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As a homeless man living in a chev matiz (smaller car than this) I’m happy normal people are living like this out of choice. Makes me feel less alien. Wool is your friend lol
For anyone who is interested - this car is basically a Toyota underneath. The electronics and powertrain is all their stuff. They built these in a factory in the Czech republic which was a joint venture with PSA - most of the parts are interchangable and there are plenty of these in the scrap. If your engine blows up you can get a decent one of these for £250 and you can replace it without an engine crane as long as you are reasonably strong - the engine only weighs about 170KG with nothing on it. They are very simple. Nothing really to go wrong with them. I have a 5 door Yaris with the same engine and I drove it 7500 miles to the Nordkapp and back in 3 weeks. Being a Toyota once you have worked on them a few times you get a knack for exactly which sockets/spanners you need so you don't have to lug a ton of tools with you. The only thing these really suffer from is body rot.
The engine is actually a Daihatsu 1KR-FE - still Japanese, and still bulletproof. Very very forgiving engines, and designed with fuel economy in mind. Ive seen these absolutely abused, and they still run smooth. Only downside on these cars is water ingress and clutches, clutches are cheap though. £68 for a clutch, minus labour. Water ingress can be fixed with some tiger seal. I drive a MX-5 now, but I have owned an Aygo many moons ago. I am toying with the idea of getting a 107 to replace it as my cheap daily runabout.
@@tocha6562 Yes. I have worked on these a lot. The engine is definitely a Toyota design inside. It's a lot like most of their other designs though probably takes some of its development from Diahatsu as they were big on 3 cylinder engines.
I have this car! A Toyota Aygo from 2009, and this amazing machine has never let me down once. In over 300.000km that is, and still going strong as ever! Its a great machine and I’ve thought about buying a fancier car a few times, but I can’t get myself to let it go. It’s so charismatic, reliable and cheap. What a great inspiration to convert it to a micro camper this video is, thanks Jake!
I've got a Hilux with a fiberglass shell over the bed, where I sleep. I carry a cheap tent and put bulky stuff in at night that I need to clear for sleeping space. In the morning I put the bulky stuff and tent back in the bed. Basically, I sleep in the truck, not the tent. Works for me👍
Before we got the Master my partner and I toured the country in a Ford Focus. Despite both being larger ladies , we made it pretty comfortable and had a good setup in there. My main advice would be to get wind deflectors on, as you'll need to have some air flow. Means you can crack the top of the window and nobody can see.
Jake mate, this is sick! Recently, I was literally looking at small cheap cars online just to have some fun with and do something similar to this. This is absolutely ideal! This is exactly what I imagined 🤣
Jake….just couple of things to note with these cars. You more likely to return 50ish mpg with between 400/450 out of a tank. They are prone to leaking water ingress Through door seals,rear light cluster seals, rear window seal, 2x vent seals behind the rear bumper and the top led light above the rear window. Just so you know as you probably don’t want a wet micro camper 👍 other that these are pretty bulletproof cars, Ive take mine 140 mile trip daily for the pass 2 years and it never misses a beat
Great little micro day camper. You could even work out some tarp arrangement with the rear tail gate up, held to the car body and roof with magnets, could provide an outside cooking and seating shelter
Absolutely love the bed structure! I did basically the same exact thing on a Fiat Panda from 2011, without even removing the front seat! It sits a bit higher but you have still plenty of space. It works a treat and I love it. Even built foldable feets\supports so that I can put the bed in or take it out easily and still have a daily driver! Stoked to see I'm not the only madman that tries to sleep in a city car :) great work!
80mpg is good but the car is tiny. I had a 2.2L honda accord mk7 tourer, 140bhp. 4.75 metres long, you could fit a double airbed in the back and if driven gently would return up to 75mpg. Incredible really when you consider they're twice the size, more than double the power, and 10x the comfort of this little car.
I have a 2009 Citroen C2, which is probably a little bit bigger than this one. I had wondered whether something like this could be done, so great to see how you did it. The seats at the back not only fold down they can then be folded up, so they are neatly up at the rear, so you have a flat spacious boot area, so the car is like a micro estate car. I love it. Also, when I go in someones expensive new car, I always notice how hard and uncomfortable the leather seats are, compared to C2 seats, which are like spongy, armchairs. So cosy, when it is raining outside, when you are driving. 🤣🤣
Excellent video. I have a Citroen C2 which I’m currently living in due to being homeless, I’ve thought about taking the passenger seat out to make up a bed myself. Seeing your video has been massively helpful 🙂👍🏻
Happy New Year Jake, what a brilliant idea and just shows what you can achieve even with the smallest of vehicle. Really well thought out set up. And hair cut as well, hope you didn’t lose all your strength when it was cut short 😉. Anyway looking forward to see the further upgrades etc. all the best. Oh and we need more Buster 😀
blessings love, thank you, i find it hard to wrape my mind around doing some things n for the first time i can see how to do this car bed, so thank you looking forwards to more ideas from you , be well n be safe.
Looking great at the moment, some ideas would be to throw a cooler in the back for keeping food fresh and a fold out table attached to the back seat for cooking on etc
Definately add that roof rack.. and some Car Ramps also known as Kerb Ramps (high enough for your car.. but easily be able to fit inside your car.. like you did in the smaller camper van).. therefore the Roof rack works...so you'd need atleast 2) so when you are parked.. outdoors.. it keeps your tires out of mud or snow... also as an older gent.. i'd suggest keep a 1 liter hot water bottle with a knitted cover.. good for cold night.. hot water in the bag.. by your feet to keep yourself warm.. next morning good to freshen up or make a tea/coffee.
This is great! And it’s also great to see a fellow veteran making the most of life in civvy life! I’ve slept quite comfortably in my Mazda2, it’s surprising how much space there really is in a small car!
Brilliant build! I don't think you'll get over 55 - 58 mpg though. I must had a similar reality check with my smart fortwo 0.7l turbo. The reality is never the same as the theoretical maximum no matter how gentle you are with your right foot.
What fun to see what you did with a tiny car! I had a Honda 600 coupe many decades ago. Although I didn't truly camp in it, I did travel and sleep in it. What memories this build resurrected 😊
Happy New Year Jake. Nice little weekend camper. Perfect for taking you out into the wilds and park pretty much anywhere. Be great with a tarp added. Take Care Buddy 🙏 👊
I'm married with a 3 year old and one more on the way...no way I can do something like this right now...but I can't stop watching these videos! Can't wait until my boys are a little older. I want to build a camper or schoolie and take the family on some epic memory building adventures! Keep it up, Jake! Cheers from Texas, USA.
Great idea I used to camp in a 3 door seat ibiza. Only thing I would say is perhaps make the timber so it can fold up in the event of a side or rear impact. Always worried me having big sheets of solid ply behind the passengers will chop you in two in a crash. It's a great thing for adventures though and the best bit is easy stealth parking. 👍
Happy new year Jake Ive been watching your journey for sometime and thought to myself hadn’t seen you post anything new for some time but then Xmas and new year with the family,great little idea I’ve been using a little Peugeot expert myself for some time like you say mpg always a battle been all over the U.K. on and off but feel I’m destined to very much have a leap of faith and get out the military and get out that Comfort zone 👍👍
There are trims for windows that let you vent air out but stop ppl accessing the car. That hinged flap could be a table if you make little legs for it. Curious to see if the legs hold up as normally people tend to make triangles for support but most the weight is on the seat so looks really cool. Hope to see you camp in it soon
That's amazing I've only just started using the back of my nissan micra k11 with the back seats down padded out with a duvet blankets and cushions with a removable shelf the goes across the front seats door to door and trays on the parcel shelf for rainy day picnics cos uk weather is so unpredictable. This has blow me away😅 ps love the fact you knew your dog was thirsty so kind
i did the same with a 2000 Yaris 5 door ,great cars but i took all the seats out barring the drivers , used to drive it to Hoylake in the Wirral from East Manchester every weekend for work n kip in it Fri night n drive back Sat at 11pm after work ! loved it !
Great video jake mate you could do with a set of window deflectors so you can have the front windows down with out letting the rain and a wheel mounted table to cook outside
Love love LOVE this!! Since running into some road blocks to starting uk vanlife (Canadian license bureaucracy) I’ve been trying to figure out what I can do to get on the road without spending a ton of money on trains and accommodation. I was thinking something like this but at 5’10” I wasn’t sure how to fit myself in the back of small car. You just showed me how! Thank you! Will you be using anything for heat? Or just a warm sleeping bag for winter? Or an electric blanket? I’m already brewing ideas for my own but can’t wait to see what you do next!
I'd heard only some provinces have a direct swap program for UK driving licenses. That's a bummer. You might end up having to take a driving test. If you want a small car for a camper - one of these "citybugs" Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Peugeot 107 (all the same car from the same factory) are cheap, just make sure you don't get a rotten one unless you only want it a few months. The Toyota Yaris (as long as its not a diesel) are also VERY good. Also the Honda Jazz are a very good vehicle (the back seat folds totally flat in those). Or if you have the money maybe even a Prius. They have a fair bit of space in them if you take the back seats out. We don't have the same kind of extreme weather in England you do in Canada except for maybe a few isolated parts of the Scottish highlands our weather is kind of like Vancouver or Victoria's year round, wet and mild mostly. I camp a lot and normally get away with a sleeping bag and a hot water bottle 3 seasons of the year. Maybe you would need an electric blanket if you were doing winter. I am toying with installing a diesel heater in my car but I'm not entirely sure how exactly to rig it all up the way I want it but I think it would work.
@@zoidberg444 Thanks for this, super helpful info! Yes, I can get a direct swap to a UK license, but if I do a direct swap it won’t let me drive manual (silly, as I learned on a standard and drove many standard cars in Canada, but UK government wants proof of a test on a standard car, which isn’t something that is specified on tests…not to mention I did my drivers test 20 years ago, so there’s no such records anymore). Even more silly is I can drive manual on my Canadian license for up to a year in the UK…but then have to switch to a UK license anyways, bringing me back to square one. And insurance on a Canadian license is absolutely outrageously priced. So yeah…unfortunately pretty tough to get a van in UK with those additional challenges. My plan is to get started with a small automatic car, swap out for a UK license and do the manual test when there’s a vacancy available to do it… hopefully Van life is still feasible in the next year or two :)
@@GoneGrowing OH NO. That's really annoying! Yeah - our licenses here do discriminate between auto and manual, I think they do in Australia and New Zealand as well. Almost universally people learn to drive a manual here unless they are disabled or aren't very good at driving. Most of us don't think about it. If you can believe it the first time I ever drove an automatic was in Canada and coming out of the hire place in Vancouver airport I almost knocked myself out because my left foot went wandering for the clutch pedal and found the brake as I was coming to a stop sign... Ops. I know they have made some changes to the driving test since I took mine 17 years ago. They might ask you to reverse around a corner keeping an equal distance from the curb to show you have precise control of the vehicle or to parallel park on a side street - I don't know if thats on the test in Canada. You will be asked to do an emergency stop, probably a few park ups, pull away, hill start. etc Also when you take your test make a visible head movement of checking your mirrors so they can see you're doing it. I know someone who was failed first time on lack of observation. I don't know what part of England you're in. I'm in Shropshire if you need a hand with modifications or repairs to a small 4 wheeled sh*tbox. lol I feel bad for you getting hosed like that!
I have converted Jeeps and land rovers and a Fiat 500. I took the rear seats out the Fiat 500 as only a few bolts, but using a fixed bed means changing gear was a pain and you are stuck with a board in the cab 24/7. Removing the front seat means the air bag warning light is always on as well.
Happy New Year Jake. I have a Toyota Yaris D4D that gives me 40 miles for £6 at 50mph cheap as chips to tax. And if you take out the back seats too, well, you know, booyah! I'm looking at using a tarp from the back with a hot tent/tarp idea for more room. But your plan is doable for slim lads like you. Yes charging from the alternator.
Great stuff! I built something like this for my Yaris, it's incredible how much room it had inside - I did record a little video and I'm yet to post it! I'd invest in some wind deflectors if I were you. You can roll the windows down to keep airflow in the car 👍
i did the same with a 2000 Yaris 5 door ,great cars but i took all the seats out barring the drivers , used to drive it to Hoylake in the Wirral from East Manchester every weekend for work n kip in it Fri night n drive back Sat at 11pm after work ! loved it !
I’ve had a little Peugeot 107 for 4 years now and love it!! They’re great little cars. You’ve inspired me to convert it. Word or warning though I know my little car and others like it have mysterious leaks and the floor gets wet…. Be careful with your tech 😂
Common to have a boot leak. The rear brake light at the top leaks. And the rear lights leak. Then the boot carpet wicks it down into the rear footwell too. Highly recommend slapping some silicone around the outside of the lights to prevent it happening. Great little camper.
I would really like to see how you sleep in there. I'll keep that in mind and build something like this when times get tough and I can't pay my rent anymore
Nice one soldier, I'm thinking of getting a Datsun Go+ and converting it into a camper because it is so reliable and light on fuel it has a 1.2L petrol engine.
Hi ! Great video ! I also have a c1 too that i would like to transform, and i got a question : When you removed the passenger seat, did you have the "airbag light" bliking ? (i don't know the word for that sorry for my english haha). And if not, what procedure did you use?
Living in a car is a great way of life I lived in a mid sized hatchback car and loved the lifestyle I chose to sleep in the front seat even though the rear seats folded down and I chose not to have cooking facilities as I don't cook so I ate hot food on the go during the day eg greggs etc and cold food eg sandwiches etc when parked up But bed platform in that type of car etc I would put 2 strong plastic storage tubs where seat was xnd buy a cheap single memory foam mattress from Ikea and trim it to size and rest it on the tubs etc 1 tub for clothes 1 tub for food 1 tub for everything else Is a good way to downsize to living in a car Electronics etc I only used to have A smartphone A phone sized battery pack A 12v bug zapper which had a good light on it and car radio to keep charged etc But a person could have a microwave in the car if they have the 1000 watt jackery using a 700 watt microwave or portable pizza oven etc and just go to a supermarket and buy frozen meals cheap and just put straight in the microwave etc I used to go launderette once a week which costs about £7 a wash and £4 for tumble dryer etc and motorway services have free to use showers plus there is a 12v camping shower alternative etc Much better than paying rent And if a person works for a recruitment agency etc they can live on 3 day week with 4 day weekend which gives great worklife balance etc
I love this!! Only personal downside, don’t think can get one of these in the United States though where I am. Never seen this guy before AWESOME PERSONALITY, so engaging, funny definitely new fan here. Subscribed n liked. Thx bud!!
Six years ago, I builded a micro bed-camper with a chevrolet Spark, it's have a 0.8L 3 Cylinder engine, I bought it on 2006, My first car. So, I change it for my travle. On first, I design a "bed box" with google SketchUp 3D software, remove the second chairs and put my "bed box" on car, then I removed the copilot chair and expaned the bed box, I have a 1.8m * 0.8m bed now, It's so confortable. 3 years ago, I sold the spark that it with me for 16 years ago, and then I bought a Tiguan, but I so missed my spark, it's a good car, good girl.
Maby some friends don't know, I must send the car to a place "check" every year in China, and the car must on a normal setup in the check program, If the goverment officer find some changes, they will got back the car's files. So, I must promiss the changes on the Spark can remove in a half of hour, it's harder on the small car.
Hi i did this three years ago its still going strong at 102 thousand miles , you can put a Chinese diesel heater behind the drivers seat its a bit of work but well worth it .
Just got a 2008 only 17k on the clock my son just turned 17 so going to teach him to drive will be a perfect first car 80mpg & £20 tax Lowest insurance group
the engine and the interior is the same as the toyota aygo to make it a bit mora capable on dirt you could widen the front wheels and add a snowchain for more grip, you could add a roof rack and move the spare tire on a rear tire mount, i hightli recommend tinting the rear windiws for the summer and adding soundproofing or overall insulation to the interior of the vechicle and some insulation for the windows and some additional rubber seals for the doors because the frame of the car is fearly thin and really noisy because of the roadnoise during driving, but overall keep the vechicle really light to keep the fuel consumption low. i want to do some similar modifications to my car but i havent had the time or money yet.
Hi. Just discovered your channel and this video particularly. Excellent, thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish because of the content and presentation. Just wondered what your take is on insurance? The current insurance company culture seems to be that any modification or change of use must be notified or it may (and probably will) invalidate the policy. In the case of any incident this could potentially make you an uninsured driver even if the incident was entirely another parties fault. Looking forward to your thoughts and those of anyone else regarding this. Many thanks, Broadlander
Great video, 80mpg is a bit wishful I think ha but like the idea behind it, next time should get an estate car my, my 1.6tdi skoda averages 60plus mpg when doing motorway miles from North east up to Scottish Highlands for work.
The front seat is part of the safety restraint system. Does the driver side airbag also still work with the passenger seat removed and the cable disconected? What are the legalities surrounding that for MOT and what not? My sister did this with her Toyota aygo, but instead of removing the passenger seat, she built a removable, foldable bed which goes OVER the fully reclined seat and uses telescopic legs as supports in the front and rear foot wells. Cool vid nonetheless!
