Date:         Thu, 13 Jan 2000 20:37:44 EST
Reply-To:     Ssittservl@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         S Sittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Sportsmobile (was Re: Who makes the straight-up pop-top?)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

From:   JordanVw@AOL.COM
>
>  In a message dated 1/13/00 6:12:59 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>  palachance@CCAPCABLE.COM writes:
>
>  << the only   " new "  VW that I ever had out of 11, was a 70 window van
>   ( no seats in rear  ) that i turned into a west with the help of a company
>   in indiana called,  if my memory is still  good   campmobile... the only
>   thing I did not buy from them was the top that looked a lot as the one  in
>   the picture. are they still alive ???maybe ...good luck...
>    >>
>
>  I'm sure you mean the company called "Sportsmobile", not Campmobile.
>  (Campmobile is what VW called their campers). Sportsmobile did camper
>  conversions in the '70's out of Indiana.  they did VW's as well as
>  American vans.

Sportsmobile is still alive and well, and doing camper conversions on
Dodge and Ford vans.  They have factories in Texas, California, and
Indiana.  Most of their work is custom - you can design you own floor
plan, put in the equipment you want, etc. for the same cost as a
"standard" floorplan (of which they have about 50).  Conversion cost
is about $13-20000 (depending on features), plus the cost of the van
(around $22000 from them, or bring your own).  Their most popular roof
is a straight-up pop-top with big windows on 3 sides; they also make a
few different hard tops.

I visited their Texas factory in October when I was in the area on
business. They were very friendly.  The place was small - just three
or four garage bays and half a dozen or so people.  Their work
appeared to be of high quality.  (It's always looked good to me in
their brochures, but I wanted to see if it looked as good in "real
life".)

Their web site at http://www.sportsmobile.com is worth a visit if
you're interested in van campers.  Their "RB-50" standard floor plan
(which they show on the site) is similar to the Westfalia layout, but
with more space, more storage, more camping gear (holding tank,
furnace, A/C, etc.), and seating for 5.

Sportsmobile actually made the first pop-tops for the VW bus - before
Westfalia, I think.  There's a tiny picture just after the entry page
on their web site.  Also, Steve Haney has pictures of a 1971
Sporstmobile brochure at
http://24.3.36.47/vw/sportsmobile/sportsmobile.htm.

                                            -Steven Sittser