Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Tue, 2 Dec 2003 12:07:14 -0800
Reply-To:     Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@TSSGI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@TSSGI.COM>
Subject:      Re: Drove a Sprinter and liked it ...
Comments: To: "S.E. Booth" <lonesomedog@EARTHLINK.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <3FCCD533.7090302@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

If you're serious about bringing one in, this is the guy to talk to:

BARRY TAYLOR ENTERPRISES 110 SOUTH 23RD STREET, UNITS D&E RICHMOND, CA 94804

510-235-3990 510-235-3998

He's done quite a few and is extremely knowledgeable about importing specialty vehicles.

Cheers,

Jeff

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf Of S.E. Booth Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 10:09 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Drove a Sprinter and liked it ...

I have been looking at the James Cook Sprinter for about 4 years now, thinking it might be a worthy replacement for my Synchro Westy. The European version has a hightop with an interior by Westfalia that looks awesome. It has a lower bed and a cab-over type bed (or storage area), a good size refrigerator and somehow has room for a toilet and shower. I saw a couple of these when I was in France and was really impressed. You have a number of engine options available from gasoline to turbo diesel. The problem is bringing them into the US. I found an RV dealer in Florida that is possibly the only US importer, but they want about $100,000 for one, which is way out of my league. I have not seen the US camper conversion, so I don' know how it compares to the Westy version.

Check out the link below or if it doesn't work (it is sometimes buggy and slow), go to the MB website and look at Products/Camper Vans.

http://www.mercedes-benz.com/com/e/home/products/campervans/index.html

http://www.mercedes-benz.com/com/e/home/index.html

Susan Booth 90 Synchro Westy "Sea Bus"

Ty Graham wrote:

>Am I going to hell? I feel so dirty. > >I went down to Freightliner in Portland a couple of weeks ago and looked >at Sprinters. They had more than 20 on the lot including a camper >conversion. I spent 3 hours over two days asking questions and crawling >around. I test drove the camper conversion for ~5 miles. > >Overall, I am very impressed. It is a very nice modern van, though has >much more in common with a bread truck than with our Vanagons. > >140" wheelbase plus a hiroof feels super spacious for three. It would >be wild to do some sort of conversion on a ten(!) passenger rig that >allowed for future birthday parties or soccer team hauling. I'm 6'3" >and could around walk easily. It felt like only a slightly lower >ceiling than the AWs I've been in. > >Ergonomics seemed pretty good with a four way adjustable seat and >adequate legroom. All the modern conveniences were there, though not as >nicely implemented as in my MINI or Volvo. Typical of any new car pitch >I've had, the presence of cupholders was prominently featured. > >For such a long, spacious rig, it drove great. I made a bunch of >parking passes and donuts and was blown away with the turning radius. >My wife kept saying I was making tighter turns than her new MINI - not >true, but it felt like it. > >Power felt good, but not great. It certainly pulled as well if not >better than our 2.1l Vanagons. I didn't measure fuel economy, but folks >swear that they get 22mpg all the time and can get 27mpg or more on the >highway. 500 miles between fill ups would be sweet. Diesel clatter was >there, but well damped. The noise seemed lower than in the Ford Transit >I drove in France this year. It was a chilly day so I didn't try the >Windows down test. > >The camper conversion I drove was too much of that tacky sort of >American overstuffed, Sportsmobileish interior. Nothing seemed very >engineered and was just not my style. The rear bed sure was huge, >though. The salesguy thought one his customers had put a Westfalia >poptop from Europe on one, though I have yet to find a picture or any >info on the web. I haven't asked Steve Lashley yet. > >Net net: I am very tempted to get a 140" hi roof and build my own >camper conversion. I will probably rent a Sprinter camper in Europe >first to get some real test time. > >For folks that are interested. >Here's some info and pics of the camper I test drove. ($55k, I think) >http://www.sprinterus.com/ > >The Sprintervan group on Yahoo is pretty active, though not up to >Vanagon snuff. > >These are the folks we rented an RV from in the Netherlands. >http://www.arrantea.com/ > >TyG > > >


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