The roots of Karmann-Mobil can be traced to the Southern Hemisphere. During a visit to South Africa Wilhelm Karmann Jr. (b. 4th December 1914 Osnabrück, Germany in Osnabrück, Hannover, Germany) saw a Jurgens motorhome built on a VW Type 2 chassis and was so impressed with them, he requested licensed production (it is possible to see some similarity in the badges of early Karmann’s and that of the Jurgens). The Jurgens motorhomes had been launched in 1973.
Take a look at the whole story and pics at: http://www.vwcampervanblog.com/the-rare ... amper-van/