That seems not to be true. VW did exactly that.

I´ve seen photos of older and newer Vanagons (ca after 85 was the change
I believe).

I have two rearmost sliding windows collected, one early, one later.
The earlier one had the sliding part in the front, as I like it. I guess
this fits the early Westies with a D-pillar closet covering the rear of
the window.
The later one (I think when in Europe the Multivan was introduced, with
plastic interior and fold-out table that you know as Carat) is exactly
the opposite:
Sliding part in the rear, with the seam between the panes perfect for
rain water ingress. Still seemed to work as they sold it (rarely) until
the end of the Vanagon.

ETKA tells me the same differences. Not visible on the pictures, but the
part numbers will give you the hint!

I still don´t trust the newer version and will install the earlier
version in my ´92.

Raimund

Am 19.03.2015 um 18:06 schrieb Stuart MacMillan:
> Fine idea as long as you never drive in the rain.  It will blow in between the panes, which is why VW installed them the way they do.
>
> Stuart
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Vincent Dow
> Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 9:06 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Sliding window idea
>
> For years I've been considering how to make the back windows on my van open, so that my dog can get her head out and sniff the air.
>
> I've seen a few interesting options.
>
> I'm thinking about taking out the slidingdoor window, and it's counterpart on the driver's side, and flipping them. That way the open window would be accesible from the back bench. The dog could put her paws on fold out table, and get some air.
>
> The passenger side silding window has the danger of a guillotine effect when the door opens, but a mostion limiter would take care of that.
>
> Any thoughts? Anyone seen this, or even considered it?