How a 24 Year Old was able to make money after spending $140k and 9 Months converting a Mercedes Sprinter

• Abbe Minor spent nine months and $140,000 converting a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van.
• Inspired by Mediterranean architecture, the van has plaster walls, handmade tiles, and organic shapes.
• The space isn’t just a luxury camper van, Minor told BI. She considers it a work of art.

After years of living in and converting camper vans, Abbe Minor naturally became part of a community of people in San Diego working on similar projects.

One friend was working on a big red van. Another was building a space where every interior detail was orange with a 1980s psychedelic theme.

The 24-year-old said that this community offered her a version of “la-la land,” a place where boundaries were limitless and challenging the norm was welcomed.

So, she set out to do just that for her most recent van-conversion project. In April 2023, she purchased a bold yellow 2022 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

For the next nine months, she designed and built a space that’s just as much functional as it is artistic. She used Moroccan plaster to create organic, curved walls, and handmade Spanish tiles line the shower.

The space screams luxury — and so does the price tag. By the end of the conversion, Minor said she spent $140,000 on the build. Today, she values the van at $235,000.

It’s an investment she said she doesn’t regret.

“I wanted to learn new skills and create something that scared me,” she said. “At the core of all this is art.”

Abbe Minor in her converted van.
Abbe Minor in her 2022 Mercedes Sprinter. Abbe Minor
This is Minor’s fourth conversion since moving into a van in college
In college, Minor and her boyfriend at the time built out their first van and traveled around the country, checking off 46 states.

During that adventure, Minor said she saw firsthand what some people were willing to pay for a camper-van conversion.

Though people can spend a vast range on camper vans, the luxury recreational-vehicle market caters to travelers willing to shell out high prices. In 2020, BI reported that some luxury vans could have price tags of $250,000. Since then, luxury camper-van prices have continued to rise. Redtail Overland released its Skyloft Van earlier this year with a base price of $530,000, Autoevolution reported, and Noovo recently unveiled its latest luxury campervan, the Noovo Plus, which starts at $178,000.

“It made me realize the opportunity that was there,” Minor said.

After graduating from college, Minor launched a business converting vans. She’d buy a camper van, spend a few months converting it, sell it, and then live off the profit for the rest of the year.

“I’ve done one per year and I’ve really tried to make them boutique and artistic,” she said.

For the past few years, Minor has supported herself through van renovations. She’s also diversified her revenue streams thanks to social media and a book she’s writing on how to renovate vans.

With the first two builds, Minor said her goal was to be strategic with her investment. She kept an eye on trends and focused on efficient conversions so her builds would sell fast. Minor said she made about the average US salary with each sale, so around $60,000.

With her most recent conversion, she tossed her thoughts about money aside. Minor was inspired to challenge both herself and the industry on what a van could look like.

“With this build, I said, ‘Screw it,'” she said. “I don’t really care what the market wants. I don’t care how much money I spend. I’m just going to create something that has never been done before.”

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The first step was purchasing a yellow 2022 Mercedes Sprinter.

The exterior of Abbe Minor’s van conversion.
Abbe Minor
The van renovation took 9 months and cost her $140,000
A bright-yellow van was the ideal canvas for this project. Not only did it fit Minor’s bright personality but it’s something “you can’t scroll past without being like, ‘Whoa,'” she said.

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Minor traveled to Pennsylvania to pick up the $66,000 van.

“Driving it home was the best time of my life,” she said. “I was just floating, envisioning what I was going to do with it.”

Minor then drove to San Diego where she did most of the automobile work. She replaced the van’s wheels, tires, and suspension and added a roof rack and ladder. Then she headed to a small island off the coast of Washington where she spent months working from a relative’s shed.

Minor said most of her time in the shed was devoted to ideation.

She drew inspiration from Pinterest and AI renderings. She gravitated toward Spanish and Mediterranean styles where “everything flows together and looks like it’s coming out of the earth.”

The interior of Abbe Minor’s van conversion.
Abbe Minor
The goal was to learn new skills and use new materials for the conversion. For example, Minor used liquid fiberglass — a material that’s typically used on the exterior of automobiles — inside her van, which allowed her to create the curved walls throughout the space.

Minor also covered the van’s interior walls with Tadelakt, a plaster used in Moroccan architecture. It’s a material she said she’d never seen inside a van.

With the help of social media, Minor partnered with brands and installed thousands of dollars worth of free products throughout the space.

The van also has a handful of hidden elements. The benches at the front convert into a second bed and a staircase is home to secret storage.

The entire conversion, including the cost of the van, cost Minor $140,000. She said that certain materials, such as the plaster and Baltic birch plywood used for the cabinetry, were some of the most expensive parts of the build.

The conversion took about nine months to complete, with just enough time to bring it to San Diego’s TinyFest, an annual gathering for tiny homes and nomadic living. Minor’s van received an award for the best use of space.

The interior of Abbe Minor’s van conversion.

Minor said her van isn’t just a smart business move — it’s a piece of art
Minor knew this van would be a different investment than her other builds. Instead of immediately selling it as she’s done in the past, Minor plans to live in the van and create content to capitalize on the conversion.

A bright-yellow van appeals to brands since it stands out. An interior with luxury details lends itself to work with high-end companies. And a space that’s visually appealing leads to engagement and interest from viewers around the world.

While $140,000 might be a lot for a conversion, Minor thinks it could be more valuable in the long run.

This investment, along with her upcoming book, means Minor can continue to live the free, independent lifestyle that van life has offered her.

“I know so many van builders and so many companies who have scaled and have focused more on van building from a strictly business perspective,” she said. “In which case, it just turns into a regular business that’s complicated, that’s restricted.”

“I wanted to be more of an artist and keep my life as free as it can be,” she said.

The interior of Abbe Minor’s van conversion.
The interior of Abbe Minor’s van conversion. Abbe Minor
Minor acknowledges that everything has a price; she’s listed the van on her website for $235,000. In the meantime, she’s continuing to tweak and enhance the van as she lives and travels in it.

Reflecting on the build, Minor said her goal was to create something uncommon, something “that was a reflection of myself and who I am.”

She said she believes she’s done just that.

“It’s the best feeling ever when you can create a space that makes someone feel something,” she said.