Beautiful rustic campervan, built by Rustic Simplicity and recently featured in Outlander spinoff Men in Kilts. Brilliant hire opportunity!

We built Doobry, after making 22 vans for other people, mostly on a commission basis. Here is a little insight into the creative process.

“We have both come to realise that these vans are magical places. I believe they must reflect the incredible passion we have for the whole process….when we are planning a unique space – something that detracts from the norm, the creative juices start flowing and it is as if sparks fly…literally…. Ideas are bounced off each other and the excitement mounts….it was just like this when we were in the design process of Doobry…we were in the van, noticing the potential for an arched roof like an old fashioned train carriage or gypsy caravan….within a day or 2 that part was done..we literally couldn’t wait! Then, we absolutely did not want to spoil the beautiful curved ceiling by putting up top cupboards, so we dreamed up a raised floor and underfloor storage. Our next big idea was to shake it all up a bit, depart completely from what we had done in the conversions so far and turn it all around. From our days of festival catering, we saw how much fun a rear kitchen would be…cooking with the back doors wide open…..and how this could be both beautiful (the lovely Mexican painted sink and tiled mosaics) and practical, with a much more useful ‘hidden’ deep sink for the proper washing up, clothes washing, cooking tasks etc. Doobry was beginning to take shape in our heads and we couldn’t wait to get started.
Our day job at the time was Frida…you can see her on Quirky Campers…another really interesting design…a six berth with triple bunks…..she was built to David and Lynsey’s exact specifications as far as layout was concerned. Interior design was provided by them as well, but they liked our style and gave us creative licence in the look and feel as far as the wood and how we approached it was concerned.
So we built Doobry on the weekends. All of this during the 2020 Covid 19 lockdown. He was named for a word we used a lot…it’s a quirky little word and means ‘that place where you put everything’…it seemed appropriate..a van where we chucked and mixed up all our latest thoughts and ideas. Doobry went on through a strange set of circumstances to be involved in the Men in Kilts series released in 2021, which is a road trip around Scotland starring two of the Outlander stars, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish. It’s just two guys travelling around our beautiful country discovering the people and places and Doobry has a starring role..what’s not to like? The van features their signatures and a little hand written message from each of them on the top cupboard by the back doors. I have shown this in the photos……….if you are an Outlander fan, this is a rare chance to own the actual van that took Jamie and Dougie on the trip of a lifetime! You can see lots of trailers where they sit chatting in the lovely interior (although the set dressers have flung a bit of tartan around), imagine taking the same trip they did, and sampling all of the delights Scotland has to offer!

I have shown the van on Outlander pages and had people in Australia tell me how fans would absolutely love to hire this van to live out their Outlander fantasy, visiting all of the location sites. This is a brilliant opportunity for anyone who would like to get involved in hiring it out. Quirky have assured us they would be interested in adding him to their books.

Once we got him back from filming, we fitted a nice toilet…this is situated behind the driver seat. It is a thetford 365, nicely hidden inside a beautiful oak topped box.
Doobry is a simple soul, nothing complex. We have used beautiful natural woods throughout. He has reclaimed whisky barrel wood in his cupboards and the base of the benches, and on the toilet box. His kitchen work surface is ash sourced from sustainable Scottish woods, which is also teamed with oak in the two kitchen cupboards. Each of these features a little gothic window in coloured glass. His floor is part of a recycled gymnasium, taken from a school.
He has solar panels and a split charge system which keeps the leisure battery topped up. A compressor fridge for your beer, wine and essentials. He has lights above the kitchen, a Moroccan lantern and the ubiquitous fairy lights! Water is held in the garage in a large 25 litre container. Additionally the beautiful hand washing sink has 2 bottles below which hold 12 litres each.
There is a full voyager 4500 cooker with grill and oven. Everything you make at home can be cooked on this. As festival caterers, we feel this kitchen, which you step down into, is one of Doobry’s best features. There is a hidden deep sink, as well as the lovely decorative one. Doobry is a chefs dream!
We ordered the sink and mosaic tiles from Mexico, and the lovely cushions from Turkey…this van is certainly bohemian at heart!
Storage: 2 huge storage drawers pull out from below the floor at the side door. There is absolutely loads of space under the two bench seats. One really large top cupboard sits above the kitchen. The kitchen also has 2 side cupboards, and 2 drawers..one large pan drawer and one cutlery drawer. There is the usual above cab storage. Garage space at rear, big enough for an inflatable canoe, wet suits etc.
Seating for around 8 is possible. The passenger seat swivels to face the 2 couches, which can seat 3 and 4 respectively. This is a great social van and we have enjoyed hanging out with lots of friends during the brief sojourn of last summer. A dining area is formed by swivelling the front seat and fitting the Lagan legged table in front of it. The second diner sits on the small bench. The back rest swings out to support your weary back!
A huge king sized bed can be constructed in a matter of minutes and stretches the entire width of the van.
Heating is a challenger diesel heater which warms up the van almost instantly.
Although we have not fitted a shower, a simple portable one can be bought very cheaply, that works with a bucket filled from the kettle. If you time it right, and shower at the back doors while the oven is on, you can have the joy of a heated space.
Awning rails are fitted to the side and rear. A simple sun camp awning fits either at the side door at the rear…this is where you can shower if you back the van up to some bushes!
There is an opening window behind the drivers seat, and a gorgeous hobbit porthole window which also opens and has shutters of burred wood.
Mechanically, the van is lovely. A real pleasure to drive. We had a full service carried out on Monday 8th March. The garage commented on what a really good van it was, assuring us that there were no issues. We can present a print out of the service. We also have the service history from our service last year.
Earliest viewing is Tuesday 9th March.
We have sent to the DVLA to register him as a campervan, but are currently awaiting their reply….maybe we’ll get lucky!