126 | Mad camping for roads less travelled The original MAD1’s have recently been retired and replaced with the Nomads: compact, hybrid vehicles with a lower carbon footprint, easier to drive and park. BUSINESS Mad Campers T T Virginia Wright “We made a list of nine things we did as Kiwi kids growing up, things that would encourage our travellers to get a bit more off the beaten track and have some fun - run on a black sand beach, find a town icon, eat a pie of their choice…” Throughout its steady growth to having a fleet of campervans that now numbers 200, from the time of its initial launch with the first 30 Mad 2’s, Mad Campers has pitched itself as New Zealand’s most innovative campervan rental company. It’s a tag they continue to earn and intend to keep. Co-founders and good friends Pete Marsden, Paul German and Andy Haslett had done plenty of travelling on roads less travelled, and were all mad about New Zealand’s great outdoors. They wanted to encourage tourists to do more than tick the Rotorua, Milford Sound and Queenstown boxes so they kicked Mad Campers off with an innovative spin on marketing and customer loyalty, the Mad Challenge. It’s become part of their DNA, explains Andy. “We made a list of nine things we did as Kiwi kids growing up, things that would encourage our travellers to get a bit more off the beaten track and have some fun: run on a black sand beach, find a town icon, eat a pie of their choice. “Simple things, but we get a lot of feedback from travellers who’ve had their best night because of who they met at the end of the dusty road they drove down to find the waterfall to swim in.” And, importantly, if travellers complete all nine of the simple tasks on the list they get 5% of their rental back. Innovation also featured in their campervan design from the start, and continues to do so. The fitout of their original 30 second hand vans included a pull-out kitchen that fitted back into a drawer under the bed rather than having a fixed kitchen across the back of the van. The resulting extra space and longer bed were both highly desirable features when you’re on the road. Following the success of their MAD2’s, sleeping two, came the MAD1’s A self-contained campervan for the solo traveller. It was a New Zealand first on a commercial scale. “It was basically a converted 7-seater car with all the seats pulled out except the driver’s seat and a bed down one side. It was a new innovation in what is a pretty well-served market and it went really well,” says Andy. Still one of Mad Campers most popular rentals the original MAD1’s have recently been retired and replaced with the Nomads: compact, hybrid vehicles with a lower carbon footprint, easier to drive and park, featuring another innovation they’ve seen nowhere else in the world, designed to solve the problem of no standing room. This time the 7-seater cars have had their roof replaced with a fibre glass bubble high enough to allow head room for someone even if they’re over six feet. The MAD2 has been replaced with MAD2+, “bigger, better and bougier”, and they’ve launched the Mad Explorer with the ultimate game-changer, a permanent bed. And for those looking for luxury the addition of a number of Mad Trackers makes them one of the biggest 4WD fleets in the country, says Andy. “Basically it’s a Toyota Hiace with a little hotel room on the back. It’s quickly become one of our most favoured vehicles.” Their ongoing innovations took Mad Campers to the finals in the Go Rentals Innovation Award category at the 2025 New Zealand Tourism Awards, recognised for reimagining campervan travel with unique vehicles and marketing, and it doesn’t stop there. Mad Campers have taken all the learnings, systems, and gadgetry from 10 years of operating and set up a retail arm selling caravans and campervans online under the name Mad RV. It’s been a happy and exciting journey for Mad Campers so far and it’s clearly not over yet. Insurance with nothing to hide. No Hidden Fees. No Hidden Commissions. Total Transparency. Business | Personal | Life & Disability | Group Employee Benefits For more information, please contact us on: E: info@dbib.co.nz P: +64 (9) 215 3371 www.donaldsonbrown.co.nz
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