How about all other great camping vans in same category as Marco Polo from
Fiat, Peugeot, Renault, Opel etc etc etc. All with great TDI engines available.
And big Mercedes Truck-based campers that will go anywhere....
But why diesel fuel is so expensive here?
As high as Premium unleaded!
We can dream...
Leon
85 Subwagen

11/6/02 3:01:22 PM, "G.M.Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM> wrote:

>What a steal. $54k. The Westfalia Vanagon was about $21k (US) more than
>a decade ago, and (no offense, I love my Westy) it was nowhere near as
>nice as the Vito Marco Polo.
>
>Can anyone verify the foggy recollection I have: -- the reason we don't
>see these nicer European RV's here is that Win-a-bag-o'poo, and the
>other US RV manufacturers lobbied congress in 1990 and got stiff (>25%)
>tariffs against imported complete RV's? Again to my understanding, VW
>couldn't sell against the tariff, and consequently we lost the Vanagon
>Westfalia, got the (crappy, IMHO) USA-built 'Rialta', and the
>watered-down Westfalia "weekender" Eurovan. Can anyone shore this
>recollection up with facts?
>
>What I am getting at: if all of the above is true, then there *could* be
>a way to get the Marco Polo here. Follow me.
>
>1.      Daimler/Chrysler now use the same toothbrush.
>2.      Westfaliawerke was a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz, assumedly a
>subsidiary of D/C now.
>3.      D/C opens a very small (30-50-person) Westfaliawerke Fabrik here
>in the USA, near a port of entry.
>4.      D/C import the RV components for the Vito converted EuroVans,
>and supply ther dealer network with spares
>5.      D/C imports partial EuroVans (which they are already buying from
>VW)
>6.      D/C's Westfaliawerke Fabrik ASSEMBLES same here in USA
>
>Bringing ideas to life,
>G. Matthew Bulley
>Bulley-Hewlett
>Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com <http://bulley-hewlett.com/>
>AIM = IExplain4u
>Phone: +1.919.658.1278
>"Fax mentis incendium gloria culpum"
>
>