Rig of the Month: Adventure Family Vans’ Mercedes Sprinter Van

Three years ago, Malcolm Judd received an assignment from his employer, the Utah Office of Tourism, that involved capturing video footage for The Mighty Five campaign. A dream job that took him on the road and into some of Utah’s most treasured landscapes also, unfortunately, took him away from his wife and kids. Without a safe, comfortable way for the family to join, they would often be left behind while Malcolm explored and photographed spectacular Utah scenery.

Not happy with this arrangement, they began researching campers. 

This posed a new challenge: What would allow the Judd family to accompany Malcolm on backroads but also provide the electrical power needed to charge film gear, support a full kitchen, shower, and provide room for toys and gear storage?

In their exhaustive research, they concluded that camper trucks were too small and too vulnerable to break-ins. Trailers were simply too big, and pop-top vehicles were unreliable in bad weather, as well as too much work to set up and take down.

Ultimately, they needed something that was always ready-to-go without much setup, and small enough to make exploring backroads possible. Most importantly, it needed to be secure to protect Malcolm’s film gear — regardless of elevation, terrain, or environment.

When researching Sprinter van builds, it became clear that no one was designing them with families in mind. So, they decided to DIY their own.