Date:         Fri, 15 May 1998 03:46:13 EDT
Reply-To:     Ssittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Ssittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Questions about EVs
Comments: To: KENWILFY@aol.com
Comments: cc: vanagon@vanagon.com
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

I looked hard at buying a used Eurovan camper before I ended up
with my '87 Westflia a few months ago.  I was especially interested
in finding a '93, because I figured they'd be significantly cheaper
than the '95's.  There seemed to be a lot of confusion about them,
though - some dealers/others claimed there was no such thing
as a '"'93 camper", and some said there was, and some said
something in between.  After talking to a number of people, the
understanding I eventully came away with was this:

  - Volkswagen sold a Westfalia Eurovan full camper conversion
    in '93, but not in the U.S.  I think it was available in Canada, and
    perhaps a small number of them leaked into the U.S.  However,
    they were apparently not actually legal to import (didn't meet
    some U.S. standard or other).
  - However, VW did sell a Westfalia Eurovan "Weekender" in '93
    in the U.S.  This had a pop-up top (with no side windows), a
    rear seat that folded into a bed, a table, and a 12V cooler
    behind the driver's seat.  It had no stove or propane system,
    and I believe little or no cabinetry.  It may be shorter than the
    Winnebago conversion - the Winnebago is built on an extended-
    length cargo van.
  - The first Winnebago conversions were in 1995.  They used their
    own pop-up top - not the same as Westfalia's.  Interestingly,
    I looked at the standard Eurovan manual included with a
    '97 Eurovan camper recently, and it included instructions on how
    to work the "optional" pop-up top, which appeared to be the
    Westfalia top.  There was also a separate "Camper" manual, which
    among other things told how to work the somewhat different
    Winnebago pop-up top that was actually incuded on the van.

I won't guarantee all this is true, but it seemed to fit what I ran into.
Every '"'93 camper" I ever saw advertised and called about turned
out to actually be a Weekender.  Salesmen typically couldn't tell
the difference until it was pointed out to them.  ("Does it have a
stove?"  "Sure, it's got a stove."  "Are you positive?"  "Absolutely -
it's got a stove."  "Would you mind going out and taking a look
at it?"  (wait, wait, wait)  "Hey, what do you know, it's got no stove!")

                                             -Steven Sittser