Bilbo's Celex T7 review: the classic side-kitchen VW camper on the new Transporter

Say "VW camper" to most people and they picture one layout: a kitchen down the side, a bench that folds into a bed, and a roof that lifts. Bilbo's has been converting VW Transporters since 1977, according to Out and About Live, and the Celex is its version of that layout. It now sits on the new Transporter and on the Ford Transit Custom, so the question is whether a familiar idea still earns its money on a new base.

What the Celex is

The Celex is Bilbo's side-kitchen conversion, offered on short- or long-wheelbase vans; the stock van described here is a short wheelbase. The van on Bilbo's stock page on 13 October 2026 is a new 2026 Volkswagen T7 Transporter Commerce PRO short wheelbase with the 2.0 TDI 150PS engine and eight-speed automatic gearbox, finished in Mid Blue metallic and fitted with Bilbo's Low-Lie elevating roof. Bilbo's showed the latest Celex on both the Volkswagen Transporter and the Ford Transit Custom at the NEC in February 2026, so the Celex is offered on both; ask Bilbo's whether the spec differs between them. Bilbo's spec sheet lists seating for four with seat restraints and headrests, with additional belted seats available to take it to six. Bilbo's describes the Celex as having a double bed, and offers it with either an elevating roof or a high-top roof. On 13 October 2026 the new-stock page showed a T7 Celex PLUS 2.0 TDI manual from £69,300 and a T7 Celex PRO automatic at £76,840 with diesel heating included, and the similar-vans panel on that Celex PRO listing (R2164) showed a Ford Custom Celex at £65,950; treat all of those as in-stock figures, not fixed prices.

Bilbo's is based at South Godstone in Surrey. Out and About Live notes that most of its conversions have had raising roofs. Practical Motorhome notes that Bilbo's is one of the few UK campervan converters who can claim VW recognition, and the firm has its own page on Volkswagen's find-a-converter site. If you want the background on the company and its other models, our profile, Bilbo's explained: the Surrey converter building VW campers since 1977, now on the T7 and the Ford Transit Custom, covers it, and the round-up at who built what at the NEC in 2026 puts it next to the other British stands.

Layout and how it lives

The side kitchen idea

A side kitchen puts everything you cook with along one wall behind the driver and leaves the other side of the van as walkway and seating. It is the layout that made the VW camper famous, and its strength is flexibility: the same space works as a lounge with the cab seats turned round, a dining room with the table out, and a bedroom when the bench drops. Bilbo's own description pitches the Celex as "as comfortable at the golf club as it is on distant Mediterranean beaches", which is a fair summary of what it is for. It is a van first and a camper second, and that is the point.

The Commerce PRO base comes with VW swivel cab seats, and the conversion adds a single sliding table, so four people can sit around it without anyone being stuck behind a fixed kitchen. The toilet is listed as optional on the stock listing. Bilbo's Celex page shows Porta Potti storage under the double bed, so ask Bilbo's what toilet arrangement your spec includes.

Seats, bed and roof

Four belted seats are the standard count, and Bilbo's says extra belted seats with headrests can be fitted up to six. That matters for families, because designated (belted) travel seats are what your insurer and the NCC expect you to use on the move. The stock listing marks both the bed and the toilet as optional and invites you to choose your conversion options to be fitted, so read that as a van sold as a base with a conversion specified at order rather than a finished camper sitting on the forecourt. The spec sheet names a double bed, so ask Bilbo's what the optional bed on the listing refers to. Bilbo's Celex page lists roof beds as optional on its low-lie side-elevating roof, and offers a Continental front-lifting roof whose wider roof bed suits adults as well as children; ask which roof bed is included in the price of the van you are ordering. Our pop-top roof explainer covers what to look for in any elevating roof, and types of campervan conversion sets out where a side kitchen sits against the alternatives.

Storage and the small things

Storage is listed as side mini lockers and a rear overhead locker, with lined blackout curtains that cover the cab too, and thermal and acoustic insulation behind the panels. The base van has a tailgate rather than barn doors, and the gas locker is reached from the tailgate at the rear of the vehicle. A tailgate gives you a rain porch when you are stood at the back, but it needs clear space behind the van to open, so think about where you park.

Kitchen, water and gas

The kitchen is a 65-litre compressor fridge, a two-burner hob, a gas grill with a mains microwave as an option, and a sink with a glass lid. Bilbo's listing for another T7 Celex, R2161, says the fridge has a freezer compartment. A compressor fridge is the right choice for a van this size: it works on 12V, it does not care if you are parked on a slope, and 65 litres is a generous size for a short-wheelbase camper.

Fresh water is a 36-litre onboard tank with an internal filler, and waste is a separate 35-litre tank with an easily reached drainage tap. That is enough for a couple to wash up and make tea for a long weekend, but you will be filling up every day or two if you shower from the van. The gas locker takes two Camping Gaz 907 cylinders at 30 mbar, in an air-tight steel-lined compartment vented through the floor. Two 907s is a small gas store, and butane struggles in a British winter below freezing. If you plan long cold-weather trips, ask Bilbo's about the alternatives before you order.

Power and heating

Bilbo's says all its VW conversions have a 12V system and 240V hook-up, with the leisure battery separate from the vehicle battery, running the compressor fridge, lighting and water system, and charged when driving or when hooked up to mains. Bilbo's page gives the leisure battery as 120 Ah in its system description and as a 130 Ah AGM in its features list, so ask which is fitted to the van you are ordering. Either way, an AGM battery of that size will run a compressor fridge and LED lights for a couple of nights off hook-up in mild weather. For more off-grid power, Bilbo's offers an Anker Solix Power Upgrade, with options to boost the leisure battery or provide 230V mains away from hook-up; ask sales for the current price.

A power management system with a digital display shows battery voltage, water levels, inside and outside temperature, appliance current draw and an alarm clock. A 240V socket, a 12V socket and a twin USB socket are standard, with a wireless charge pad and dimmable LED lighting also on the features list. The mains system is a hook-up system with a charger for the leisure battery.

The list price of £76,840 for the stock Celex PRO includes diesel blown-air heating, and the listing shows cab air conditioning as standard on the Commerce PRO base. Diesel blown-air heating draws from the van's own fuel tank and needs only a little 12V power to run the fan: no gas drain, and warm air at the touch of a button on a frosty morning.

Driving and the base vehicle

Wikipedia records that the current Transporter was unveiled in August 2024 and, unlike the MQB-based Multivan T7, is based on the Ford Transit Custom. That helps explain why the Celex is offered on both badges, and it is why the choice between them is more about dealer, engine and cab trim than about the van underneath. We go through that decision in VW Transporter T7 vs Ford Transit Custom as a campervan base.

Volkswagen Market lists the T7's TDI engines at 110, 150 and 170 PS, plus a plug-in eHybrid at 233 PS. The stock Celex PRO has the 150PS diesel with the eight-speed automatic, which is the sensible middle of the range for a loaded camper. Bilbo's stock page on 13 October 2026 listed a Celex eHybrid without a price, so a plug-in version is on the way or available to order; ask Bilbo's about price, electric range and whether the heating and leisure systems are any different on the hybrid.

The cab is where the PRO money shows. Bilbo's lists the Commerce PRO camper base package as including air conditioning, 16-inch alloy wheels, an exterior pack, adaptive cruise control, a heated windscreen, heated single cab seats with armrests, keyless start, mud flaps, front and rear parking sensors, a leather multi-function steering wheel, wireless charging with three USB-C ports, a steel spare wheel, high-beam control, a 13-inch touchscreen, a 12-inch digital driver display, LED headlights, swivel cab seats, a tailgate, a heated rear window with wash and wipe, and Volkswagen's 5+ Promise Plan. That is a car-grade cab, and for a van that will do the school run and the supermarket as often as the campsite, it is worth having.

Weights, payload and licence

Bilbo's Celex specification page lists the tanks, the battery and the kit. Roamworthy gives the Bilbo Celex as 4.9m long with a 3000kg MTPLM, but those are third-party figures and not specific to the T7 version, so ask Bilbo's for the T7 length and MTPLM. Ask Bilbo's for the MTPLM, the mass in running order and the payload of the exact spec you are ordering, with the roof, the extra seats, the microwave and a full water tank taken into account, because every one of those eats into what you can carry.

The licence rules themselves are simple. A category B car licence covers vehicles up to 3,500 kg maximum authorised mass, so confirm the plated weight of your Celex before ordering, and check it on the VIN plate. Speed limits turn on unladen weight, not the plated weight: at or under 3.05 tonnes unladen you drive to car limits, and you can check the unladen weight on the V5C or the certificate of conformity. Vehicle tax for a motor caravan at or under 3,500 kg with an engine over 1,549 cc is £375 a year at the 2026 to 2027 rate; check GOV.UK before you quote it to anyone. The MOT is a class 4 test from three years old.

Price, what the from-price includes, and the options that move it

On 13 October 2026 Bilbo's new-stock page listed T7 Celex PLUS 2.0 TDI manuals at £69,300 and £72,815, Celex PRO vans at £76,130 and £76,840, a Nexa+ PRO at £77,930, and a Commerce PRO choose-your-layout van at £74,735. The similar-vans panel on the R2164 Celex PRO listing showed a Ford Custom Celex at £65,950. The stock page loads live, so check each figure on the day; vans sell and new ones arrive.

Read those numbers together and the shape of the range is clear. The Ford-based Celex at £65,950 is £3,350 under the cheapest T7 Celex PLUS at £69,300. The Celex PRO at £76,840 is £7,540 above that PLUS; the PRO is automatic with the Commerce PRO kit listed above, so ask what the PLUS includes. The stock van carries two optional extras on the base vehicle: the 'Style' interior trim and a 70-litre fuel tank. Bilbo's says to contact sales for current offers on the list price, and offers finance quotes through Pegasus Finance.

What moves the price

• Roof. Elevating or high-top; the stock van has the Low-Lie elevating roof.
• Seats. Four belted seats as standard, extra belted seats to six.
• Roof bed and toilet. Both marked as options on the stock listing, chosen at order.
• Microwave. An optional mains microwave.
• Base options. Interior trim and the optional 70-litre fuel tank on the stock van; ask what else is on the order form.

Volkswagen's converter page lists a three-year VW base vehicle warranty plus Bilbo's own three-year conversion warranty, and Bilbo's own page says every camper it retails comes with its warranty, subject to terms and conditions. Ask for the written terms. Out and About Live's owner-voted Owner Satisfaction Awards gave Bilbo's Gold in 2024 and 2025 and named it best overall van converter in 2023, which is as good a sign as any that owners are happy after the sale as well as at it.

Bilbo's own alternatives

Bilbo's showed the redesigned Nexa+ for the first time at the NEC in February 2026 with its new Low-Lie side-elevating roof, now on the T7. At £77,930 for a Nexa+ PRO in stock on 13 October 2026 it was £1,090 more than the £76,840 Celex PRO, and for that you get a rear kitchen and a cassette toilet; our review, Bilbo's Nexa+ T7 review: a rear kitchen, a cassette toilet and the new low-lie roof, goes through it. Volkswagen's converter page describes the Komba as seating up to six and lists a Space model with removable pods, and Bilbo's launched the Kompak day-van conversion in October 2025, so if you need more seats or a van that is mostly a van, the range has options. The Commerce PRO choose-your-layout van at £74,735 is the same base with the layout left open.

Verdict

The Celex is not trying to be clever. It is the side-kitchen VW camper as it has always been, built by Bilbo's, on a cab that is finally as nice as a family car. The kit list is thorough, the heating and compressor fridge are the right choices, and the two-base option means you can shop on dealer and price rather than on badge.

It suits

• Couples who want the classic layout. Four belts, a double bed, a fridge big enough for a week's food, and a cab you will enjoy on a long drive.
• Small families who will add seats. The option of six belted seats turns it into a school-run van that also sleeps the parents, with an optional roof bed for the children, or the Continental roof's wider roof bed if adults need it too; ask which is included in the price.
• Owners who want one vehicle for everything. Bilbo's own golf-club line is aimed at them: a Transporter-sized van with air conditioning, adaptive cruise and parking sensors that happens to make a cup of tea.

It does not suit

Anyone who wants a toilet and showers as standard. As above, the toilet is optional, and the 36-litre water tank is sized for washing up, not showers. If that matters, the Nexa+ with its cassette toilet is the Bilbo's answer, and it costs only a little more in the PRO trim listed on 13 October 2026.

Before you sign, ask for three things in writing: the plated weight and payload of your exact spec, which leisure battery is fitted, and which roof bed, if any, is included in the price. Then book the test drive, because the T7 cab is the part of this van that has changed most, and it is the part you will live with every day.