Day Van conversions - Multi Vehicle Technology

A Day Van from MVTech makes for a really practical vehicle by Scott Walker

A Day Van isn’t just for the summer time. A Day Van isn’t just for leisure. It’s a practical, versatile vehicle for use all year round offering transportation leisure and mobile workplace facilities. It provides the most cost effective family / work vehicle there is.

I can remember the time before the lumbering SUV became the “in thing” to drive when in those days the “people carrier” was the vehicle of choice to be seen in, and have on your driveway. In my mind this was a much more useful vehicle, but still did not come up to the practicality of my preferred mode of transport…the Day Van, which I suppose we could call a distant cousin of the late lamented people carrier.

Just what is a Day Van?

The Day Van is a crossover between the people carrier and camper van, offering multiple passenger travel plus many of the facilities of a camper van, so that a day out for leisure or business can be a self-reliant experience. The day van invariably contains a table and basic catering facilities making it the ideal vehicle for an adventurous day out for the family but also a very comfortable and practical mobile office for many field based jobs. I certainly see it as much more useful than a saloon car, and having been field based for much of my time I found the Day Van to be the better work day option.

Designs and content are so flexible that including a fold away bed is quite common so that a day’s escape to the country can easily turn into a weekend! A feature that’s not bad for business use too! If a meeting has gone on too long or you’ve been caught in traffic chaos what’s better than parking up and taking a rest to let the world go by.

Are there different types available?

You can choose between either an off the shelf build, just like buying a camper van, and you take what is given, or you can opt for my preferred choice, the bespoke build. And it’s for this very reason that we here at Multi Vehicle Technology focus on providing each of our clients with a bespoke Day Van created to their individual needs.

Ouch, it sounds expensive, but really it’s not. With an off the peg camper van or motor home you’re almost certainly paying for a lot of content that you’re really not going to use much or even at all. Do you really need the full cooking facility, heating, air conditioning, toilet, shower etc? If not then with a bespoke build you don’t have to buy these features.

A variation that we offer on our bespoke built Day Van’s is for much of the content to be in the form of removable pods, should this be something you require. You may for example want a vehicle for family outings but also wish to use it for business as an office or even as a goods carrying vehicle. If so we can make whatever you would like to be removable……..just that, removable! So hey presto you have the most versatile vehicle that you can possibly wish for.

If off grid travel is your thing, be it for work or for pleasure, we can help. We’re used to working on off road projects and we can help with advice for the right vehicle for the terrain in question. Naturally 4×4 vehicles are usually the norm for this type of action and this presents no problems for us.

How do we approach each of our conversions?

The base van: We’re happy to convert new or existing vans. We’re happy for you to supply your own van (new or second hand) or we can supply either of these alternatives to you. We buy new vehicles in bulk and if you’re after a nearly new vehicle with low mileage you may be surprised to find we can offer a new van at much the same price or even less! So it’s always worth asking us for a price rather than make an assumption that you need to go nearly new.

And don’t worry if you have a particular preference for van. Whilst most of our base vans come from either :

Mercedes https://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/vans/en

Ford https://www.ford.co.uk/vans-and-pickups

Citroen https://business.citroen.co.uk/citroen-range.html

Fiat https://www.fiatprofessional.com/uk

We are approved to work with other makes too.

Each manufacturer offers their ranges in short, medium, long and extra-long wheelbases plus a number of optional heights, so you should be able to find a vehicle that perfectly suits your needs.

For those on more restricted budgets we do maintain a stock of second hand vans that we consider ripe for conversion and these will still provide you with a great finished product.

Design and Quotation: Our in house design team exists primarily to service the needs of our specialist vehicle and exhibition trailer customers which means the cost of designing something bespoke is minimal and not something that should put you off the bespoke option. In addition all of our design work which we offer by way of 3D drawings is provided without charge and without any obligation to purchase. To enable us to provide an accurate quote we need to produce a drawing so this comes to you without any commitment on your part.

At this stage, as I mentioned earlier in this article, we can if you wish design your furniture features to be removable in the form of individual pods so if say fishing is your activity we can create a pod for your tackle which you can remove to create space when on a non-fishing trip.

Within any design we offer our ideas for features which you can choose from (such as swivel seating) and this also includes external features such as windows, awnings, roof racking for the likes of surf boards or cycles or even ramps if your particular outdoor pursuit includes carrying motor bikes or quad bikes. For these we can create a little “Garage” at the rear of the van. Everything is possible including an outdoor shower installation if you go swimming or diving or need to hose down equipment. There is simply no limit to how we can tailor make your Day Van.

The conversion: Our business is based on high quality specialist conversions of which many are one off design and build projects. We can do this because of the skill and experience of our team who are passionate about what they create. You only need to look at the range of our commercial clientele to know we can be trusted to provide the standard of Day Van you want.

Want to investigate having a Day Van yourself?

If you think a Day Van is for you and you would like it bespoke built then give us a call on 0116326 0989 and ask for my colleague Steve Stones. You can e-mail him on stevestones@multivehicletechnology.co.uk

And if you would like to read up more about us then please visit our website at www.multivehicletechnology.co.uk

We’re very centrally based in Leicester and visitors are always welcome so if you wish to call in please make an appointment and we’ll look forward to seeing you!