For those of you wanting a vehicle that drives like a car but still fits a campervan, I'd highly recommend something along the lines of the VW "California Beach" edition. This is built on top of a T5. As far as I know, these are not imported into North America. But I owned a VW "Eurovan Weekender" edition (this is a T4 converted the same way as the 'beach") when living in the US.
The reason I liked it so much was that the camper additions didn't intrude into the space of the car nor its drivability. In car mode, it sat 7 passengers: 2 up front, 3 in the back bench seat, and 2 rear-facing seats just behind the front ones (one of these was removable; we usually just kept it in the garage). There was no wall of cabinets/stoves/fridges/etc. (which explains why the rear bench could still fit 3 passengers). Instead, there was a small cooler/fridge which fit under the rear-facing seat, pull-out storage beneath the bench seat, and a table that folded against the wall when not in use. This also meant that there was nothing adversely affecting visibility. And there was plenty of storage in the boot for camping gear.
When used as a camper, the rear bench would slide forward to form a bed for me and the wife. The roof would open up to form a bed for my 2 boys. The only inconvenience was not being able to use the table or easily access the fridge when the bench seat was in bed mode. If I were to do a self-conversion I would definitely go this route again.
Of course, the vehicle itself was a mechanical disaster and was always breaking down. But that had nothing to do w/ the actual conversion.
