Pharm Tech Titans

An Australian mechanic with 24 years of experience has transformed a rundown retro van into a fully-functioning motorhome.

Phil Hoken, 39, said he ‘jumped at the opportunity’ to purchase the 1975 Volkswagen Jurgen Autovilla in its rusty condition for $5,000 after seeing it advertised on Facebook and eagerly started working on restoring it.

The New South Wales business owner of  and Kombi Keg said he has ‘always loved the look of Kombi vans’ and first started working on cars with his dad when he was 16.

Phil said the project took seven months to complete and cost close to $30,000 to restore. 

After completing the transformation, the van was listed for $65,000 on Gumtree and sold for $60,000 within 17 hours of advertising the vehicle.

‘RETRO RV only launched as a registered business three weeks ago and this 70s Volkswagen is the first vehicle we transformed,’ Phil told FEMAIL and said the van was restored last year. 

‘The original owner was selling it online and said it would only be good for van parts to use on other vehicles – but I figured we should fix it.’

The father-of-two said his family were shocked when he purchased the old van but were amazed with the stunning transformation and selling price. 

The outside of the van has an original retro 1970s style, but the inside has a new toilet, double bed and upright and overhead storage.

Phil said it has a small retro fridge, stovetop and table that are all in the original appliance position spaces.

Due to the state of the van, Phil and his team were faced with a few challenges during the restoration process.

‘One issue we had to overcome was the unreliable engine of the Kombi van and another problem was the rotten timber frame on the side,’ he said.

‘We swapped the conventional engine and replaced it with an EJ20 Subaru Forester engine, and the result was great.

‘We also had to re-do the entire timber frame and replace it with new wood,’ he said. 

Phil and his team are currently working on three other ‘rust to riches’ Kombi Servisi vans and have purchased another three to complete.

He said the response from others online have been fantastic and social media users have loved seeing the before and Kombi Servisi after transformation images.

Even though RETRO RV only recently launched, the business has already gained more than 3,800 likes on Facebook – and Phil assured he will share more restoration projects in the near future.

His other bar franchise business Kombi Servisi Keg launched in 2016 and swiftly grew from one to 49 franchises in eight different countries.

Phil has travelled across Australia buying vans and kombi servisi hopes customers will consider purchasing a motorhome to travel around the country too. If you liked this short article and you would like to obtain additional details about kombi servisi kindly visit our internet site.  

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