Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 13:29:28 -0700
Reply-To: Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@UBC.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@UBC.CA>
Subject: Re: Dodge Caravan with Westfalia like conversion
In-Reply-To: <000b01c0226c$3f26e5a0$a2158e8b@dell>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
Living in Vancouver, I see these things around. Oooh! One cool
thing is they all have automatic transmission! Wow! Neato, huh?
They are a *lot* smaller than a westy, and don't have nearly the same
usable space. Ground clearance is also unbelievably low for a
"camping" vehicle. Like other D*dge C*ravans, you don't see many at
all that are more than 6 or 8 years old. Funny that...
The best American-van "westies" I've seen are based on a GMC Safari
platform, as they have enough room to do the job properly. Mind you,
the vanpool I'm in uses GMC Safaris, and at the rate they keep
falling apart, I couldn't afford to own a piece of rolling liability
like that. My diesel westy needs fairly frequent attention too, but
my little stink pot *is* 18 years old!
BTW, the "four wheel drive" you're referring to is actually an AWD,
so keep that in mind. If you want better traction in the rain, then
great, but if you want to go someplace interesting, leave the AWD
C*ravan at home and take even a 2WD "real" westy. The AWD C*ravans
have nearly the same (pitiful) ground clearance as the FWD versions,
which the manufacturer is probably really proud of.
A 3.3L V6 is just what I want with fuel prices of $0.80/L. Uh huh, uh huh.
Hmmph!
T.
A pox on Gary Lee and his heretical running dogs! ;-)
At 1:03 PM -0600 9/19/00, Gary wrote:
>I just looked at a 1997 Dodge Caravan which had a GTRV camper conversion.
>It is identical to the Westfalia in layout and features, including the pop
>top.
>Sleeps 4, fridge, stove, sink, furnace. Asking price is about $24,000 US.
>These things are made in Vancouver BC, Canada, and you can get them in 4
>wheel drive also. They also make them on the Ford Areostar AWD platform.
>I've seen a few of these around.
>
>If I were in the market for a newer Westy, I would seriously consider one of
>these vans. Drives like a car and the 3.3liter V6 is more powerful than
>the Eurovan. Downside is that it is smaller than the Vanagon and EV.
>
>Gary Lee
>Calgary, Canada
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Tobin Copley Bowen Island, BC, Canada 49deg 23'N-123deg 19'W
'82 Westfalia 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky")
'97 son Russell =============
'99 daughter Margaret /_| |_L| |__|:| clatter
1995: 'Round US, Mexico, Canada 15,000 mi {. .| clatter!
1996: Vancouver to Inuvik, NWT 7,400 km ~-()-==----()-~
Previous buses: '76 westy deluxe (Daisy), '76 westy standard (Mango)
http://www.sfu.ca/~tcopley/vw/
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