"It must be a cultural thing."

YES... I'd add bigger is better...

I remember in 1990 a friend bough a Westy full camper, 2 month later he
sold to get a Westy Syncro full camper, 6 month later he sold it to get a
Bounder motor home

On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 10:08 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>
wrote:

> These are all modeled after our beloved Vanagon Westies (Vanagon content).
> Safety standards killed the Vanagon (among other things), and we got the
> Eurovan.
>
> Unfortunately, VW got burned so badly on the Eurovan they likely won't have
> a van option in the US until they make it here or in Mexico. Strong Euro
> (I'll never understand why, given the Eurozone's terrible economy), import
> taxes, US safety standards, etc. made them uncompetitive. In 2001 they
> bumped the horsepower from 160 to 201 and dropped the price $4000 as a last
> ditch effort to remain in the US minivan market, but gave up in 2003. Too
> expensive and too few of the standard bells and whistles American's want
> (it
> didn't even have cup holders). The EVC was converted here by Winnebago on a
> partially finished stretch chassis to avoid tariffs, and it sold well, but
> the end of the EV was also the end of the EVC.
>
> The most realistic option to hope for is reasonably priced conversions from
> Roadtrek, Sportsmobile, and Pleasure-Way on the soon to be arriving Ford
> Transit platforms, but these companies will need to go back to their roots
> to develop a basic "camper" conversion as opposed to the Class B motorhomes
> they make now.  If you haven't seen it, check out the Westfalia Nugget on
> two different Transit platforms.
>
> The reality is most Americans want Class B or larger motor homes and big
> trailers, just look around any large campground.  My son found his '87
> Westy
> this month because the owners tried it for a summer and just had to have a
> bathroom. Or at least the wife did.
>
> It must be a cultural thing.
>
> Stuart
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> James
> Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 7:24 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: VW Camper Conversion Showdown
>
> I've wondered this too, Jim - while we love our Vanagon, my wife in
> particular doesn't like the steady, expensive string of maintenance to keep
> it in good shape and on the road.  She dislikes it to the point of plotting
> with one of her German M.Sc. classmates how to get a new VW camper brought
> to Canada - until we discovered that a private individual cannot import a
> vehicle less than 15 years old into Canada anymore.
>
> Anyway, with the help of said German friend, we worked out that the landed
> cost of a new VW California Beach (current name fo the Weekender) would be
> about $50k Canadian (depending on exchange rate, a little less  in US$),
> assuming buying one in Germany or France at MSRP and exporting it, with
> container ocean freight and about $3K for homologation here (an estimate,
> but a decent one).  A full camper edition of the VW California would be
> about $5k more, and the current 4 wheel drive set-up would also be about
> $4k.
>
> (IF you want to look for yourself, and can read a little French, here's the
> VW de France webpages.  Remember to deduct the French VAT from the quoted
> prices - an exported van would not have to pay European sales taxes.
> http://www.volkswagen-utilitaires.fr/fr/models/california.html )
>
> At $50k, that undercuts the various van conversions available in North
> America (GM van or Sprinter or RamPromaster based) by $30k or more.  And,
> really, $50k isn't that far above a loaded Chrysler Town and Country,
> Toyota
> Sienna, or Honda Odyssey, which both push $48k optioned up, and you get
> something that gets better fuel economy than the Chrysler, Toyota, or Honda
> (admittedly diesel, but 4-5 mpg highway is not to be sniffed at), and, at
> least in Weekender form, seats 7, sleeps 4, and will tow up to 2 tons.
> (The
> NA rating will undoubtably be lower.)
>
> If VW Canada would announce tomorrow that they'd bring them in, I'd put a
> $10k deposit down the same day.  The funny thing is, having done this
> calculation, I've floated it past a lot of the people in campgrounds (and
> elsewhere) who stop by our Westfalia to admire it/reminisce about their old
> one, and many of them - perhaps a third - claim that they'd pop for $50k
> for
> a modern version (but wouldn't buy an old one).
>
> Gowesty continues to sell a small stream of re-built Westies for prices
> that
> look that that import 'quote' - so I think there is a market that VW is
> missing here in North America.  The California would make a great
> range-topper for VW, along with the CC and the soon-to-be discontinued EOS.
> They wouldn't even have to change the name.  (Though licensing a
> 'Westfalia'
> sticker for it might be a good idea, marketing-wise.)
>
> James
> '91 Weekender
> Ottawa, ON
>
> > Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 19:28:26 -0500
> > From: jim.felder@GMAIL.COM
> > Subject: Re: VW Camper Conversion Showdown
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >
> > You'e right, it doesn't cost $8.00 a gallon. It costs more like $12.00
> > a gallon once you figure out how much of your income tax goes to
> > getting the oil to our shores. That can't be all of the story, there
> > has to be a market for these convenient, well-thought-out things.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > On Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 6:44 PM, Stuart MacMillan
> > <stuartmacm@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Two reasons: Gas doesn't cost $8/gallon here, and few American's
> > > will pay $100k for these when they can get a used motorhome three
> > > times the size for half the price. It's why we keep putting money into
> our Vanagons.
> > >
> > > Stuart
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> > > Behalf Of Steven Johnson
> > > Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 4:27 PM
> > > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > > Subject: VW Camper Conversion Showdown
> > >
> > > Why oh why aren't these offered in the US!!!?
> > >
> > >
> > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIUwrCRNj3M
> > >
> > >
> > > Steven
> > > 91 Westy
> > >
>                                           =
>