Outdoors

Flip90 VW truck camper rotates into roomy backcountry cabin

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The electric actuation system tips the Flip90 back and open in a matter of seconds
ICC Offroad
With its rotating entry extension, the Flip90 camper offers comfortable indoor cooking
ICC Offroad
With a simple 90-degree flip, the roomy camper becomes a ready-to-travel pickup box
ICC Offroad
At 550 lb to start, the Flip90 offers a lot of space without weighing the base truck down
ICC Offroad
The electric actuation system tips the Flip90 back and open in a matter of seconds
ICC Offroad
The first Flip90 was designed around the VW Amarok flatbed
ICC Offroad
Flipping double: The Flip90-equipped truck tows the Flip90 off-road trailer
ICC Offroad
Looking at this photo, it appears there's an extension roof and short, vertical connector panel that install separately to complete the fully enclosed space
ICC Offroad
Gas ceramic cooktop, sink/shower and 45-L compressor fridge
ICC Offroad
Without the restriction of having to fit to a truck, the Flip90 trailer has a roomier interior
ICC Offroad
Almost ready to pop the door open and get camping
ICC Offroad
View gallery - 10 images

Squeezing a bathroom into a pickup camper without making the truck a big, lumbering beast on road and trail is no easy task. It's often a choice between creating a huge, heavy camper that explodes the size of the truck or shrinking the bathroom down into a tiny, part-time space that's little more than a removable fabric curtain hanging in a corner of the living area. The all-new German-designed Flip90 uses a power-rotating design to expand out its interior, creating a hard-sided shower/toilet room that also adds elbow room and indoor cooking capability. In the morning, the camper folds back up into a neat, compact bed-top box for maneuverable on/off-road travel.

The Flip90 was born as a collaboration between Queensize Camper and ICC Offroad (which we knew as "ICS Offroad" the last time we saw it). Both German camper shops have experience in creating RVs that expand at camp, and the Flip90 relies on a 90-degree rotation to pack small and simple on the road before expanding out at camp. It reminds us a lot of the Scout bike trailer, just sized to ride on a truck instead of behind an electric bicycle.

Looking at this photo, it appears there's an extension roof and short, vertical connector panel that install separately to complete the fully enclosed space
ICC Offroad

At the push of a button, the Flip90's outer shell rotates back the namesake 90 degrees to expand the interior. The resulting standing-height vertical structure serves as the entryway, the shower/toilet room, and added living space for cooking and hanging out.

The non-rotating body box secured to the truck houses all the camper equipment, starting with the 79 x 57-in (200 x 147-cm) near-queen "Rock & Roll" bed that adjusts into a sofa. That bed stretches out atop the kitchen equipment at night, concealing the driver-side slide-out with gas ceramic cooktop and sink and the passenger-side 45-L compressor fridge box with hinged flip-top.

The shower hookup on the sink creates an indoor shower, but strangely there's no indication of a floor drain, and the 19-L waste water tank is hooked up to the sink in the kitchen slide-out. It looks like campers will need to catch water in a standalone shower pan to prevent flooding. There's no built-in toilet, either, but it would be easy to use a portable toilet in the privacy of the hard-walled fold-out foyer – certainly a better option at night than a freestanding or truck-mounted privacy tent flapping in the cold night air outside the camper. The 75-L fresh water tank is installed in front of the rear axle.

Gas ceramic cooktop, sink/shower and 45-L compressor fridge
ICC Offroad

Another advantage of the flip-back design is that it brings anything mounted on the roof down for easier unloading. In the photos, the surfboard strapped to the available rooftop tie-down tracks is ready to pull off and drop in the water, without having to climb all over the truck.

The Flip90 camper weighs as little as 550 lb (250 kg), depending upon equipment, which is extremely lightweight for a truck camper. It's been designed around a flatbed Volkswagen Amarok and measures roughly 7.5 feet (2.3 m) high when closed in drive mode, allowing the entire truck to fit inside a shipping container.

Flipping double: The Flip90-equipped truck tows the Flip90 off-road trailer
ICC Offroad

ICC Offroad offers the Flip90 as an empty shell for €22,900 (approx. US$26,575) and as a fully equipped camper with bed, kitchen, water tanks and shower hookup for €29,990 (US$34,800). For those that prefer the weight behind the bumper rather than over top it, Queensize and ICC have also developed a Flip90 off-road trailer with a larger interior and a manual strut-assisted opening system in place of the power system.

Watch the Flip90 pickup camper make camp in the short clip below.

Sources: ICC Offroad and Queensize Camper (both German)

View gallery - 10 images
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3 comments
Eddy
Brilliant idea if it could be modified as a slide on for a standard ute or tray for when you are not camping and need the vehicle for goods carrying.
ArdisLille
It's the GoBot of campers! Wish there were more interior shots to illustrate how all of it works. (I feel a new bedding category coming on...Near-Queen size)
van damage
nobody going to mention it has no roof? what is the point of flip down walls if it is still essentially an outdoor kitchen?