I had a Westy Continental for 10 years. The unit inside the door lived in the cellar until I put it back to sell the van. The tall cupboard is claustrophobic and all the storage space difficult to access. But the furniture is bomb proof, the bed luxurious and the pop-tops don't leak or cause the roof to rot. The best feature for me was the shelf inside the rear hatch for bits and bobs. No pop-top and a home-brew interior does it for me.
I loved my first van - an old style all wood Danbury conversion with pop top that had two bunks up top - down side you had to make the bed like a jigsaw and then get it all put back together again before you could make a brew. My second van was a Devon caravette - Nice but too clinical and the build quality was quite poor imo. My third van - this one - is a westy continental front hinged , The build quality is superb, the upstairs bed ab fab, the double bed super fab, and as zed says the rear storage locker is brill, it suits me fine when me Lou n Will are camping but if I am totally honest - it gets a bit claustrophobic when we have more than three camping in it. I love the Devon that Dickie has - I think it's a super viking with a passenger seat that swivels -- blooming behemoth of a van - pity Its a Devon though as I think the bays were done on the cheap and the fitting quality suffered - I could be wrong about that, I just haven't seen one that has lasted the test of time in good nick. Westy continental for me even if it is a bit snug at times. It just looks so much better than the rest
I have to admit it but my bus was a Westy Continental. I fitted a viking roof and then replaced the interior for a Holdsworth and installed a viking rock and roll from a T25! Bulheads removed and swivels fitted (again from a viking T25). I wanted the space and practicality and it was a "prototype" but ive never got around to finishing it. It seats 4 and sleeps 4 in comfort but can sleep 6. No doubt I will change it again.
I know - but ive never cut the roof so at a pinch and with access to the bits it would easily convert back!
westy berlin for space downstairs with the captains chair turned round is unbeatable, non of the slider blocked by anything but the 3/4 bed is a bit of a pain if you're both "big" like us, in a perfect world leave the upstairs as a bed and downstairs as a seating area, or maybe if you don't mind a hotch potch mixing a berlin and helsinki would be good.
Inevitably the best conversion is the one that you own? There you go, nice diplomatic answer which doesn't hurt anyone's feelings (especially when we all know the best conversion is the Super Viking... hides behind sofa)
I quite like inches to centimetres But Centigrade to Fahrenheit is the best conversion ever Multiply by 9 divide by 5 and add 32. Quite brilliant!
