The Grand California: VW's forgotten campervan?

Spotting the Volkswagen Grand California at the CMT Holiday Exhibition Stuttgart came as a surprise, but also a welcome reminder.

No matter your stance on winterising your campervan, it is undeniably the camping off-season at the moment. However, when we stepped into the bustling van-life halls at CMT Stuttgart this January to kick off our year in the world of campers, you wouldn’t have guessed it.

As you may expect at a van-life event — particularly a German van-life event — crowds flocked to the ever-popular mid-sized Volkswagen campers dispersed across the arena. But amongst the sea of professionally converted and home-grown T6 and T6.1 campervans, it was the lofty silhouette of a Crafter-based VW Grand California (showcased by HAHN Camper World) which caught our eye — even if not everyone else’s.

We’ll admit, amongst the hype of the shiny new upcoming Multivan-based California, it has been easy to lose sight of its larger sibling which celebrates its fifth birthday this year. But reuniting with the big campervan in person served as a reminder of exactly what the Grand Cali brings to the table, prompting us to ask: ‘were we wrong to have forgotten about the Volkswagen Grand California?’

Room for activities

Having tussled with the entry to many a Bulli during the show, and chicaned through the undoubtedly narrow interior of Ford’s Transit Custom Nugget, gliding upright through the spacious interior of the Grand California felt truly leisurely. And really, isn’t leisure the name of the campervanning game? 

Okay, fair, the van-life is at least partly based around a reconnection with nature, and you could argue that a mid-sized format further promotes this through a lack of interior space. But that’s the magic: the largest California gives the option to set up out outside when the weather permits, while there is a far from claustrophobic living area inside for when you need a little more of an insulated, luxurious hotel-on-wheels experience.

A good kip

The camper on show was the Grand California 680 variant, which meant following the corridor towards the van’s rear revealed another beacon of space-based comfort: the foldable double bed. 

Now, the new Multivan California does also sleep four campers, but here you get the luxury of an additional 0.34 m bed width (1.67 m total) to assist with some quality shut eye. This is also matched in the rooftop bed in the 600 model which gets a small 0.1m boost (1.22 m total) over the mid-sized equivalent, and although VW say it’s there for the kids, we’d say it seems expensive enough for most adults.

And as a bonus, the space surrounding the rear bed (and the whole van to be honest) is littered with storage cabinets, drawers, nooks, crannies, allowing for further luxuries to be conveniently packed and accessed without too much rearranging — room for a high-tog duvet and some extra comfy pillows perhaps?

Hotel Porta potty-on-wheels

Time for our favourite topic: does it bother you that the standard California doesn’t even have a toilet? Well, the Grand has a whole wetroom squeezed inside between the driver’s seat and the rear bed — oh the decadence.

The bathroom pod is only 0.82 m wide in either direction, and cards on the table, it is very plasticky to the touch, from the fold away basin and shelves, down to the loo itself. It’s not necessarily cheap feeling, just very lightweight. 

Perhaps we’re blinded by the thought of having access to private facilities like this when out on the road, but sometimes there is simply nothing better than a hot shower, especially after a long day of camping adventures. And one thing’s for sure, the smaller model’s cold outdoor shower attachment suddenly sounds slightly less appealing…

Will you be extending your stay?

As you may have noticed, for us, utility and comfort are key to a truly leisurely campervanning experience. A final symbol of this, visible as you stroll through the Grand California’s living area, is the control panel which directs much of the camper’s functionality.

The Grand’s extra space, and the additional amenities filling it, provide another potential one-up on its smaller sibling: the capacity for longer self-sufficient stays. Catering to off-grid van-lifers — alongside the 4MOTION all-wheel drive option — the capabilities of the 110-litre water tank and 90-litre wastewater tank simply can’t be matched when taking an extended break.

Add to that the option to supplement the multiple batteries with roof mounted solar panels, and the ability to immerse yourself in the natural word for long periods of time become all the more convenient. And remember, if you need a break and some TLC, there’s always room inside, and a shower.

Of course, there are other factors to consider with the Grand California, such as the driving experience being far more van-like than car-like when compared to the Multivan — but as we didn’t get behind the wheel on this occasion, we’ll leave it at that for now. Except that, with the new medium-sized California priced from £63,000, you can now get a Grand for a similar price on the used market. Just some food for thought.

Hero image credit: Blackcircles.com