Overland converts VW T5 Transporter into campervan with extendable rear pod

It was Volkswagen that pioneered the engineering of "pop-up-tops", a distinct innovation that started getting hoisted on its camper vans some 30 years back. Ever since then, the soft-edged internal height-extenders have become an iconic symbolization on different Volkswagen vans sold all across the world.

VW T5 Transporter DoubleBack

Welsh company, Overlander Motorhomes, has gone a step forward and endeavored to add a logical extension to the pop-top by introducing the DoubleBack. It is an electrically extendable, insulated sliding pod extending through the rear of Volkswagen’s T5 Transporter van that has added another feather of excellence to the iconic camper by making it truly spacious and comfortable with all the practical advantages of a smaller vehicle.

The Doubleback has efficiently implemented the spacing of a motor home in a compact vehicle with a kitchenette, folded up beds and other refinements. Still it reportedly retains the functionality of a daily driving van. Overlander opted for a fifth generation VW T5 van having 2.0 TDI engine and 140PS long Wheelbase to launch its patented Doubleback Pod Package.

While moving on the road, the pod stays folded up inside the back of the vehicle. It is only after the van becomes stationery, the electrically protruding pod comes out of the rear end of the van in forty five seconds or less. It adds approximately two meters (or 6.5 feet) of usable interior space. Two legs also protrude from the bottom of the pod, which allows it to support up to 600 kilograms (1,323 lbs), and to level itself on uneven terrain.

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VW T5 Transporter DoubleBack

Based on Volkswagen’s T5 Transporter, the DoubleBack is a camper van modified by Overland Motorhomes Ltd

If the idea of an extendable rear pod seems to have been heard about before, it is because a few years ago Japanese Carmaker Nissan had floated a similar proposal on its NV200 concept cargo van. It was put to field trials too at Nissan’s production facility but the feature failed to make it to the production stage and the idea was scrapped altogether.

Although the Auto Industry and the buyers won’t ignore the fact that the T5’s last American sojourn in the year 2003 was not at all impressive since it turned out to be the worst selling vehicle in the country – a distinction that was not easy to achieve. Overlander is still hopeful that the new addition would augment sales of the fifth-generation T5 in countries like the UK, Russia, Germany, France and Turkey since it is classified as a light truck in these countries that requires the buyer to pay a 25 percent import tariff on buying the vehicle. The DoubleBack will be unveiled to the public at VW’s Sinclair dealership in Cardiff on 24th March, 2012 and has been priced at £54,995 (Ex-showroom) in the United Kingdom and $8700 in the United States respectively.