*Slightly* off-topic, but look what I just bought!

OK, I’ve got a couple of crochet projects I’ve been working on recently that I just *have* to post up, but before I do that, I needed to share with the world my joy and excitement at the frivolous purchase I just made. I bought me a campervan! Yes, I’m the proud owner of a 1980s VW Westfalia Camper. None of those shonky old 70s buses for me. They may look good, there’s no denying that, but my childhood memories of holidaying in the 80s Devon Moonrakers and Holdsworth Kampers my dad used to sell has left me slightly dewy-eyed for these more modern VWs. They have a charm all of their own (at least I think they do) and this particular beauty has everything I wanted – round headlights, Westfalia interior and (most importantly) the green paint job.

I got it from the lovely boys at Eastfalia, down in Surrey yesterday. I knew I was doomed to make the purchase before I even got there – all the other vans I’d seen for sale had something that wasn’t quite right, not to mention the fact that the 80s vans seem to be snapped up faster than the older models at the moment.

The one downer for me was the slightly grotty interior. My childhood memories are of brand new vans with spankingly clean interiors, but this one not only had a fair few dinks and frayed edges, it also had 25 years’ worth of grot and a mouldy ceiling (which the previous owner had made worse by painting over the flocked finish, preserving the mildew AND ruining the fluffy feel).

But I can’t help being ever so slightly pleased that the interior needs a spruce up. I know that keeping the original features is important for campervans and I don’t want to be responsible for ruining the 80s interior in the same way that Victorian home interiors were ruined by people in the 80s (a pox on whoever decided to rip out the best bits from my flat and Artex the walls), but I reckon I can get the place looking like (mobile) home without making any irreversible changes. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. If I get too carried away, I’ll just have to hide it from Antony at Eastfalia who will probably be appalled at the sacrilege.

I smell a Campervan blog on the horizon…