Van conversions to camper vans manufacturer
In 1976, Great West Vans began as a custom conversion van company building to suit the needs of individuals. Sales have included “show vehicles” with plush interior upholstery and exterior modifications to functional service vehicles. A specialty developed in the building and sale of camper vans. The business was a success and thrived for years building conversion vans and camper vans to suit a variety of needs.
In 1986, Great West Vans had learned so much from their experiences and listening to their customers that they wanted to build vans that had an even more finished and refined look that wasn’t possible building and buying components for each individual buyer. There was also a desire to build camper vans that would deal with the problem of ‘not enough room’.
(The ‘not enough room’ problem is the problem of nearly every van camper manufacturer in the world who typically design to suit everyone partially and only a select few completely. This might explain the tendency for most motorhome manufacturers to go big, but it doesn’t help you to drive small, park where you please and get a design that is suited to your needs that’s been tried and tested by others with needs similar to yours.)
A strategy was born. This was done by analyzing the needs of customers and categorizing them. For example:
Some want a van for around home and for easily shooting off to the lake on weekends.
Some want to tour every state and province in North America stopping at all the sites on the way.
Some want units built just for 2 and some want the whole family and the dog to join them.
Some are mainly concerned with function and some wanted to drive small and live spacious.
These needs haven’t changed and there are many more still not listed here.
Great West Vans focused on combining all the profiles into groups and designing a limited number of models, floorplans and major and minor options that would compliment the needs of the different profile groups and their personal tastes.
The result was a variety of models around 19 to 20 feet in length since this is the threshold for parking in most cities and towns. This dealt with the core of keeping it small for driving and parking. For dealing with interior layouts, 5 smart floorplans, each emphasizing different features like the bathroom, bed size, spaciousness, storage capacity or just simplicity of use were designed and refined.
In 2004, camper vans sold by Great West Vans are built with experience. Not just experience in building (27 years and growing), but rather the experiences of past customers. Owners are listened to and changes are made. Every van built takes another step forward.
Currently, the typical Great West Van owner has spent time researching the camper vans available on the market and compared their needs to what’s available. The decision to reject other brands was made on the basis of suitability. If a catch all design is what you want, Great West has 1 called the Mid-Galley floorplan and it’s available in 2 Model styles. The remaining floorplans are more suited to individual preferences and usage.
Van Campers in the future (aka class b motorhomes)
Owners travel and make use of their Great West camper vans for years and in their travels, many of them visit us at the factory. We take this as a great compliment and an opportunity to discover how the van is being used and where any improvements can be made. Customers are always happy to tell us their pet peeves and especially the things they’ve done to improve their own van. The Booth Dinette floorplan was developed out of comments by a few owners of the Side Sofa floorplan who wished the aisle would have more space when the bed is made up. The Booth Dinette with a slide out keeps the bed completely out of the aisle solving this pet peeve and opening up the interior even more. Even the minor details are paid attention to, when an owner with our slide out counter feature explained that she had put a hole in the cutting board so the latch wouldn’t need to be undone to get into the sink, we took a note and made an improvement. Not all improvements are as easy as a small hole or as complex as a slide out, but if it’s going to make an improvement in your experience Great West Vans has already done it or would like to.
Welcome to the Great West Vans website and thank you for reading our introduction. Please browse the website at your convenience.
