I am very close to receiving my base van for some kind of a conversion. I say “some kind” because to be honest with you I’m not entirely sure of the direction I’m going to be going on several fronts.
Necessity is the Mother of invention so I need to be led by my head and not my heart! Easier said than done as delivery day approaches. Delivery day makes it sound as if I will be receiving delivery of a sparkly new transporter with only delivery miles on the clock. This is very much not the case.
The motivation for the van was born out of my current trusty little Citroen Berlingo work van being on its last legs and the frustration of its far too humble size. I am a site manager by trade with my trade being carpentry/joinery ish! So I often transport tools to site amongst a whole host of other un-wealdly items such as extinguishers, tables, chairs, microwaves and even fridges etc etc., for site welfare.
The pattern tends to be the following – van filled to the gunnels (and then some) transport to site on day 1, then I offload all the afore mentioned stuff and essentially have an empty van for the duration of the project, usually anywhere from 5 – 12 weeks (and sometimes more). My van then changes role to a collections wagon for odds and sods from a range of builders merchants and kitchen supplies companies etc..
So we now know that the van must be able to perform these tasks seamlessly and hopefully better and more efficient than before. But it doesn’t stop there.
Keeping with the needs of the interior I would also like to use the van as a bit of an explorer and day camper. Having a bed available will be a God send for the days I get up way too early to drive across the country before the rest of the world wakes from their slumber to busy up the roads and thus arriving hours early. I can then get my head down safe in the knowledge I am on site and ready to start (at the appropriate time).
It’s also just very handy to have a van isn’t it! Basically.
So, that’s a bit of a challenge and why my vision isn’t quite as clear as I’d like it to be at this stage.
Whilst we are pondering the what, whys and wherefors of that little conundrum, let’s turn our attention to the exterior, maybe that will be easier to visualise and deliver!
Hmmm. The way I see it is there are two main directions to go down. The cool conquers (is that how you spell it?) or the is the swiss army knife styled “swamper look). I’m all about comfort, durability, longevity and not being devastated when someone touches the paintwork uninvited. Simple, swamper it is then…. But the smart, large-wheeled, glossy-painted stealthed out vans look soooooooo dope! The struggle is very real.
But is there a third way? A happy medium? A middle ground perhaps?
Back in the room
Sorry I got on one there didn’t I. Back to what I’m about to receive (hopefully). When I purchased the afore mentioned Citroen I was lucky enough to buy one of three for sale from a company that clearly took care of their mini fleet so I had a level of confidence from the outset and that has proved to be well founded as I have had very little trouble from her to this point.
So when buying a second hand transporter I was keen for a similar experience. After looking at every transporter for sale in the UK (at least it felt like that) I stumbled upon ex RAC wagons! My criteria was losely up to 100k miles, prefereably one owner, full history, super clean bodywork and I mainly wanted something I could put my own stamp on.
The RAC option ticked all those boxes. Could I live with the colour. A bit of a marmite situation I believe I have on my hands. After seeing some amazing bright orange conversions and vans out there I was sold! Should be arriving this week. Let the journey commence.
Why the website, why MC DUB?
I’m glad you asked. I love tinkering around with websites and I love tinkering around with vehicles (well at least I did a few decades ago!). MC are my initials and DUB is well…..dub! But hold on, is there a double meaning here!? You may have noticed a post on my Insta account with my new personalised plate MC12 DUB. I have also been a DJ for as long as I dare to remember and DUB is a genre I enjoy playing amongst many others. Also yet another meaning is the fact they are dub plates. Now in music terms a dub plate is a kind of one off record a demo of sorts. So you see how I came to the decision for the number plate.
It also helped shaped my little online presence MC DUB. The reason for this presence is to not only catalogue and share my journey but to provide inspiration and useful snippets and nuggets of info to this very giving community. My way of giving back a little.
I hope you enjoy and am all ears for your suggestions and comments. I am sensitive though so be nice haha!