April 1, 2026

By Marcha.

How are you?
I’m doing excellent, thank you for asking. I’m very happy with our current team of skilled women and men at Tonke. And it’s great that my colleague Dayna has become director. That gives me space and breathing room, among other things to develop new camper concepts.

You mentioned something interesting. I keep hearing you say that with our new Tonke Basecamp, we have created a new camper segment. Can you tell me more about that?
Of course. Look, as Tonke, we started 20 years ago with larger campers, which we now call the Tonke Classics. That’s where we built our expertise. Since 2013 we’ve become very successful with building small campervans with pop‑up roofs, very smart designs. These campervans are now our main focus, and many of them are fully electric. That makes me very happy, they’re compact and sustainable. Still, we’re seeing a growing demand for a larger campervan. People often look at models based on the Mercedes Sprinter or Fiat Ducato. I understand that need: some people want to be on the road for weeks or months, often outside the high season. That requires different things from a camper: more storage, lots of fresh water, more living space, and a kitchen inside instead of outside, as we often do with our campervans. But those larger campervans are inefficiently laid out. I became increasingly convinced that the same sense of space and functionality could also be achieved in a smaller campervan. And that became the Tonke Basecamp. I told our designers: “We’re going to create a shrunken Sprinter.” It became a sort of running joke, but it pointed us in exactly the right direction: an entirely new segment between the campervan and the large bus camper.

Tell me more about the Tonke Basecamp.
We managed to achieve the comfort and spaciousness of a Sprinter in a smaller van. That was possible because the new Volkswagen Transporter is 12cm wider and 15cm longer than its predecessor. That may sound minor, but those few centimeters gave us enormous design freedom. Yet the new Transporter remains compact enough for small streets in Italy or Scotland, making it suitable for daily driving in the Netherlands as well, with much lower fuel costs and greater driving comfort than a large bus camper.
Additionally, we can equip the Tonke Basecamp with four‑wheel drive, increase ground clearance, install all‑terrain tires, and add recovery gear, turning it into a very versatile off‑road vehicle. And these vans are available as plug‑in hybrids. It’s a fantastic platform.

Can you already tell us more about the layout of this camper?
We were amazed ourselves by the space we created. There is a spacious seating area suitable for four tall adults, a generous bed (130×230 cm), an exceptional amount of storage, and a large kitchen. The camper is filled with innovations, such as modular walls, floor heating, a smart toilet, large water tanks, a hot‑water boiler, a 2‑burner induction cooktop, and a fridge of no less than 85 liters. As I said: truly the premium level that you normally only see in much larger campers. You can even bring bicycles inside the camper. The seating area can also be converted into an additional double bed.
For me, it feels very special to design a camper after 20 years in which all our knowledge of both large and small campers comes together. I can’t wait to travel with the Basecamp myself!

Will there be other Tonke models based on the Transporter, like the ones you built before?
Absolutely! Our VAN and VAN XL, with the trusted rotating kitchen for indoor and outdoor cooking, will return with several innovations. They will be slightly more affordable than the Basecamp and remain perfect all‑rounders for everyday use and holidays from spring to autumn. If you plan to travel longer or want even more comfort, then you choose the Tonke Basecamp.

Basecamp page