There are people that sound like they know it all. And there are people that know it all. Once you get past the fact that Paul at VW Down Under sounds like he knows it all, you will quickly realise that he pretty well does! Paul is not one to pull his punches, tells it exactly as it is because he is assuming, and reasonably so, that you are as passionate and serious about your camper as he is about restoring and maintaining them.

Although surrounded by a group of long-term classic camper van friends, I was a complete novice until last summer when my wife and I caught the bug and embarked on a fun (and somewhat frustrating!) voyage of searching for “our” bus. It was quickly very obvious that it was a minefield out there particularly with as little knowledge as we had (although my wife was pretty certain she had the all important colour criteria sorted!).

We were introduced to Paul by one of our friends who used him for the “important work”. Shortly after this we came across a '74 Bay that appeared to satisfy most of our criteria. We did our own inspection (loved the paint job, interior looked good, and not having driven one before, she seemed to drive like I could imagine a 40 year old bus would drive!).

I realised our shortcomings of course and bit the bullet, sending Paul up to Sheffield for a day to do a detailed inspection. And then the initial downer when he presents the list of 20+ items that are wrong with it!! But once I realised that actually, that’s what we sent him to do, and that those things aside it was a good bus and worth what we were willing to spend, it wasn’t all bad news.

So roll forward two months to December, having bought “Rosie” and her matching Eriba “Puck” retro caravan (wasn’t one of our criteria but a great bonus), Paul and Alan had her for two weeks attending to a couple of reasonably major issues, some safety concerns and a few minors. I remember clearly the feeling of disbelief when I drove her home that day. I was under impression that we had a good bus that drove well for her age etc. I hadn’t lived! The difference in handling, ride and performance of the vehicle was remarkable to say the least – all down to the work Paul and Allan had done as identified by Paul from that first inspection (work in many cases by the way to correct poorly completed previous restoration work).

Needless to say, I have the greatest respect for the knowledge, skills and professionalism of Paul, Allan and the guys and without hesitation recommend them to any camper owner or prospective owner. I look forward to a long relationship with them.

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Brent