General Staycation Micro camper - Panda 169

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General Staycation Micro camper - Panda 169

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Hi all,
Thinking of converting my Panda into a micro camper. Wanted to know what seats I could fit in the front that will fold and tilt forward...
Would Qubo seats be too big?

Any thoughts / suggestions gratefully received.
Many thanks.
 
interesting concept and I wish you luck

but I think you may be on your own design wise, sorry

Tip and fold front is pretty common on vans, but even then only middle and passengers
normally fold around a large bar that fits across the flat floor pan
the pandas raised rail area will make it challenging to find anything to fit. I can't think of anything

my only suggestion isn't that helpful.
unbolt the seats put a bin bag over them, take them outside

here in the UK rain noise and condensation need addressing if you want to stay away for a week or more
 
How about adding a body extension and a second rear subframe. Six wheel Panda "a la" Hustler Huntsman. It was based on the old Austin Metro by the way. Woo hoo - break out the TIG.

iu
 
We've (two of us) been camping in our Panda. It's, um, cozy! I'm 5'10" (178cm)-ish and I woke myself up by pressing the horn with my foot a couple of times... Hope you're camping solo or with a very good friend:)

Between boot lid and dash is a perfect fit for a double bed air mattress.

I wonder whether installing tumbling front seats would take up too much of the available length?

We removed the rear bench and left it at home. We fully reclined the front seats, stored our bags beer and bbq in the footwells and boot floor and plonked the air mattress on top.

7/10, would do again (but I prefer a tent). At least with a Panda micro-camper the driving part of a touring holiday is great fun:)

I don't know if @testacorsa is still active on here? I think he had a higher-spec model (equivalent of UK Eleganza?) - by removing the front headrests (mine don't) and sliding the rear bench back (mine doesn't), I believe he was able to recline the front seats to make a flat-ish bed?

There's also this Panda camper in members' motors, but I'm not quite sure what they did with the seats: https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/our-panda-camper.320316/
 

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We've (two of us) been camping in our Panda. It's, um, cozy! I'm 5'10" (178cm)-ish and I woke myself up by pressing the horn with my foot a couple of times... Hope you're camping solo or with a very good friend:)

Between boot lid and dash is a perfect fit for a double bed air mattress.

I wonder whether installing tumbling front seats would take up too much of the available length?

We removed the rear bench and left it at home. We fully reclined the front seats, stored our bags beer and bbq in the footwells and boot floor and plonked the air mattress on top.

7/10, would do again (but I prefer a tent). At least with a Panda micro-camper the driving part of a touring holiday is great fun:)

I don't know if @testacorsa is still active on here? I think he had a higher-spec model (equivalent of UK Eleganza?) - by removing the front headrests (mine don't) and sliding the rear bench back (mine doesn't), I believe he was able to recline the front seats to make a flat-ish bed?

There's also this Panda camper in members' motors, but I'm not quite sure what they did with the seats: https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/our-panda-camper.320316/
looking at the photo with the rear hatch open. It looks like some sort of awning at the rear would be possible. Might only be a few feet but percentage wise I would have thought it would be worth the effort


I just use a two man tent here in the UK.
 
Thanks all for input.

Think lockdown is getting to me... Too many ideas...
 

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I'm going to do a bit of this too this summer - bit I don't want to take the passenger seat out, so I'll have to get my thinking cap on...🤔
 
Hello all. I’ve just bought my first Panda to convert to a micro camper and still use as a daily runaround. Really need to find a way of squeezing in to sleep without removing the seats.
There is always hope I’ll have friends along for some of the adventure.
Driver seat tilted forward, passenger back, sleep through the middle at an angle? Just a thought.
 
We've (two of us) been camping in our Panda. It's, um, cozy! I'm 5'10" (178cm)-ish and I woke myself up by pressing the horn with my foot a couple of times... Hope you're camping solo or with a very good friend:)

Between boot lid and dash is a perfect fit for a double bed air mattress.

I wonder whether installing tumbling front seats would take up too much of the available length?

We removed the rear bench and left it at home. We fully reclined the front seats, stored our bags beer and bbq in the footwells and boot floor and plonked the air mattress on top.

7/10, would do again (but I prefer a tent). At least with a Panda micro-camper the driving part of a touring holiday is great fun:)

I don't know if @testacorsa is still active on here? I think he had a higher-spec model (equivalent of UK Eleganza?) - by removing the front headrests (mine don't) and sliding the rear bench back (mine doesn't), I believe he was able to recline the front seats to make a flat-ish bed?

There's also this Panda camper in members' motors, but I'm not quite sure what they did with the seats: https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/our-panda-camper.320316/
Thanks, this helps a lot. Just remove the rear seats. I’ve been fixating on the passenger seat. Ta
 
Found this om the internet somewhere it costs c £3400 which is daft. Found an alternative on Alibaba for c £450 but dont trust them with my credit card. These days it might take till well past lunch time to climb out for breakfast which defeats my objectives. Im also considering a tear drop caravan.
 

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We did the NC500 sleeping in the panda.
We did the following. Took out the back seat. reclined both front seat. Built a small platform for the boot to raise it up to the required level. The inflated an air mattress every night to sleep on. We covered the rear windows with paper and used a frost guard at the front.

the third picture is my plan for the platform.

main issue we had was storing stuff we were not using at night. We went with friends so the had space in their van for our clothes and cooking things. A roof box would would that.
 

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Isn't it possible to remove the headrests?
Not with the moulded foam headrests, no. Well, not without removing the covers to unbolt them. Which ain't easy.
Which makes an air-bed pretty essential, otherwise the headrests will be digging into your upper back.
The raised platform is a neat solution; we just stored our bags behind the headrests on the boot floor to bring the height up.
The fabric-covered headrests as fitted to Eleganza models can removed.
Found this om the internet somewhere it costs c £3400 which is daft.
Yes, I've seen those dotted about 'tinterweb. Gosh tho that's expensive. Not sure what advantage they provide over a normal tent? Unless there's a shortage of flat ground? Norway, possibly? Never had a problem finding decent camping pitches in the British Isles.
looking at the photo with the rear hatch open. It looks like some sort of awning at the rear would be possible. Might only be a few feet but percentage wise I would have thought it would be worth the effort
I did consider this - I think if I was staying in one spot for any length of time I'd be tempted to get some adjustable tent poles, guy ropes & a decent tarp to rig up an awning from the boot hatch.
Having somewhere under cover where you can stand up to get dressed can seem like the ultimate luxury when camping:)
 
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I think some marine ply cut down to fit, with hinges to allow folding and stowage. Some suitable legs of varying lngths to enable production of a flat surface might be possible like loft legs) would be a bit of a fiddle to assemble but quite possible to make the car usable as a bed.
 
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