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Equipment Tests > Britz Bushcampers
Britz Bushcampers
Words and photos by Gregor Stronach
We've all seen them, usually chock-full of backpackers wending their way across Australia on the adventure of a lifetime. They stick out like sore thumbs on the remote highways, which at this time of year are generally populated with large 4WDs towing caravans - set ups that can cost in excess of $100,000 before you even get moving.
So how do you beat the expense of buying a 4WD, a caravan, stocking it up and heading off around Australia? Easy - hire a campervan and use someone else's gear to see the sights. It's a comparatively low expense option for anyone that's been bitten by the travel bug and who wants to see the parts of Australia that the family sedan just won't get near, when motels are boring and camping out just isn't an option.
Britz has been hiring out their 4WD campers for a number of years now, and the most popular has always been the Bushcamper. It's based on a 4.2-litre naturally-aspirated diesel Toyota TroopCarrier, with a few major - and quite obvious - modifications. The standard six cylinder mill produces 96kW of power, and a healthy 285Nm of torque, which is enough to get the added weight of the Bushcamper moving and cruising at legal highway speeds.
read on below advertisement
The first thing people notice about the Bushcamper is the roofline. A fibreglass extension has been added to the top to allow for headroom and two beds in the back of the vehicle. The roof extensions give the Bushcamper an overall height of 2.9 metres - that's a tall vehicle in anyone's books. But it's a necessary evil - without the extra height in the back, the Bushcamper would only fit two occupants at best, and even that would be a little cramped.
As it stands, the Bushcamper is advertised as having a three-person capacity, but those three people would want to be very good friends. Any sort of long distance driving with three across the cramped front seat would get uncomfortable after about an hour or so on the open road, and it becomes tight off-road after just half an hour. The middle seat is very small, and I would suggest that the definition of a gentleman would be someone that could change to second gear in one of these without getting his face slapped. The Bushcamper cabin is pretty much a standard affair - there's an AM/FM radio cassette for musical accompaniment on the long drives and the rudimentary Toyota air conditioning that needs to work pretty hard to keep the cabin cool on hot days. The hard TroopCarrier seats don't really lend themselves to long spells behind the wheel.
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We've all seen them, usually chock-full of backpackers wending their way across Australia on the adventure of a lifetime. They stick out like sore thumbs on the remote highways, which at this time of year are generally populated with large 4WDs towing caravans - set ups that can cost in excess of $100,000 before you even get moving.
So how do you beat the expense of buying a 4WD, a caravan, stocking it up and heading off around Australia? Easy - hire a campervan and use someone else's gear to see the sights. It's a comparatively low expense option for anyone that's been bitten by the travel bug and who wants to see the parts of Australia that the family sedan just won't get near, when motels are boring and camping out just isn't an option.
Britz has been hiring out their 4WD campers for a number of years now, and the most popular has always been the Bushcamper. It's based on a 4.2-litre naturally-aspirated diesel Toyota TroopCarrier, with a few major - and quite obvious - modifications. The standard six cylinder mill produces 96kW of power, and a healthy 285Nm of torque, which is enough to get the added weight of the Bushcamper moving and cruising at legal highway speeds.
read on below advertisement
The first thing people notice about the Bushcamper is the roofline. A fibreglass extension has been added to the top to allow for headroom and two beds in the back of the vehicle. The roof extensions give the Bushcamper an overall height of 2.9 metres - that's a tall vehicle in anyone's books. But it's a necessary evil - without the extra height in the back, the Bushcamper would only fit two occupants at best, and even that would be a little cramped.
As it stands, the Bushcamper is advertised as having a three-person capacity, but those three people would want to be very good friends. Any sort of long distance driving with three across the cramped front seat would get uncomfortable after about an hour or so on the open road, and it becomes tight off-road after just half an hour. The middle seat is very small, and I would suggest that the definition of a gentleman would be someone that could change to second gear in one of these without getting his face slapped. The Bushcamper cabin is pretty much a standard affair - there's an AM/FM radio cassette for musical accompaniment on the long drives and the rudimentary Toyota air conditioning that needs to work pretty hard to keep the cabin cool on hot days. The hard TroopCarrier seats don't really lend themselves to long spells behind the wheel.
next page »
