Ford launched the all-new Nugget High Roof in icy blue at the 2025 Düsseldorf Caravan Salon last summer, showing it again a few weeks ago at CMT 2026. But while Ford’s high-rising, hard-sided “winterproof” Nugget is available to order with buyer’s choice of rear toilet or extended cabinetry, it’s not available with all-wheel drive. Feeling this a rather large market gap, aftermarket conversion shop Nugget Schmiede has introduced its own sleek high sleeper roof atop a factory long-wheelbase Nugget with all-wheel drive.
Headquartered south of Munich in Kochel, Germany, Nugget Schmiede got its start on the rental and sale side of the Ford Nugget, eventually honing its skills at customizing Ford’s small camper van and developing aftermarket components and accessories for it. It’s probably most famous for its in-house skylight designs for both high and pop-up roofs, and similar to Terranger, it’s moved into the role of a Ford-recognized conversion specialist, broadening the Nugget market with alternative layouts and equipment Ford doesn’t offer directly.
So when Nugget Schmiede found out Ford didn’t plan to get its own all-new high roof aboard an all-wheel-drive-equipped Nugget until sometime around 2027, it decided to step in and fill that particular market hole. And it actually seems like a win for everyone – Ford still sells a Nugget camper van, and Nugget Schmiede buyers have the option of an all-wheel-drive High Roof camper.
CC Weiss/New Atlas
Called the High Roof Twin, the reworked Nugget has a slightly different style of hard roof than Ford sells itself. While Ford’s latest high-roof has been sculpted and crisped up from last generation’s roof, it still features a serious front lip pushing past the top of the windshield.
Schmiede takes a different tack, creating a more swept-back high roof design that’s essentially a smooth, near-continuous arch from the A-pillars. The company says it’s sculpted the insulated roof this way for superior aerodynamics, and the new shape still allows plenty of room for an upstairs bed. In fact, the bed is slightly wider than Ford’s own bed, offering a sleeping area of 205 x 140 cm (81 x 55 in). It includes a mattress atop a Froli spring system for cushier support and comfort.
Nugget Schmiede
Like Ford, Schmiede offers a window on each side of the high roof, ensuring the upstairs bed doesn’t get too dark and gloomy for a proper morning wake-up. Integrated mosquito screens and blackout blinds let campers adjust to the conditions.
Schmiede offers a rear window and ensuing 270-degree panorama optionally. It also includes a standard 70 x 50-cm (28 x 20-in) rectangular skylight directly over the bed. This one brings in views of the starry sky and also comes with a tilt-open function, mosquito screen and blackout blind. Schmiede also tops the roof with a 120-watt+ solar panel.
Dropping down from the custom high roof, the rest of the Nugget High Roof Twin’s camping amenities are left largely to the standard Nugget conversion package from Westfalia. That includes the two-room concept with rear kitchen and front dinette/fold-out double bed. As a long-wheelbase model, it also includes the rear toilet.
CC Weiss/New Atlas
One feature Schmiede adds to the standard van floor plan is a tilt-and-turn window over the kitchen area for added airflow and ventilation – Schmiede really likes its windows! Buyers can also opt for an electric fan.
The Nugget High Roof Twin comes powered by Ford’s 168-hp 2.0-liter EcoBlue diesel engine mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and the aforementioned all-wheel drive. It prices in at €95,980 (approx. US$114,175) before additional options. For reference, the Nugget High Roof with rear toilet debuted at a price of €83,245 ($99,025) last August, equipped with a 148-hp front-wheel drive with six-speed manual transmission.
While the all-wheel drive isn’t yet an option for Ford’s Nugget High Roof, we do know upgrading from the 148-hp engine/six-speed manual to the 168-hp all-wheel drive with eight-speed automatic adds €7,378 to the Nugget Pop Up camper’s price, so Ford’s Nugget High Roof AWD might ultimately be a few thousand cheaper than Schmiede’s. However, Schmiede’s is available right now, not maybe next year, and features a sleeker design some buyers might prefer.
Source: Nugget Schmiede