Will Dacia ever build the Sandman, a camper van concept that has taken on an AI life of its own online?

Try this: tap the words Dacia Sandman into the search engine of your choice.

- COLIN GOODWIN

I've just done so and Google has come up with an AI overview that describes the Dacia Sandman as “a rumoured, highly anticipated, affordable compact crossover and camper van concept for 2026”. This overview is followed by reams of information on the vehicle, loads of AI-produced images, several YouTube films and Facebook and Reddit posts on it.

The Dacia Sandman is, of course, the figment of someone's overactive imagination. Mine. You may remember that back in 2019 Autocar's genius artist Ben Summerell-Youde and I came up with a concept for an affordable camper van badged as a Dacia but based on a previous-generation Renault Trafic. I plagiarised the name Sandman from a 1970s Australian Holden panel van of the same name that featured fabulous psychedelic graphics. Summerell-Youde (a VW T3 Syncro owner) and I went for simplicity, with steel wheels, tough black plastic sill protectors and wheel-arch extensions, and no infotainment but just an adaptable smartphone holder. The interior wouldn't have sinks, wardrobes or a fitted bed because customers would either fit the vehicle out themselves or buy optional packs from Dacia. The finished result in bright green looked very cool. We even had a couple of surfboards on the roof to make the point.