From the outside, the new Lutz 2513 Minicamper looks like a basic utility trailer. And that’s because it is, a single-axle white cargo box from German trailer and truck body specialist Humbaur. Open the large rear door, though, and you’ll find a simple but homey space that invites you inside with its sofa bed, soft-touch surfaces and rustic-chic accents. Buyers can walk away with a basic trailer for under €9K or spec out a full RV floor plan with kitchen, toilet, dining area and electricity for under €15K.
If we had to pick out any Humbaur trailer to make into a camper, it’d have to be plucked from the company’s multi-series lineup of horse trailers. They’re sleek, colorful, unique, and some already include features like LED light strips and lockable storage – no reason a “saddle room” can’t become a “luggage and gear room.”
Humbaur
However, those towable horse pens also cost multiple times more than a basic utility box trailer, are raised high as necessary for horses but not humans, and are only stealthy if you happen to be camping near a horse farm or racetrack. Our choice clearly isn’t the best starting point from which to springboard a camper company specializing in affordable, inconspicuous caravans.
Still, those suckers would make cool-looking campers.
Lutz Minicamper
Architect and Lutz Minicamper mastermind and namesake Lutz Focke chose more wisely, getting his camper startup running by using a simpler, more practical Humbaur base trailer – the entry level plywood HK 752513. The basic single-axle trailer costs less than €3,000 (approx. US$3,275) from Humbaur and has a gross vehicle weight rating of 1,650 lb (750 kg), ensuring it remains a lightweight towable capable of being hauled by a wide variety of cars and trucks.
And then, Focke dove into the fun part – taking a career’s worth of architectural experience planning out full-size 1,500-sq ft (140-sq m) houses and shrinking those concepts down to fill out a 35-sq ft (3.3-sq m) cargo-box-on-wheels.
Lutz Minicamper
Focke’s home design experience shines through in his tiny camper. He started by immediately softening and domesticating the basic plywood box interior, lining the walls in gray felt and adding a white oak-style PVC floor underfoot. He then sidestepped the problem of having a dark, stuffy, claustrophobic warehouse box by cutting a 35 x 20-in (90 x 50-cm) window with screen and blackout blind into the sidewall and dropping a ventilation hatch on the roof. Light and air have no problem flowing in.
Focke then filled out the rear corner with an L-shaped sofa that converts into a 79 x 52-in (200 x 131-cm) double bed, complete with 7.5-in-thick (10-cm) five-piece cold foam mattress. The Maxx-Flexx sofa-bed design allows for several different configurations, including sliding the frame members together. to the right side to clear out a full-length aisle for carrying a motorcycle, bicycles, surfboards, etc. This also means the trailer can do a little moonlighting as the utility trailer it started out as, carrying construction materials, garden supplies and more on those weekends it’s not out camping.
Lutz Minicamper
Factor in the rechargeable overhead LED light, and that’s a magnificently simple RV layout, built to encourage travelers to spend their waking hours outdoors, not inside preparing gourmet meals, watching TV or surfing satellite internet. It’s basically a bed on wheels, and beyond selling it as a camper in itself, Lutz also advertises it as something of a portable spare bedroom that families can tow behind a more complete motorhome and use for kids or teenagers – a sturdier, comfier alternative to a tent.
Buyers looking for a more complete camper can spec their 2513 Minicamper up from the minimalist €8,970 ($9,750) base model, adding in a front kitchen package with integrated sink and 12-V faucet, tall cabinet, adjustable 12-V light, additional cabinets and storage space, worktop extension, and 20-L fresh and waste water canisters. The kitchen has space for storing a portable camping stove and gas cartridges, and buyers can add the 20-L compressor fridge/gas stove combo as a separate option.
Lutz Minicamper
Add that stove and fridge, plus the five-circuit 12-V power package to supply electricity for the lighting, fridge and faucet, and the trailer now costs a still-affordable €12,590 ($13,700). From there, buyers can also add a portable chemical toilet and folding multi-positional dining table and coat rack package to bring the total price up to €13,150 ($14,300).
Lutz’s shore power hookup and wiring package with two indoor 230-V electrical sockets costs €740, and Lutz drops the cherry on top with an €860 storage and ambiance package. That last package includes something we initially thought was just an extra accessory to dress the trailer up for the photos – the live-edge oiled oak wall shelf/wine glass holder. That dual-shelf unit comes packaged with a larger shelf over the sofa/bed; you’ll just have to add your own plants and decor to complete a personalized look.
Lutz Minicamper
Add the exterior awning, and your final price with every interior and exterior living option Lutz offers comes to €15,180 ($16,500). Lutz also says it can fulfill custom requests and offers an upgraded 2,865-lb (1,300-kg) gross weight braked trailer for those who need more payload. The heavy-duty trailer upgrade prices in at €740 ($805).
The Lutz 2513 Minicamper is definitely one of the simplest camper designs we’ve looked at over the years, but it’s just homey enough to work as a comfy, low-profile caravan solution. Buyers who aren’t quite sure it’ll work for them can take advantage of Lutz’s €49 single-night demo offer or schedule a longer two-night+ rental for €50/night.
Source: Lutz Minicamper