Trakka boss Dave Berry dies

Dave Berry, Managing Director and founder of well-known Sydney campervan and motorhome conversion business Trakka, died suddenly on the weekend.

The well-respected RV industry identity had been a keen camper and surfer in his teens, borrowing his father’s Kombi for surf and skiing camping holidays. In the early 1970s he became an apprentice cabinet maker and in 1973 opened his own business, Trakka, specialising in converting the Volkswagen T2 Transporter.

While the company went on to build Toyota HiAce, Ford Transit and Bedford motorhomes in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Berry never strayed from the Volkswagen Transporter, which he believed to be the superior product at the time.

The company thrived, moving from premises in Neutral Bay on Sydney’s North Shore to the existing dedicated factory complex in Mount  Kuring-gai.

Trakka converted each successive Volkswagen Transporter since. Later Berry drove the company to a widened portfolio of luxury Fiat Ducato, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Volkswagen Transporter and Crafter motorhome and campervan conversions.

The campervan innovator also dabbled in motorsport, with the highlight being winning the 1990 Australian Safari in the 4x4 passenger vehicles under 2.5-litres class together with co-driver Mike Lord in a 1990 Volkswagen syncro Trakka Camper.

A message on Trakka's Facebook page said the likely cause of death was a heart attack or brain aneurysm, and there have been dozens of tributes including one from industry body Caravan & Camping NSW:

"We are so sorry to hear about Dave Berry’s passing. He was such a wonderful man, a real credit to the industry and will be missed by so many."

Berry is survived by his three children, Alex, Olivia and Alistair. His wife Sally passed away in 2014.