White House Camper, a converter based in Nagoya that has specialised in miniature camper vans for 47 years, has turned the Honda N-Van kei car into the N-Van Compo. It measures 3.39 m long and 1.47 m wide, with a height of 1.985 m with the pop-up roof (2 m on the four-wheel-drive version). That makes it 20 cm shorter than the new Renault Twingo.
What is inside
- Four seats and two berths downstairs: the rear bench converts into a bed.
- A second bed in the pop-up roof measuring 180 x 103 cm, intended for two adults but better suited to one adult or two children.
- Three layouts: Style One with storage up to the ceiling, Style Two with rear shelves and Cabin with a swivelling driver's seat.
- A sink, fresh and waste water tanks, mosquito nets, a side awning and a mains-powered microwave. A winter pack adds a diesel heater and an auxiliary battery.
The engine is a 658 cc three-cylinder petrol unit with 53 bhp or 64 bhp in turbo form, paired with a CVT and front- or four-wheel drive. The base vehicle weighs between 940 and 1,010 kg. With four people on board only 200 kg of payload remains.
Price
The base version starts at 2,641,400 yen before registration fees, around €14,800. The turbo version with the pop-up roof costs 3,083,900 yen, around €17,300. A well-equipped Compo comes to between €25,000 and €30,000.
The dimensions follow Japan's kei car rules: no more than 3.40 m long, 1.48 m wide and 2 m high, with a 660 cc engine limit. In return, kei cars get tax and parking advantages.
The Compo is not sold in Europe, and Honda does not market the N-Van there. An individual import is theoretically possible through a single-vehicle approval with the French DREAL, but emissions and safety rules would make the vehicle heavier and more expensive.