> Has anybody else ever seen a vehicle like this or is anyone aware of its
> existence? 

yes they do exist they are NOT a hack job, i have seen both single and db's up 
here. they are pretty rare, due to their high relative cost and small market 
pentration. the us domestics seem to have the pickup field all sewn upand vw 
can't compete.

I would be very interested in finding out more about the
> availability of such a vehicle. 

as far as i know in the they are not imported into the usa. there are a _few_ 
(ev double and single cabs) that i see up here in toronto but they are pretty 
rare. i have even seen one up here ( a double cab) in the colour that you  refer 
to

>The last I knew was that unreasonably high
> trade sanctions against this "commercial" type of vehicle priced this model
> out of the reach of most buyers in the U.S. market

that is my understanding of why there are so few over here (i.e. none in the usa 
a few in canada)

michael