Buying and restoring a vintage camper is not for the faint of heart. Like most vintage machines, a vintage camper will be full of headaches, setbacks, money drains, and discouragement, but if you push through, you stand to gain a machine that goes unrivaled in coolitude – and that, my friends, is priceless. In efforts of being more practical, this vintage camper is also a mobile office.

Sitting a the throne of cool vintage campers is this one-of-a-kind Citroen H van by coachbuilding firm Barou. This vintage camper has all the charming Jet Age appeal you could ever want while still possibly being an efficient camper rig. Ugh, it’s so cool it hurts a little bit to look at. 

The Citroen H Van was a pretty big deal 

Even if you’ve heard of Citroen, you’ve maybe never heard of the Citroen H Van. And, you definitely haven’t heard of this one-off custom made to be a mobile office for a Mr. Charlin, the owner of a company named Socome, based in Lyon that specialized in the supply of garage equipment. 

According to Silodrome, although the H Van is relatively obscure, it did have a long run. I should clarify, the Citroen H Van is obscure in America; maybe our friends in Europe may not see it as quite so unknown. 

Part of what made the H Van so groundbreaking was that it was designed using monocoque construction rather than a standard body-on-frame design; this meant that the van was lighter and simpler to build than its contemporaries. 

Feast your eyes on this insanely cool custom vintage camper 

If this one looks a bit different than most H Vans, it’s because it is. Pretty much the only carry-over from the factory H Van is the running gear. 

Its former owner, Mr. Charlin, gave his Citroen H Van over to french coachbuilder, Jean Barou, to make one of the coolest vintage campers the world has ever seen. This camper was the original work-from-home rig, meant to aid Mr. Charlin in traveling around the country selling his products and living out of his coachbuilt camper. 

The body looks totally different than other H Vans because it is totally different. Barou designed and built this beautiful camper body highlighting the Jet Age aesthetic. Jet Age cues include a massive chrome grille and bumpers, a wrap-around windscreen with additional windows above the driver, an aircraft-like circular window in the side entry door, and of course, the matching trailer. 

It’s beautiful but will need some work

To fully enjoy this masterpiece vintage camper, its new owner will have to do a great deal of careful work to get it right. The body itself looks to be in pretty decent shape. It will need a fresh coat of paint, but that’s the least of the worries. 

The interior seems to be where a great deal of renovations and restoration needs to be done. While the style is dated, it is so cool; it would be a shame to update everything. Of course, more practical fixtures like the kitchen and technology might want to be updated with modern equipment, but the furniture and other design fixtures feel too cool to erase. 

It may not be cheap, but it can be yours

This unbelievably cool vintage camper/mobile office is heading to auction as is in France on September 19, 2021. The estimated value is between $47,400 – 71,000 USD.

To find out more information and look at all the rad photos of this crazy vintage camper, click here to visit the listing on Aguttes.