Glasgow company launches new campervan model after lockdown inspiration

An Allied Vehicles Group company director used the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic to produce designs for a range of new campervans and the first – the Wildcat Panther – is headed straight for the rental market.

Production of the first vehicle began earlier this year after David Facenna, corporate culture director of the family-owned Allied Vehicles Group in Glasgow, came up with the idea while stuck at home during the pandemic.

He said: “I heard and saw so many horror stories and so put a business plan together around 18 months ago. Once we’d drilled down the numbers, it made perfect sense...we've got everything in house to produce this vehicle. The key part for me when doing the research on other camper convertors was the lack of any backup service.

“At AV we’ve got an already established mobile technician team operating across the UK and when we start to sell these campervans - we’re only renting them just now – our unique selling point is that we can fix anything should it go wrong within 48 hours.”

Based in Possilpark, Glasgow A.V. has produced a design that uses a stripped-down Citroen Relay window frame van chassis to create this all-purpose touring campervan.

A spokesman for the Electric Vehicle Association Scotland said: “Innovations of this type by a Scottish company once again shows that automotive production is back in this country. The marketplace is ready for leisure campervans and we hope that Allied vehicles will bring an electric version of the Wildcat to its range of vehicles.”

The company says that the first 12 of its ‘big cat’ campers are destined for the Scottish rental market before production of another 25-30 Wildcats begins later this year. Rentals will be covered under the Citroen Roadside Assistance as they will be under 12 months’ old.

Currently the Panther is powered by a two-litre diesel engine but Allied Vehicles has teased an electric Wildcat for the retail market.