This Old Chevy Express Has A Roof So High It Might Be The Roomiest Camper Van You’ll See In A While

The camper van is one of the most accessible RVs on the market. They’re easy to drive, can fit in parking spaces, can camp in places large motorhomes cannot, and can sometimes be had for a relatively affordable price. But many camper vans tend to be somewhat cramped inside. Here’s one that isn’t. This 2001 Chevy Express 2500 has a roof so tall that the van’s interior seems almost deceptively large. It’s almost as if it’s a camper van with the roof of a Class C motorhome, and it gets even cooler from there.

The compact size that makes the camper van so great can also be a downside sometimes. Some floor plans can feel a bit compact, especially if you’re a bigger person, as I am. Yet, upgrading to a Class C motorhome might be too much, as those tend to be a little bigger and are often built more like a typical motorhome.

There does exist a sort of middle category for people who think a Class B camper van is too little, but a Class C motorhome is too much. That’s the so-called Class B+ camper vans. These vans borrow some traits from Class C motorhomes while staying closer to the van form factor.

That’s sort of where this Chevy Express van sits. It’s a bit more elaborate than your standard high-roof van and even has an overcab area like Class C, but it’s still a van. This one was also built by people who seem to know what they’re doing, too, which is promising.

The Builders

This van, which is named the Rhino, was built by Camplife Customs in San Diego, California. The company has a nice little story about its history:

Back in 2018, in a small garage in Ocean Beach, California, Bobby, a welder known for both his expertise and his heart, and his co-founder Adam brought their shared vision to life.

Bobby wasn’t just passionate about the challenge of starting a project from scratch; he saw it as an opportunity to showcase their skills and innovation. He was confident that their finished product would be a significant improvement over anything else on the market, helping people get out and explore safely and with unique style. It was this passion for both the craft and the customer that fueled their early success.

As word of their quality and service spread, Camplife Customs quickly outgrew its humble garage origins. Now located in Point Loma, San Diego, Bobby and Adam have recruited a team of highly skilled craftsmen who are passionate about design and helping others connect with the great outdoors.

Adam and Bobby have a combined 60 years of experience in construction and fabrication. Bobby’s pivot to building RVs came when he didn’t want to work in his field anymore and wondered where else his skills could be useful.

That’s when he found out that the camper van market was growing, and, at the time, the buyers of custom vans sometimes had to wait two years before they could finally sleep in the RV they paid $75,000 for.

Today, Camplife Customs is known for its Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Ford Transit conversions. Something the company prides itself on is using steel framing and handmade cabinetry.

But the business had to start somewhere. In 2019, Camplife Customs built its first custom camper van, the Rhino, which rolls on the bones of a 2001 Chevrolet Express 2500.

The Towering Camper Van

The Rhino didn’t start its life as anything that impressive. When the van rolled into the Camplife Customs shop, it was little more than a plain white contractor van. The Chevrolet Express has been in production since 1996 in a single generation and has seen only evolutionary updates in all that time. I wouldn’t be surprised if we still see these vans in production in 2030.

If you’re interested in reading about the full history of the Chevrolet Express, click here to check out my previous coverage.  But the short version is that when General Motors began the process to replace its aging G-platform in the 1990s, the plan called for a van to be built from the ground up to be dependable, but also easier to drive than the vans of the past. GM saw both families and tradespeople buying these vans, so they had to work for both.

The new GM work vans were versatile. There was a 15-passenger version, while the 3500 could tow up to 10,000 pounds. The barn doors on the rear even swung 180 degrees so you could shove increasingly large items into the van with little interference.

In the three decades since, the Express has proven to be a reliable, if dated, workhorse. Sure, the Euro-style vans are better in most ways, but some folks still cling to the cockroaches that are the GMC Savana and the Chevy Express. I wouldn’t be surprised if factories still churn these vans out long after humans are gone.

One of the challenges that most Express vans pose for camper van builders is the fact that it is not a high-roof van. Camplife Customs rectified that by cutting the entire roof off.

Then, they welded a steel cage on top of the body. This new roof cap was finished with insulation, windows, and steel sheeting. Camplife Customs says that the finished height of the van is 10 feet tall. The builders say that they chose an Express because they wanted to make a lofted bedroom, and didn’t see a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter supporting such a feature.

You might think, as I did, that the extra space might have been used to create a small upper deck. Instead, most of the extra space is simply headroom for tall people. The builders say that a 6-foot, 6-inch person can stand inside with ease. Something I love is that this roof runs the whole length of the van.

But not all of the space is just for your noggin. By building an overcab section, Camplife Customs was able to take the bed that would normally take up valuable floor space and place it above the cab.

The build team didn’t do anything out of this world with the extra space. Behind the front seats is a bench, and across from that is an Iceco refrigerator.

Aft of there sits two long countertops and two long high shelves. Camplife Customs says that the wood used in here is bamboo, and the Ruvati sink is stainless steel.

The van comes weirdly short on features. The bathroom is large enough for a shower, but it doesn’t have one. Instead, there’s only a cassette toilet in there. You do get an outdoor shower, at least.

Those bathroom walls also aren’t marble, but FlexLite composite made to look like marble.

Likewise, there’s a Dometic roof air-conditioner, but no heat. No cooking equipment is listed, either, but I do see an induction cooktop. The van also has a 200Ah lithium battery and a 2000W inverter, but no solar. The features begin thinning out from here. The builders note the RGB lighting all over the interior and a walkable roof with a wooden patio.

The build is capped off with a queen bed in the overcab area, plush walls, and the requisite truck bedliner paint job that so many custom vans get. Power comes from a 5.7-liter V8 with 255 HP and 330 lb-ft of torque on tap. That reaches the rear wheels through a four-speed automatic. I wouldn’t be surprised if this unit didn’t get any better than 12 mpg.

Overall, the Rhino seems to be a pretty cool build. I love the amount of space inside, and I adore the real wood.  I’m also a huge fan of how the windows have been left intact, as too many RVs feel like dungeons inside with a lack of natural light.

Moving the bed over the cab was clever, but it seems like Camplife Customs could have gone further with all of the space. It’s a little disappointing to me that the van gained all that extra space, yet you still have to shower outside. Then there’s how the interior looks like a luxury apartment, but it doesn’t even have heat.

To be fair to Camplife Customs, this was the company’s first build, and the subsequent vans look even more amazing. So, it’s fine.

Maximum Points For Creativity

This van has shown up for sale a few times over the years. Camplife Customs tried selling it in 2020 and then again in 2023 and 2024. The current owner bought the van in 2024, and now it’s up for grabs again. Camplife Customs wanted $55,000 for the van when it was for sale in 2023 and 2024. Today, it’s up for $40,000. The seller, who is based in San Diego, says the van has 28,500 miles and just passed smog.

I like a lot of what I see here. It looks like the build was done well and that it should last a reasonably long time. I also like how the van costs much less than a new camper van and even less than other custom builds I’ve seen. But it looks like you’ll have to figure out your own heat and showering situation.

Quirks aside, this van is yet another example of why I think the custom RV is the coolest kind of RV. This thing looks weird on the outside, but it seems relatively cozy inside. All of it came from the idea to make a camper van with a bed over the cab. I hope RV builders never lose this sort of fun creativity.

Top graphic image: Facebook Marketplace