Saviour sought for next great Aussie camper

Remember the trick Geotrek camper trailer?

Unlike anything else on the market when it first broke cover almost four years ago, the ingenious lightweight and compact, hardcore camper was designed to tackle Australia's toughest tracks, while its clever fold-out 'bathroom balcony', flexible floorplan and super-fast, multi-stage set-up, was a dream come true for intrepid families wanting to get far off the beaten track.

The Melbourne-born and bred camper made a big splash both online and in the real-world, generating thousands of video clicks and sales enquiries, while also impressing the judges at the inaugural caravancampingsales' Innovation Awards.

But unfortunately, it hasn't worked out as planned for Geotrek founder Stephen Dannock, who spent around 10 years bringing his dream camper to life. It culminated in an initial production run at a small factory in Melbourne before COVID hit, causing a boom-bust cycle and the departure of his 50:50 business partner.

After an unsuccessful attempt at selling the manufacturing business via a broker, the Geotrek project is now in limbo, with Dannock now in his sixties and pondering how to keep his 'next great Australian camper' dream alive.

"I'm not getting any younger and for us to move it forward at this stage would probably require another 10 years of our lives," he explained.

"We've ceased production so given that we're not an operating business that's showing revenue, we thought perhaps we could sell the business to some-one who is looking to develop a new model, as far as the intellectual property, brand and patents go, plus there's also the jigs and templates and highly detailed CAD drawings required for manufacturing..."

There are currently six Geotrek campers in existence, including prototypes and production versions. Along with the mid-spec Geotrek Trek-XP which had a $79,500 RRP at the time, Dannock also has designs and moulds for a cheaper base model and a top-spec 'X-treme' variant.

As well as being of interest to a local manufacturer looking to add an appealing new model to its line-up, Dannock said the Geotrek could also have its components built overseas, as a way to keep a lid on the increasingly high costs involved in building a premium camper locally.

Dannock believes the Geotrek would still be a hit with buyers if it was rolled out today, despite the recent struggles of a number of upmarket Australian camper brands including Track Trailer, in which he believes "ageing designs" have been a contributing factor.

"At the end of the day if you've got the right concept and patents to protect it, it will sell," he said. "I had so many enquiries, even long after we'd stopped (promoting it), and I still get them until this day...

"And it's a shame as we have nothing that we can sell but so many people still willing to buy one. It really confirms to me that there's still a need out there for the same thing I wanted all my life but no-one else had been able to provide."

"I'm certain there would be some-one that could benefit enormously, particularly as the hard work has been done and there's already been years of design and development done to putting all those thousands of parts together in the right way.

"I'm sure there would be somebody willing to pick it up at a good price; certainly far less than what it would cost to develop it themselves."

One upside of having to cope with the roller coaster ride of an Australian RV start-up, is Dannock now has more time to get out and enjoy his dream-machine, including a recent pre-Christmas trip with his wife to South Australia.

"Having finally got to use it substantially over the past six months, I've got to say it's brilliant and does exactly what I wanted it to do. Friends that have used it have told me, 'Gee this is easy to use.' And I tell them 'That's why I built it, to make things easier and take the hard work out of it.'"

You can get in touch with Dannock via the Geotrek Australia website.