Hi Clayton,

Spaniards are mainly into camping in 'caravans' or what an American would call a
trailer. They do have a motorhome industry but these motorhomes (look like a
small US Class C) are based on Fiat chassis and are a lot larger than VW vans.
Demographic background: Spain is a catholic country, lots of kids so need lots
of beds. VW vans are too small for them...

If you want a camperized VW-van, by far your best bet is to shop in Germany.
Lots of choice, and good prices too (especially with the current USD/EUR
exchange rate). If you want, I can find you some web sites to look at. (I've
bought my own Vanagon Westfalia camper in Germany, through the Web).

Regards,
Robin
90 Vanagon Westfalia Atlantic TD

Clayton Trapp wrote:

> Howdy,
>
> I'm new to this list, don't have much of a frame of reference, don't know
> nuthin', etc.  The closest I've ever been to owning a Volkswagen bus is a
> couple Porsche 914s.
>
> BUT!  In May my family (wife, four kids, big ole dog) and I are going to
> run all over Europe, starting in Barcelona.  Obviously the 914 won't do, so
> I'm going to sell it before we go and we're going to buy a VW bus in
> Barcelona.
>
> Which is why it would be nice to know more than I do.  We're going to live
> on the campgrounds of Europe, so we need something camping friendly.  My
> wife says that if we get something with a pop-top we should be able to all
> sleep inside in case of hurricanes.
>
> I kind of lean towards the Vanagon types over the old hippie vans, just
> because it seems they've got a little more room.  Price is going to be a
> big deal, the difference of a couple hundred bucks will swing us.
>
> A lot of the point of a VW van, besides the obvious mystique, is that we
> figure everyone everywhere (except us) knows how to work on them.
>
> I appreciate all thoughts, since you are the experts and I want to make
> generally good moves.
>
> Groove on!
>
> Clayton

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