Hi,
> > I have never seen a walk thru dormobile either, although I have seen a
> > "flip seat" dormobile which i _assume_ is original.

> 	on May 5th at Duxbury beach MA, there was an older Fel		
> la who had a '69 walk-thru Dormobile...

 I think they were common after '67. It's walk through Dormobile 
_splitties_ that
are rare/nonexistent.
 I have a '68 Dormobile like the one you described ('cept that it's tidier,
on the inside, at least...).
 It has extra sheetmetal under the floor- the chassis is double 
skinned, presumably
to stiffen the body in order to compensate for the large roof cutout for the
poptop. On the subject of which- it's much nicer than the Westy one I had in
my '71. The top is much bigger when open and has windows & vents that
make the whole van a lot more light, airy & spacious.  The cutout comes forward
as far as the backs of the front seats (I think the Westy stopped 
around the front
of the sliding door). There does seem to be more body flex, though, and the
airyness of the interior can be a pain in winter, when the van is very draughty
while driving.
Cheers,
	W.
PS.  I feel I should say that Dormobiles arn't Westies, though that's
old news to most of the listmembers, I'm sure.