Haven't seen the catalog, but know exactly the type you mean, and I had the
same reaction the first time I saw one.

No, it is not a cosmetic alteration it is a Mexican (or possibly Brasilian?)
bus. If you go south of the border you will see a TON of these. Up 'till a
couple of years ago, (and possibly still today?) the VW dealers in Mexicali
and Tiajuana were selling these Type II bodies with H20 motors. From what I
gather, there was (is?) an assembly line in Mex or Brasil that never
re-tooled to build the third generation of Transporter/Bulli. They coninued
building these through the '80's, selling them with motors built for the
Vanagon, and the weird looking radiator up front. I guess no one has seen a
real need to "Grey Market" these into the U.S. 

If anyone knows whether these are still available, I'd be interested in
knowing about it.

Matthew
Fairfax, VA
'85 Jetta Turbo Diesel
'76 Bulli/Kombi