There is a lot that could happen when two engineers get married. Like they could combine their ingenious ideas and put up a custom camper-van.
That’s the case of 37-year-old Jack Richens and 38-year-old Lucy Hedges, who are broadcast systems engineer and sound engineer, respectively. The couple pimped a ride, a 2012 Mercedes Sprinter, just because they could not find one vehicle that suits their needs for roadtrips.
“These really weren’t any van conversions available that suited our requirements. We saw countless vans that looked amazing but were simply not practical,” Richens said.
“The whole thing about building your own van is that you can tailor it precisely to your requirements and taste.”
And by ‘requirements and taste,’ what Richens meant was a van which fit a family of four, perfect for an adventure on the road.
“’We built a van for a family of four to have adventures in and the main remit was that, if necessary, we could spend days on end inside the van with two hyper kids and still enjoy ourselves.
“We’ve not killed each other yet and it looks rather nice,” he joked.
Photos by Caters News Agency
Richens’ family helped in building the van, even his mom and dad. His wife, who knows her interior designing and use of tools very well, is also of valuable help to Richens who did most of the woodwork.
All of them 6 months to finish the van.
Photos by Caters News Agency
It got to a point that Richens now prefers living in the vehicle than their own house. At times when it is parked up outside their house, he and his wife would take the kids and spend the afternoon inside the van. “That’s how good it is,” he said.
Of course building the innovative camper-van entailed costs, which, according to Richens, were money well spent.
“The base vehicle was a 2012 Mercedes Sprinter with 78,000 miles on the clock, which I picked up for £8000 (a little more than US$10,000) – an absolute bargain. We spent months searching high and low and eventually it paid off. The main expense on the interior was the seats, which came to about £2,500 all fitted.”
He added that the electrical and heating system cost them another £2,000 (about US$2,600) and the rest on timber, fittings, insulation.
In total, Richens said as he kept all receipts, he spent £18,000 (about US$23,000). That’s an amount which was their budget for a decent camper van.
Source: Dailymail UK
