Sliding doors: Don’t come knockin’ when the van’s rockin’

This is Toby and Sam Pantling’s mobile man cave. The brothers have just returned from round one of the Scottish Enduro Series in the van, which has also been across Europe road-tripping in the Alps, taken the pair racing at the Enduro World Series in Italy and countless Welsh and Scotland overnighters too.

Find the gap: the brothers pantling are serious packers

During the week it plays a more conventional role as work wheels for carpenter Toby. Bought new in 2011, the pair soon set about transforming it into a race wagon on a budget. Wood came from a neighbour’s skip and a school desk from a tip formed the basis of the sleeping arrangement, with a mattress from a car boot and another from Ikea’s bargain bin. The interior is made more habitable by packing sheep’s wool between the ply lining and the metal skin of the van. The floor has simply been laid with cheap lino on top of the ply.
Toby and Sam decided to separate the sleeping area from the bikes with a removable sheet of ply, and so the garage area is simply a shelf where bikes sit with their wheels off, with storage underneath. All in, it cost a couple of hundred quid, tops. And it’s all removed easily enough if the extra space is needed.

Have you done something similar? Show us your workshop on wheels in the comments…