<But she was always moving one thing to get to
something else, unpacking one of her bikes to get in , folding, rolling,
packing, stuffing, sorting...on and on...They are quite small, even for one
person, as a car-camping vehicle...>

As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a company out there that does pop top conversions to Elements. As an Element owner and a Westy owner, you'd be crazy to do it, besides it's $5,000.00 for the conversion. But, I've put a set of Vanagon front seats (w/armrests) in the back of my Element WITHOUT folding up the rear seats. The Element (IMHO) is an excellent small SUV, and the Vanagon is an excellent camper, but I don't think one can replace the other.  Jeff