I've put some thought into creating a vehicle large enough to live in for months on end. With the potential of taking time out from work at some point in the future and taking an extended road trip around Europe, or perhaps a ski season. The idea would be to have the largest base vehicle driveable on a standard UK drivers license (7.5 tonne), with the living quarters built out of wood. The base vehicle would most likely be an ex-lease Mercedes-Benz Ateco 814, or a extra longwheelbase Mercedes-Benz Vario - which has the benefit of not requiring the cab to be tilted for engine maintenance.



I got a lot of inspiration from the BusBarn pages I found on the web, and compiled the galleries to the left (click images to enlarge). OK, so these are a bit rustic, but it shows the basis for what can be done.



I then found some amazing vehicles built by Unicat and Action Mobil, which take motorhomes to extremes. The Unicat has an option for a raising roof, revealing windows and a sleeping pod above the main utilities area. Everything stows neatly for crossing heavy terrain, which allows effective use of space to create an apartment-esque mobile home.



Yet more googling turned up a one-off Japanese 'Origami' Camper, with fold-out aluminium extensions to the living space, and the 'Wothahellizat' - another one-off, but a morphing of a Winnebago and a Mad Max supertruck. Seeing how these 'amateur' builds can come off has inspired me to see the Woodebago concept as more than a potential (click images to open galleries).


Searching design and architecture blogs, I came across a number of concepts for holiday homes built from container ship units, with fold-out terraces and all mod cons. These really demonstrate the potential for building a unit to provide housing for long periods of time, but that can easily, quickly and securely pack up to be transported elsewhere. The most inspiring of these is the Drophouse - well worth a look.


So the Woodebago concept takes inspiration from all of these sources (and more) to come together as a kind of mobile chalet - a motorhome with soul. My idea would be to build primarily in wood - basically because this is the material I'm most familiar and confortable working with, but it could be steel or aluminium. And I think one could be built for £8-10,000, including the base vehicle. Folded-down and ready for the road, the living unit would need to be no more than 24 feet long (plus the cab) and just over 7 feet wide.