my car fantasies, the Bishop. We’ve been collaborating on RV pieces and recently, he’s been sending me a flood of classic Minis turned into incredible motorhomes. One of those RVs is a giant fifth-wheel sort of deal that also turned into a boat, but I still have some digging to do. There was also the Mini Wildgoose, and this one became famous enough for Mini to give it some loving attention.

Mini Camper Vans

In 2022, Mini celebrated the European Championships by displaying the Mini One-Off Series at the Königsplatz in Munich. As the name of the series suggests, Mini carted out a bunch of one-off builds from David Bowie’s shiny Mini to Mr. Bean’s iconic recliner Mini. An example of the Mini Wildgoose was among them. It wasn’t a true one-off, but so few of these were made and even fewer survive that it might as well have been a one-off.

According to Mini, the Wildgoose was the work of Wildgoose (Worthing) Ltd. in Sussex, England. I’ve searched up and down for this company and I have not been able to pinpoint where it came from or where it went. What I can say is that beginning in 1963, Wildgoose began marketing a unique conversion for the Mini Van. The Mini of today confirms 1963 as the starting date for production for these units.

Wildgoose said it chose the BMC Mini Van because it was known for both reliability and great fuel economy. Also important to a conversion like this was its front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout. This allowed Wildgoose to chop off the body aft of the front seats to attach its camper body.

This camper body was constructed using wood for its structure and with aluminum draped on top for an outer skin. Inside, Wildgoose filled the vehicle with furniture built out of waterproof plywood finished in wood lacquer and trimmed with chrome.

Wildgoose built three variations of the camper body. The Popular 2 and the Popular 3 1/2 (above) both had somewhat Westfalia-style pop-top tents for roofs when camping. Wildgoose said that the major difference between the two Popular models was that the Popular 2 had a double bed for two while the Popular 3 1/2 had a double bed, a single bed, and a child bed.

Then there was the flagship, the Wildgoose “Brent” “Super V.E.B.” and yes, that’s exactly how it’s written in the brochure. We’re not quite sure why Brent is in quotes up there, but Wildgoose said that “V.E.B.” meant Vertically Extending Body. Good ol’ Brent there was, as Wildgoose said: “Especially designed for “Retired Couples” who, being freed from business, desire the carefree life. There is no more reasonable way of seeing the country or the Continent or the World, in “COMFORT”, than by Wildgoose.”

Wildgoose said the roof extends electrically, but also has a backup manual cranking system in case of failure. I’m not going to take the low-hanging fruit about British electrical systems.

Wildgoose noted that when extended, the room behind the cab of the Mini Van provided standing room, plus a dinette, a two-burner hot plate, three 2-gallon water jugs, a sink, a wardrobe, curtains, cupboards, and more. This conversion had the same beds as the Popular models and four seats, intended for two adults and up to two children to travel in the vehicle.

You got all of this in a space just 13 and a half feet long. Under the hood up front sat a 850cc four-cylinder engine good for a ravenous 34 HP net and 44 lb-ft of torque. Wildgoose claimed a top speed of 70 mpg, but reality was a little different. Amazingly, this is one of a handful of RVs to have been tested by a car buff mag, with Autocar publishing a review in July 1964.

According to Autocar, the Wildgoose had some issues as a camper, stating that the sink was poorly sealed and leaked water and somehow, the water jugs also leaked water. Also, the jugs were usually inaccessible due to being stored in a cramped space under the rear bench.

A Sloppy Drive

Autocar didn’t paint a great picture of the driving experience, however:

At first, in the driving seat, one may almost forget about the large protuberance at the rear, although conscious, even with the two long-arm mirrors fitted, of the severely restricted visibility rearwards. Basic Mini liveliness on the road is not too badly affected, and although the weight increase of nearly 5cwt over the weight of a Mini saloon is proportionally large (40 percent), the acceleration time to reach 50 mph through the gears is very fair at 29.0 sec, compared with 18.3 sec for the saloon. Mean maximum speed is 67.5 mph.

With so much weight added to the rear, considerable oversteer results, and some care is called for in handling the Wildgoose on sharp corners, as there is a great deal of sway, and strong tendency for the back to sway wide. On the straight, directional stability is poor and above 40mph the vehicle tends to “weave” from side to side. At the time, it does not feel at all stable, but one finds that the tail sway does not get any worse with higher speeds, which can be use in safety, with suitable caution.

The steering is accurate and light. Extra weight on the suspension has made the ride appreciably softer than with the basic Mini, and reduced the slight bouncing tendency at the front. Some creaks are heard from the structure but there are few rattles on bad going. No changes are made to the brakes, so that with the extra weight rather harder pedal pressures are needed. Within reason, and bearing in mind that the Wildgoose is not designed to be rushed about the country in Mini fashion, the brakes are up to the job, and are comparable with those of most motor caravans where the basic van brakes are unmodified. A small engine working hard in a big or heavy vehicle never was a formula for economy, and while owners may expect to improve on our overall 26.2 mpg, which included a lot of town running, the would be unrealistic to expect Mini consumption figures from the Wildgoose. “Up to 30 mpg” is a representative target. The compression ratio is 8.3 to 1, as for the saloon, so fuel of at least mixture grade is required.

That sounds equal parts terrifying and hilarious. Autocar did admit that the straight line performance of the 1,953-pound camper was actually pretty quick for a motorhome, as larger van-based units back then were actually slower. Allegedly, owners reported a similar driving experience, so it’s not like Autocar just had a bad day.

The options list was also properly whimsical. For £20, you could buy an airplane wing-shaped luggage rack that went on the roof of the car. This had a giant blind and was large enough to fit emergency equipment like a spare tire. For £3 10s, you got wider mirrors that allowed you to see more behind the camper. Undercoating was £5 and an additional £7 15s got you fluorescent lighting in the camper. Finally, Wildgoose said it could custom paint your camper any color you wanted.

In terms of pricing, the Popular 2 was £842 for a Mini plus the camper installed or just £445 if you already owned a Mini and just wanted the camper. From there, the Popular 3 1/2 was £877 or £480 while Brent was £998 or £601 if you already had a donor Mini. In other words, the camper body was nearly as expensive as just buying an entire Mini Van.

It’s not known how many people chose to convert an existing van, but it’s believed a grand total of 60 of these Wildgoose campers were built between 1963 and 1968. Of those, a scant 10 are believed to exist today. If you ever find one of these for sale, know you’re looking at a unicorn.

Sadly, it seems as if the Wildgoose venture wasn’t that successful as it disappeared after the 1960s. Today, some classic Mini fans consider the “Geese” to be a Holy Grail and you can still find them appearing in shows. I’d love to see more ideas like this today. As much as I sometimes love sleeping in rolling hotel rooms, there’s something so cool about a small vehicle with nearly everything you need. Just, make sure you nail the basics, like making sure the sink empties onto the ground or a container rather than onto the floor.

(Photos: BMW Group, unless otherwise noted.)