There’s So Many Startup Carmakers Now, Like This One That Wants To Make An Inline-6 Camper That Looks Like An Old VW Vanagon

In some ways, this era of automobiles feels a bit like the era from a bit over a century ago, when there were a ton of small automakers all trying to make it. Our automotive landscape is still dominated by a dozen or so massive companies that control the major brands, but it at least feels like there are small upstarts popping up left and right, port and starboard, like Slate or REO or the one I just learned about today, Amberglow.

One trend I’m noticing in all of these startups is an attempt to return to simplicity, something woefully absent in modern cars. Slate trucks have roll-up windows, and REO is talking a lot about ease of service and repair and a no-touchscreen/all physical controls-type of human-machine experience. And this same concept seems to be, at least in part, behind this Amberglow idea.

From what I can tell based on early teasers and renderings, the Amberglow idea seems to be to make a modern version of what sure as hell looks like a Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia pop-top Syncro. Or, maybe more accurately since it’s more of a vertical pop top than an angled one like a Westfalia, one of those Danbury VW Vanagon campers.

It’s not exactly like those rear-engined VW Campers, though, as the layout planned is mid-engined, with an inline-6 between the front seats. In this sense it’s more like other vans like early Ford Econolines or old Soviet/Russian vans like the UAZ-452 “Bukhanka” vans. In fact, that van was also mentioned specifically by the Amberglow’s designer and person in charge of the whole project, Bailey Rufus:

“Two old vans inspired it. The Soviet UAZ “Bukhanka” (the “loaf”) gave it the rounded forward-control shape, the engine between the seats, and the kind of toughness that keeps one running for decades. The Volkswagen Westfalia gave it the pop-top, the camper layout, and the idea that a van can be a home on the road. It doesn’t copy either one.”

Maybe it’s not going to be a copy of either one, but these teasers sure do feel like someone started with a moody picture of a Vanagon. It’s early for these guys, though – extremely early. Really, at this point this van is just a lot of ideas and a sort of wishlist.

They’re not bad ideas, of course; there’s a lot of appealing concepts being played with here. A straightforward 4WD relatively compact pop-top camper van is something I’d love to see on the market. There’s so many open questions here, though. Who, exactly, is supplying that turbo straight-six that’s mentioned? Mazda? BMW? Dodge? There’s no answer yet.

The interior looks well-considered, very much in line with the VW Westfalia-type campers, but, again, this is all just hopeful at this point. I like the basic concepts behind the Amberglow project, though; Rufus outlines his goals for the project on the About page of the site:

• You can fix it. Designed for common tools, published manuals and wiring diagrams, parts you can buy, and no software locks on replacement parts.
• Nothing electronic that doesn’t need to be. Physical switches, analog gauges, and a mechanical 4×4.
• Buy only what you want. One base van, and 242 accessories, each planned to be sold on its own.
• Make it last. It should still be on the road in 30 years.

All great concepts! I’m all for all these things! So, who is this Bailey Rufus person, anyway? Again, according to the “About” page,

“I design circuit boards, embedded systems, and in-car computers, and I’ve spent years building and fixing hardware by hand. I also do landscaping for my family’s business, so I know what it’s like to need equipment that starts every morning. The Amberglow is the van I wanted and couldn’t buy.”

Okay, great. Where’s the money coming from? That part isn’t explained just yet.

I like what I see from Amberglow, and I think such a van would be fantastic; the plan is to sell it starting at just under $35,000, which feels like a reasonable price for this sort of thing.

So far the project is at what the company, Retrositics, calls Phase 0, which is basically just getting the website up and starting the (Phoenix, Arizona-based) company, and trademarking the logo, which looks like an axe in some sort of gem.

In all honesty, I’m not sure I can confidently say this will happen. Starting a car company is wildly difficult, and the truth is that most small automakers don’t ever get off the ground. Unless Amberglow has some deep pockets we don’t know about – maybe this Rufus is heir to Milton S Dunkelberger, a guy with a patent for those springy grabber-arm tools that I love to play with so much – but if that’s not the case, then I’d predict a tough road ahead for Amberglow, regardless of how appealing such a vehicle may be.

Sure, the spec page’s drawings feel a bit amateurish, and I don’t think I feel comfortable quoting any specs at this early a stage, but there’s no harm in being at least a little hopeful.

Maybe it’s significant that so many small startup companies are appearing to try and make uncomplicated, useful, almost throwback-style cars. Even if none of these actually make it to market, it seems significant that people are taking the risk to try to do these sorts of things at all.

Even just starting a company and getting trademarks and making plans is a decent amount of effort; hopefully that suggests good things about the future of Amberglow or similar companies, and maybe things will move ahead.

That, of course, depends on if they can get actual automotive engineers and designers on board to design and engineer the thing, as well as production engineering experts (unless production will be farmed out to an experienced firm), and then there’s all the legal hurdles of making it road legal and crash-tested (unless they stay a low-volume manufacturer) and on and on and on.

Amberglow is planning a reveal of their van on January 1, 2027. So, I guess we’ll see something then! That doesn’t mean I feel like working New Years’ Eve to cover the reveal, but, you know, maybe. Would it have killed them to push the reveal to the 3rd, when we’re all mostly over our hangovers and back at work?