I toured the Westfalia-werke last summer. They are still converting VW vans
and chassis into campers. However they weren't sure how long that was going
to last as Westfalia has been purchased by Daimler Chrysler. The business
apparently had been going down hill for a while.

The two brothers who started the company passed the company on to their
sons in the late 70s. The cousins did not get along and the downward slide
began. The company was picked up in the mid to late 80s by a retired German
executive who ran the business as a hobby. DC picked it up from him about
two years ago. The company has now been split into three divisions,
trailers, hitches and campers.

 From what I was told DC wants to dump VW and Ford from Westfalia so that
Westfalia will produce Mercedes-Benz based units. However, there isn't
enough income yet to justify the switch.

Another interesting tidbit about DC's purchase is that DC sees Westfalia's
work force (who specialize in handbuilt construction) to be the assemblers
of DC's Maybach 12 cylinder luxury car.

Ric

>Gerald Masar (azsun99@earthlink.net) wrote:
>
>VW used to (maybe still does) have a little free magazine on the parts
>counter called
>"Parts & Advice". Several years ago it had a 3-part series on the history of
>Westfalia
>(also did a 3-part series on the history of the Beetle). I have the series
>and some
>items of interest are that Westfalia-werke is over 150 years old . Started as
>a
>blacksmith shop and then made farm carts out of a particularly rugged oak
>found in the
>area - now known as Westfalian oak.
>Franz Knoebel, Jr., a descendant of the company's founder, patented the
>ball-headed
>trailer hitch in the U.S. in 1939.
>The link between VW and Westfalia began in 1950.
>There's lots more.
>
>Jerry
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <JordanVw@AOL.COM>
>To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 10:00 AM
>Subject: Westys for all Marques.. was: Re: Canvas Tent on ebay
>
>
> >
> > FWIW, Westfalia-Werke GMBH  made camper conversions for all kinds of
> > vehicles.   i've seen Ford vans with Westfalia conversions, Mercedes vans
> > with Westy conversions, etc..     Westfalia-Werke also makes trailer
> hitches
> > and trailers... kind of like the "U-Haul of Europe"
> > chris