ot that hoary old
chestnut again...”
groans Jason Crotty as
someone else comes
up with something original to say
about his campervan. The Jurgens
Autovilla was designed and built like
this in South Africa. Interestingly,
when Wilhelm Karmann visited
the country in the mid 1970s, he
was so impressed that he acquired
the rights to build a version of the
camper under licence. This paved
the way to the manufacture of the
better known Karmann Mobile and
subsequently the Karmann Gypsy.
“Look at it? Why wouldn’t you buy
him? George is a camping game
changer. He has all the amazing
good looks, and the cool factor of
a bay window bus, but with all the
comfort and perks of a caravan! You
can even stand up in it, we both
adore Gorgeous George, and buying
hime was a total no brainer!
“The bus was bought by his
original South African owners who
travelled in it for long periods of
time, including a visit to the Kruger
National Park. There is still a sticker
on the rear safari window to this
day. The bus was eventually shipped
over to Britain where he was dry
stored in between journeys. The
second owners used the bus to travel
around Europe and the UK. In April
2018, he belonged to a friend of a
friend, who had put him up for sale
to help finance the purchase of a
new T6 and our friends put us in
touch with them. We purchased him
on the 24th of April in 2018”.
“He was my birthday present!”
Continues Jason’s wife, Charlotte,N
‘Did you reverse your camper
into a caravan?’
WORDS DAVE RICHARDS, PHOTOGRAPHS, SIMON COOKEIt’s like a bird’s
eye view
A very standard
late bay at the front
with extended door
mirrors
This is massive.
Welcome to the
dining room
That’s a proper
cooker with an ovenGorgeous
George
“
http://www.volkswagencamper.co.uk1976 JURGENS AUTOVILLA^21