Forget Your Kitted-Out Sprinters, This Alfa Campervan Now Rules the RV Park
Bad news, van-lifers, bus-lifers, and all the in-between-lifers among us: Someone just beat all of you for the coolest home on wheels.
Yesterday in Paris, at Bonhams’ Les Grandes Marques du Monde sale, someone scored this 1955 Alfa Romeo T10 Autotutto Romeo Campervan, and with it, the all-natural flower crown for the most unexpected vehicle you’ll share a campground with. Final hammer price: €75,900 ($81,844), including premium.
And just what did those euros get our buyer? Gaze upon the pea-green and off-white two-tone paintwork. Marvel at the slender Alfa Romeo grille seemingly slapped directly overtop the larger, color-matched grille. Did we mention the wicker picnic hamper and the folding camper table?
In the 1950s, Alfa Romeo was busy making a name for itself with more sporting cars such as the Giulietta Sprint and the Giulietta Spider. But it also dabbled in building a small commercial delivery van, dubbed the “Autotutto” (“all-purpose”). Its first iteration, the T10, was launched at the Turin motor show in 1954. Notably, the T10 was Alfa’s first commercial vehicle to offer left-hand drive.
Power came primarily from a de-tuned 1.3-liter twin-cam four-cylinder borrowed from the Giulietta, although a supercharged two-stroke diesel two-cylinder was also offered, including in this very example. Thanks to its front-wheel-drive configuration, as well as four-corner independent suspension with a transverse torsion bar at the rear, the T10s had commendably large and low load areas, perfect for commercial applications.
The van in question is extensively documented, with an official Alfa-issued certificate of origin which shows that this fella left the factory on January 7, 1955. It changed hands in 1963, then became part of an Italian collection for many years, until it was purchased by the seller, who embarked on an extensive restoration of the bodywork and interior to convert it to the campervan you see here. Impressively, the T10 retains its original two-stroke diesel motor.
Inside, there’s a bench that folds out to a double bed, a foldable table, multiple storage cubbies, a sink with fresh and gray water systems, a gas stove, and more. The van was offered for sale with all the necessary paperwork, including a photographic record of the restoration and campervan conversion.
Sure, you can go the more conventional route and try to grab a Volkswagen Type 2 campervan, or drop around six figures to get a modern Mercedes-Benz Sprinter or a heavily upfitted Ford Transit Trail, but the latter two lack the charm of this vintage Alfa and the former feels like a crowd-following move. Even if it ends up leaving you stranded, at least this van will allow you to bed down in style until the flatbed arrives.
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You just try and get a 1955 anything into an RV park around these parts. Not gonna happen.
Do RV parks in your area have restriction on vehicle age? As someone who occasionally sleeps in a van while on the road, I’ve been turned away from some campgrounds and RV parks who were not very accepting of vanlife types for various reasons (not all of them irrational) but I’ve never heard of age cutoffs.
I’m neither an RV’r nor a van camper, but I do have friends who’ve told me that 10 years at some parks and 15 at others is the limit they’ve seen. That’s in RV Parks. I think campgrounds are still pretty open to most anything.
Interesting. Thanks.
On the other hand, you’ll be more than welcome in most infields.
Learn to hum a few bars of Il Canto degli Italiani, and you can tour half of Europe for free.
All fun until you get it on the Interstate. My Sprinter camper will cruise at 80 all day at 18 mpg. This will get run over. I expect the same terror look that vintage VW Bus drivers have while the right lane is doing 80 and they can only do 60…
It is cute though. I’ve pushed Alfas and Fiats owned by big brother before. It is their natural state.
It is quite interesting. The color scheme is very of the time. It’s a bit dull to look at from the sides but the front has some character. It reminds me of a thermos bottle.