World’s ‘rarest campervan’ is 1980s hatchback-turned tiny home with kitchen, bed and living room inside unassuming shell
A RARE car-turned-camper that’s full of retro charm was sold at an auction earlier this year – complete with a tiny kitchen, bed and living space.
The unassuming 1986 Austin Maestro 500L Countryman is today considered one of the rarest versions of the once wildly popular model.
Based on the Austin Rover hatchback from the 1980s, the Maestro Countryman, with its higher roofline, offered owners increased headroom and a versatile interior space perfect for camping adventures and lengthy road trips.
This example’s surprisingly large rear features a living and dining area, which doubles up as a bedroom thanks to the dual sofas – which can combine to form a bed.
Sold back in May 2024 through auction house Historics Auctioneers, the listing described the adorable motor as a “portable studio apartment”.
It added that the Maestro had been mostly garage-kept ever since it rolled off the production line at Morris’ former plant in Oxford, where BMW now makes the Mini.
The Countryman has kept its original interior, which includes flat brown curtains and a fetching plaid upholstery, and despite its 38 years, had been kept in great condition by its apparent five different owners prior to its sale.
To fight the car’s infamous issues with rust, it had been treated with Waxoyl, and had generally been kept as close to stock as possible – with 97,000 miles on the clock.
Interestingly, the Maestro’s rear lights are shared with the Land Rover Discovery.
The original listing priced the camper between £5,000 and £7,000, although it’s unclear just how much it eventually sold for.
The Maestro was a relative success in the UK when it was released in the early 1980s.
It was Britain’s sixth best-selling car in 1983, and in 1984 it sold more than 80,000 units.
Common on UK roads throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the car unfortunately suffered from a poor reputation relating to its build quality and unreliability.
When British Leyland was bought out by Rover in 1986, it was then known as the Rover Maestro – although it was never emblazoned with the Rover badge.
The Maestro was eventually repositioned as Rover’s budget entry-level model after the launch of the Rover 200 in 1989, and only base models remained in production.
This comes as a classic Ferrari – believed to be just one of 26 – is set to go for £450,000 at auction.
The classic 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ Berlinetta is up for sale at RM Sotheby’s.
And elsewhere, a version of the Porsche 911 that Jeremy Clarkson once hailed as “extraordinary” faces a brutal cull – unless it can make a key change.