The upside of working almost till Christmas this year was early morning rush hour traffic died down in the preceding week, and I had more time to look for interesting wheels on my way to work. No problem then to double back for a sniff around this Mercedes Benz T2 508D motorhome parked on the Blouberg beachfront late last week.
A ‘For Sale’ sign in the window triggered some day dreaming here on how to mix up the holiday plans… Day dreams don’t have to make sense or be practical, they just have to make us feel good, right? Minutes from this Merc one can access the N7 freeway and head north to the tiny town of Vioolsdrif on the Namibian border, just 667 kilometers away. Namibia is an awesome country to explore and get away from the daily grind.
The first generation T2 was built from ’67 till ’86, this one is from the post ’81 update. I tried looking up T2 motorhomes but couldn’t find anything looking like this one. If you are interested in T2 motorhomes it’s worth having a look online, the variety is enormous, and sometimes hilarious, ranging from chic to shack. The first three photos were taken at around 06.15h in the morning, and while looking suitably moody, weren’t showing the front end well. I came back later in the day for more, see below.
This Mercedes wears it’s thirty years plus styling well, I love the DNA running through the brand’s cars and trucks from this time, sober, strong, classic.
The interior needs work, all of the soft furnishings have been removed, and what is left needs some inspiration, but with some DIY knowledge this can be a characterful base for some exploring.
I’ll leave you with an older picture I took of Blouberg beach, across the road fron the T2, with the Cape Doctor in action; the south east wind which roars in and blows all our troubles away. Often this beach has dozens of kite surfers zipping through the waves.
I’ll also leave you with one of my favourite local late 80’s tracks, Special Star by Mango Groove, a tribute to Spokes Moshiyane, King of Kwela. this is a special star time of year and I wish you peace and happiness, and this Mercedes’s star is shining brightly too.
I like it. You are correct regarding the Brand DNA, it is very strongly evident here and usually is. The colors of this one look great, and the relatively short body looks good too.
Oh, beautiful scenery in your part of the world, too! I’m not really much of a beach guy but that one looks very inviting with the view across the water.
Love it! In an alternate reality, we’d be heading off in this later this morning.
Part of me really likes the idea of a very simple and rugged older Mercedes camper. But the modern conveniences like air conditioning and such of a new van are compelling too. But this is a very sweet little rig, and just about the right size. Just needs a later five-cylinder turbo diesel from a 300SD swapped in.
As always, your shots are beautiful and invariably make me want to be there. Nice to see you back on our pages here.
South Africa is high on my list of places to visit someday. The music scene there is unique and interesting as well. My interest in that goes back to Paul Simon’s Graceland in 1986. I love the camper and it looks like it has great space utilization. Big enough to have everything you could possibly need, yet small enough to get into tight spots.
Hi Jim, Paul and Carlsberg, you all mention something that hadn’t crossed my mind. This is a very compact motorhome by US standards, but honestly this is about the average size around here. I’m no expert but I believe most motorhomes here are owned by rental companies catering to the local and international tourist market. Anything bigger would be hell to get around our narrow roads. Hope to see you in Cape Town one day!
I have visited Cape town this September for business trip for circa 2 weeks and had a some time to explore the town over the weekend with the locals. Great coast scenery, very good food (I loved local potatoes) and excellent red wine. The beer served at Tigers milk pub was good, too. From CC I spotted just few AC cobras, which I believe were made replicas in SA and some old chevies. Nice place but unfortunately not the safest destination outside the very city center.
Hi Lukas, mmm.. yes, one has to keep one’s wits about one in Cape Town, and SA in general. I spend quite a bit of time in dodgy areas for work, and I have learnt to be aware of risk, know what’s going on around me, engage with my surroundings and have confident body language.. South Africans make great travellers, we are prepared for just about anything!
Several weeks ago I spent an evening looking at websites of camper companies and retailers in South Africa. Somehow, I had read about some particular brand of South African travel trailer, and went looking for more information, but spent an hour or two just browsing around.
I was surprised at the number of, and variety of, South African camper/trailer companies… and to me they seem amazingly space efficient compared to their North American counterparts. Not always tiny, just efficient. And some pretty ingenious designs, too. Of course just as alluring was the scenery behind these camper ads, which almost makes me want to take a 10,000-mi. flight to SA.
Against such a backdrop, I can see this Mercedes-Benz being a wonderful camping companion. I’m glad you stopped to take pictures of this — really made my day.
Hi Eric, thanks for the vote of confidence in our engineering resourcefulness! South Africa has a large automotive assembly sector, so engineering is a solid career choice. Mercedes are currently building right hand drive C class sedans at their East London plant. Glad you enjoyed the images, as soon as I saw it my first thought was Paul and CC will enjoy this!
Looks like the “mini-buses” I saw all over South America in the 1980’s.
it’s an interesting vehicle to be sure but i don’t think i could own something without driver or passenger doors.
my daydreaming runs more towards a mb 309d camper:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1976-mercedes-benz-309d-camper/
Thats a nice looking camper at Bring a Trailer! I take your point about not having driver and passenger doors, could prove irritating over the long haul.
the lack of doors also strikes me as dangerous. i suppose you could always escape through the big windows in case of emergency.
i’m in no way mechanically skilled or rich enough to maintain any of these vintage beasts. i’m in over my head with my ‘93 vw t4 westy 🙂
ps thanks fo sharing the music video. your country has so many cultural treasures.
Anyone who’s ever owned a modern-ish VW van was in over their head, so chin up.
(Said by One Who Also Once Was)
Your photo skills always really do great justice to your hometown, Pikesta. Quite beautiful.
I love the angled clear-Lego block front window on these Mercedes. This camper in particular looks like a sturdy toy.
Certainly, for two people, they don’t need to be any bigger. I often wonder what folk are really doing in the numerous huge outfits one sees, travelling the world or, by taking a bunker of home with them, avoiding it?
Thanks Justy! I agree this is perfect for two people, for getting out there and having fun. You used the word sturdy, which is what I would look for if I was shopping. I see a Mitubishi L300 camper van in the area and the body looks way too big for the wheel footprint, not something to be messing with in a high wind area..
Nice find, while at first glance it does look a bit like a Hymer or similar factory built I’m going to say this is a one off coach built job using a van or chassis cab cut off at the door hinges. The exterior looks nicely done although I t looks like there is a stepdown in the interior, or an overhead bunk in the rear.