New Zealand’s Delightfully DIY Camper Vans
Car culture and national identity
Air brushed ribbons of gold emblazoned against a sea of crimson. A grid of Māori inspired illustrations stippled in sharpie across the hood of a dusty Toyota Previa. A meticulous recreation of the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. The hand painted motifs of New Zealand’s camper vans are as varied and charming as the Kiwis who adventure in them.
As of writing this, my fiancée and I have been on the road in New Zealand for two weeks. Our home, a rented Epic camper van, sports an understated livery, as do many of the RV rentals here. Jucy vans are the obvious exception, clad in loud green with whimsical typography imploring you to “Find Your Happy!” Judging by the playful automotive graphics around every turn, the pursuit of happiness is to Kiwis what strident liberty is to Americans.
Kiwi camper van designs get extra charming when you begin spotting older models belonging to locals. Unlike the decals adorning American F150s — matte black American flags or Punisher skulls carefully distressed by a graphic designer for greater patriotic effect — Kiwi graphic embellishments are often hand painted celebrations of native flora and fauna rather than political or religious dogmas. Common are painterly designs that evoke traditional Māori symbolism. There’s a folksy looseness to the rendering that says these vehicles aren’t precious, they’re merely a means to adventure. New Zealand’s national parks are well funded, with a beautifully maintained network of roads and trails. So, access to remote wilderness isn’t limited to lifted, kitted behemoths. And with no entrance fees at the parks, they’re available to all. Your run of the mill 90’s era van with 350K kilometers on it is more than capable of reaching most trailheads.
The interiors of these lived-in locals’ campers often has a cobbled together quaintness. Drawers from an old dresser, Nana’s curtains, a camping stove for a kitchen, vintage store odds and ends. Imagine taking a bric-a-brac mountain home and concentrating it into a 5 foot by 9 foot cab. Every sliding door left open becomes a diorama of a life lived adventurously. A little Hobbiton home mounted on a chassis, maybe with a surfboard strapped to the roof.
Living in America, I’ve become desensitized to the big dick energy that pervades the automotive genre. The blocky grill of a GMC like the maw of a Pitbull. The typographic talons and shredded embellishments of the Ford Raptor logo. The bright as a supernova in your rear view headlights of a V8. The imposing hood of a modern pickup truck like a decorated Army General standing at attention. And don’t get me started on American vehicle nomenclature: Ram, Challenger, Titan, Powerstroke, Defender, Gladiator. These specific examples target a largely cis-male demographic, and yes, there are more benign options on the market: Chevy Malibu, Ford Focus. But the bigger, burlier rides represent the largest category of vehicles sold in America: pickup trucks and SUVs. By sheer numbers, these truly are exemplars of the industry. And these brick shithouse examples all come stock off the showroom floor.
It’s when we advance to the aftermarket that we shift from hypermasculine into toxically masculine high gear. Diesel truck mods to belch plumes of black smoke (rolling coal). Catalytic converter deletes to make your pickup roar at a pavement shaking volume, with the added bonus of emitting even more carbon into the atmosphere. Saggy rubber testicles that dangle from trailer hitches. Driving in America is a reflection of modern life in America. Every ‘roided-out pickup truck feels like a threat just as every NRA member at the grocery store with a sidearm and tactical gear induces anxiety — for me, anyways.
Kiwis love their rides every bit as much as Americans. And why not? With the whole of Middle Earth to explore, the open road is as inviting here as it is anywhere. There’s a thriving classic car scene, a Japanese drift scene, heaps of accessorized utility vehicles, bagger motorcycles, and RV culture galore. On the surface, New Zealand is quite like the States, and yet it is starkly different. Amid the rugged mountain landscapes and 4X4 tracks so familiar to this Coloradan, vehicles range from artistically embellished campers to capable Land Cruisers, but very rarely do they veer into ostentatious displays of power. Having spent a couple weeks now cruising alongside the benign, non-gendered, vehicles of New Zealand’s highways has been refreshing. Every hand painted minivan is a palette cleanser. Every jalopy camper, a delight.
