The Volkswagen Beetle "Super Bugger" Is a Quirky Miniature Camper Full of Character

However, a few decades after its introduction, the VW Beetle inspired a miniature camper, unfortunately named the "Super Bugger." And if you look at its quirky design, which only retains the platform chassis and the front end of the original car and adds the camper at the back, you might be tempted to believe this is a home-built machine, but it's not.

In the 1970s, a small company called Super Campers based in Costa Mesa, California, decided to challenge the function of the popular Beetle and turned it into an eye-catching bug camper. Their goal was to make motorhomes cheaper for the masses, so they used a wooden box with fiberglass panels and metal siding to build a small living space behind the two front seats of the Beetle. Inside, they added basic amenities for cross-country journeys and sold the resulting contraption for $6,000 in 1975. Standard features included swivel bucket seats, a rear bench, two beds, a stainless sink, a two-burner stove, an icebox, and a 12-gallon water tank.

The company offered turn-key Super Buggers but also created kits and plans to allow regular Beetle owners to complete the conversion themselves, with an estimated build time of 60 hours.

This was a time when second-hand Beetles were very cheap and easy to come by, so this might be the reason why the company chose it as a platform for a do-it-yourself camper over the popular Type 2 VW Van. What's more, a couple of years after the introduction of the Super Bugger, Mechanix Illustrated magazine published plans for a camper called "Minihome" that looks almost identical to the original 1975 design, which resulted in even more Beetle-based conversions.

The kit for the Super Bugger camper conversion became quite popular, with most of the completed examples built this way, including the unit presented in this article, which has come up for sale out of Dripping Springs, Texas. This particular example is based on a 1968 VW Beetle finished in green, but it's not known when exactly the camper conversion was installed, as the listing only mentions it happened "under previous ownership."

The camper is powered by a replacement VW air-cooled 1.6-liter flat-four engine with dual-port cylinder heads, electronic ignition, an Edelbrock ignition coil, and a Weber Progressive-style two-barrel carburetor. The power runs through a four-speed manual transaxle, and the car also benefits from chassis reinforcements and a stronger suspension to support the added weight from the camper. The camper rides on turbine-style 14″ and 15″ alloy wheels wrapped in 185/70 Autopar 4S IV tires up front and 295/50 Cooper Cobra tires at the rear.

The exterior of this quirky RV looks like a half-Beetle, half-camper contraption with dual residential-style entry doors, sliding side windows, mudflaps, a rear ladder, and a roof rack. There are two side storage compartments that hold a propane tank, a power inverter, and an extension cord for connecting to shore power.

Once you open one of the side doors, you'll discover a well-appointed interior that can offer a decent level of comfort during your camping adventures. In the front, there are two very comfortable-looking captain's chairs upholstered in white cloth. These can be turned to face the dinette in the back once at camp and offer more seating space.

The cabin also includes a two-spoke steering wheel with an aftermarket wrap, a woodgrain handbrake grip, an old-school T-shifter, a 90-mph VDO speedometer with an inset fuel level gauge, and a five-digit odometer. A fan for hot summer nights, a period-perfect AM/FM push-button radio, and a tube television mounted in the overhead alcove are also part of the design.

In the rear, you'll find the actual camper section with a dinette set that can easily be converted into a double bed by lowering the laminate table and adding a mattress, which is stored in a cabinet. The small kitchenette is integrated at the very rear and is appointed with a two-burner gas cooktop and a sink with running water. Three overhead cabinets and a closet offer plenty of storage space. All in all, it sounds like a good enough combination for a pleasant camping experience.

It's not known how many examples of the Super Bugger camper are still in existence today, but the unit up for auction is a well-preserved model with 61,000 miles (98,170 km) on the odometer, which is surprisingly low for a fifty-year-old vehicle.

The Super Bugger is certainly one of the quirkiest conversions done to a classic Volkswagen vehicle, but they were quite popular among outdoor enthusiasts back in the day, and they're now highly-coveted among vintage camper lovers and seen as an excellent solution for those who want an RV full of character.