Good things happen when German camper innovator Sunlight puts pens to work on a new concept camper van. The last time around, those things were the hammock-topped, wakeboard-winching 2019 Cliff 4×4 Adventure Van. This time, it’s the all-new Volkswagen Ibex camper concept, an even grittier adventure van built to “outdrive the ordinary” and navigate through terra incognita to a grander grade of adventure. And it sounds like the production version won’t be far behind.
Sunlight has really thrown itself all-in on the adventurous, adrenaline-pumping side of van life. A lot of it is just marketing – having its camper vans parked adjacent to towering, snow-blanketed mountains or showing a pro mountain biker leaping as high as a Class C roof, but its product line has also moved in that direction.
With the Cliff 4×4 Adventure concept, it threw in a kitchen sink’s worth of creative ideas aimed at adrenaline junkies, and while most of those didn’t survive past the concept stage, Sunlight did ultimately launch a more rugged, adventurous camper van with the Ford Transit-based Cliff 4×4 Adventure Edition.
From there, the company’s adventure fever only deepened. Three years later, its entire website is one big collage of young, svelte athletes pushing boundaries in sports like surfing, enduro mountain biking, rock climbing and active-volcano skiing. The accompanying script emphasizes motivational ideas like “not made for standing still” and “outdrive the ordinary.”
Sunlight
The Ibex concept takes the next step in that all-out adventure-hunting approach, a step toward the type of heavily accessorized off-road adventure vans we’re quite accustomed to seeing in the United States. The van also previews an alternative base van option to the Fiat Ducato siblings and Ford Transit vans on which Sunlight currently builds its Class Bs. It’ll then give Sunlight another all-wheel-drive “4×4” model with which to tempt young, ‘invincible’ semi-pros and influencers hellbent on going full YOLO right into their parenting years.
Sunlight does considerable preparation around the body of Volkswagen’s full-size Crafter van, starting by installing its own special fiberglass high roof. An integrated light bar fills out the lower edge of that new roof, just above the windshield. Sunlight says the new roof opens up a full 6.5 feet (198 cm) of standing height below.
Sunlight
Sunlight continues its exterior work by adding a slew of off-road and adventure upgrades to the base Crafter, starting with a suspension lift. There’s also a set of beadlock wheels and all-terrain tires, a front bull bar, a snorkel, a rear spare tire carrier and MOLLE panel, and a passenger-side Thule awning. Sunlight explains that the topographical aesthetics package is a nod to the great explorers who – quite literally – penned newly discovered places into empty spaces on the map.
From what little Sunlight has shown of the interior, we can make out a classic floor plan with raised rear bed, front dinette and passenger-side kitchen block. It also appears to have a wet bathroom compartment right behind the dinette.
Sunlight
The layout looks reliable but unremarkable, but the decor catches the eye with a trendy combination of earth tones, including an emphasis on neutrals and light-colored woods. Marble-style wall paneling and soft-touch felt combine to embellish the homey ambiance.
The Ibex is a concept for now, but Sunlight describes it as “near production” and hints more than once that a production version is on the way. We suspect the company will reveal the show vehicle in full at the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon later this year, if not sooner.
Source: Sunlight
