Our 10th campervan: The Bling Thing Living the Van life dream
The Bling Thing is our 10th camper and it is for sale - July 2026 for £23000. We bought our first motorhome in 2002, a 27ft American RV. 5 motorhomes and 3 campervans later we bought The Bling Thing!
We have just bought our 11th camper a 6m Ducato van conversion Benimar Benivan 161.
The Bling Thing started life as a fully-loaded, Limited, crew-van in in September 2018. Its transformation started in Essex when made to look like an M Sport. The 170ps engine with auto box does not embarrass when challenged to a standing start.
The day-van conversion equipment comprised of a compressor fridge and dropdown dvd player only. Both were powered from the Stop-Start engine battery. In 2022 we had the following fitted;
- CAN sink with integrated gas gas hob.
- MaxxFan two-way fan.
- 90Ah leisure battery.
- Diesel cabin heater.
Campervans are the Swiss Army version. Our must have is a comfy king sized bed.
Ignoring the RV, our longest motorhomes have been 6.5m. The Bling Thing is LWB 5.4m with a 2m long bed. A Thetford PortaPotti takes pride of place behind the passenger seat. It doubles up as a seat and a wash basin when the Fiamma bidet is added.
The Bling Thing came with the compressor fridge. The compressor is located behind the 20l water canister along with a 904 size campingaz bottle.
I love driving the Bling Thing and it does a lot of the thinking for you being auto everything, gears, headlights, wipers, lane assist, and the screen tells you everything you need to know. Although it has only done 24100 miles the wet belt was replaced at the last service by KAP Folkestone, an approved Ford Service Centre who have serviced and MOTd it for the past 5 years. Consequently it comes with Ford Assist which provides Pan European breakdown Recover
Van Life v Motorhoming
You may have noticed the additional storage in the photos, and that is probably the greatest compromise between a campervan and motorhome. The Bling Thing does not have easily accessible cupboards when the bad is made up, so we l have a boot full boxes containing the day to day necessities. But that is fine because we get a good nights sleep.
Our Benimar has been purchased with extensive touring in mind. We don't know exactly where yet but it will probably drive some of the dirt roads in Morocco.
