COBI Volkswagen Camper Van Set 24653

COBI's Volkswagen Camper Van is a 1:35 set built from 322 blocks under official Volkswagen licence: the camper at 15 cm with a matching caravan behind it for a combined 22.5 cm, plus a tourist figure, a kayak with paddle, a lifebuoy and a signpost to Lake Constance. Curtains, window flowers and lights are printed onto the blocks; the set contains no stickers.

The first German caravan was built by a whip maker

Arist Dethleffs manufactured horsewhips and riding crops in Isny, in the Allgäu — a trade that was disappearing under him as cars replaced horses. His work took him away from home for weeks at a time, and his wife, a painter, could not come.

So in 1931 he built what he called a Wohnauto, a living car: a trailer with beds, a stove and a table, towed behind his own vehicle so that his family travelled with him. It is generally reckoned the first German caravan. The whip business ended; the caravan business is still trading.

By the 1970s Dethleffs, Eriba and Westfalia were all building light trailers sized specifically to be pulled by a Volkswagen Transporter, and the combination in this set — camper in front, caravan behind, heading for a lake — was what a large part of Europe did every August.

In the COBI range

Part of the Action Town range at 1:35, alongside the other Volkswagen campers and the Passat with caravan (24643).

Specifications

Pieces: 322 · Figures: 1 · Scale: 1:35 · Officially licensed
Model dimensions: van 15 × 6 × 6 cm (5.9 × 2.4 × 2.4 in), 22.5 cm with the caravan