A brief journey through time

Over 100 years ago Wilhelm Karmann was already on the road. The first car made in Osnabrück was a Landauer.







In the 60s the factory in Rheine was founded. Given its long tradition in vehicle manufacture, motorhomes are a relatively recent chapter in the Osnabrück company's history. In the 70s the first Karmann motorhomes were based on the Volkswagen Type 2.







For the friends of the "good star on all roads" the first Karmann motorhomes on Daimler Benz 207D/208 chassis were already developed in the late 70s.





The 80s: now the motorhome wave really got going. At the start of the season in 1980 Karmann presented the models Gipsy H and Gipsy M on the chassis of the VW LT 28.









From 1983 the models Cheetah and Gipsy based on the Volkswagen Transporter were manufactured. This success story was to endure for ten years.







The Karmann-Mobil, built from 1987 to 1993 on the MB 100, had followed predecessors on the Mercedes chassis 210, 309 and 310. The MB 100 still has a markedly faithful fan following.







The Distance wide introduced at the start of the 90s was originally planned as a special model of the successful series on LT chassis. But the resonance was so great that three Distance wide models were already launched in the following year. The crowning glory was the Distance wide Gold in 1994 with its extensive range of fittings.     

In the mid-80s a third manufacturer was incorporated in the Karmann model range. At the 1986 Caravan Salon the first Karmann motorhome on a Ford Transit chassis was presented to the public. This model series was superseded in 1994 by the Karmann Davis.          









At the 1996 Caravan Salon Karmann-Mobil presented the first models of the Missouri and Colorado families. At first sight it was clear that the new motorhomes on a Volkswagen base featured an outfit which borrowed heavily from passenger car design.





In July 2000 the sale of the company to Eura Mobil was complete. Motorhomes from Karmann-Mobil were in future to be manufactured in Sprendlingen. Karmann-Mobil was then run as an independent company within the Eura Mobil Group.









Since September 2002 Karmann-Mobil has been manufacturing in its new production shops covering 10,000 square metres over three storeys. With this investment high quality and reliability will continue to be guaranteed.







In 2003 the new Colorado was presented as a prototype at the Caravan Salon. In 2004 eight layouts went into series production, including four partly integrated versions as a new feature at Karmann-Mobil.





Karman-Mobil taken over by the international motorhome group Trigano.







Karmann-Mobil presented two new designs. Both the new Ontario and the new Davis were based on a Fiat Ducato chassis – a new feature in the history of Karmann-Mobil.

Karmann-Mobil expanded the camping bus segment. New in the Karmann family: the Dexter models.