>
>
> This vehicle is a big step up for Mercedes; its previous van didn't
> even have independent FRONT suspension.

andrew, maybe thats true for the 100 series mercedes they were selling down
under, but in europe and the u.s. we are in the second generation of
sprinters by now, the first one being produced since 1995 and sold in the
u.s. since 2003. it had independent front suspension and is an excellent
vehicle with great fuel mileage.
in 2007 they revamped the whole thing.
the vw crafter is not available in the u.s.
On a side note, westfalia started producing campers again on a vw chassis,
the crafter. The new vw westfalia camper is essentially like the mercedes
sprinter marco polo (or the north american Sprinter Airstream Westfalia
which is NLA) but uses a regular superhighroof with a fold out bed in it.

flo