Hello everyone,

As I'm typing this I'm on the phone with VWoA and the rep is telling me =
the MV and the Weekender versions of the 1997 VR6 Eurovan HAVE JUST BEEN =
RELEASED! (Start calling your dealer, now.) The GL (or maybe GLS) is =
showing as not available and there's no release date yet. The rep wasn't =
sure of the price, but he quoted the $25k figure for the pre-Winnie =
conversion.

Since VW ships Winnebago a nearly complete van less the rear seats and =
interior trim, and Winnebago can outfit it for 10 grand more, it would =
seem VW could throw in a couple of seats, some carpet, and trim and =
still keep the cost of the van well under $30,000. Might have something =
to do with the 25% import truck tax that importing an unfinished product =
sidesteps?

It also seems kind of odd that VW would go to the trouble of having the =
K2 vans on their website and around the country if they weren't going to =
sell the "EVR6" over here.=20

I attended the Seattle RV show yesterday and saw both the '97 VW Eurovan =
camper and the '97 VR6 Winnebago Rialta. The EV was exactly as it was at =
the auto show last November. The Rialta, while not cheap at around =
$50,000 was on par with other conversion van campers. The big difference =
is that all the domestic van/campers give the front passenger no foot =
room because the engines protrude into the cabin so much. Imagine taking =
a cross country trip with your feet stuck in a kitchen bucket, that's =
how much foot room the domestics had.

The Rialta is available in three floor plans, but the most interesting =
part of the brochure is on the bottom of the last page. There's a =
postage stamp size picture of an EV with a plain Winnebago box and some =
TV station's call letters on the side. The text around the picture is, =
"Winnebago Commercial Vehicles. We build commercial vehicles such as =
mobile command units for fire and police departments and mobile clinics =
for hospitals. A variety of models is available and sizes range from 22 =
to 37 feet. Each vehicle is custom designed." Some deep pockets could =
come up with a very interesting EV, indeed.=20

Back to work,
 Matt Dekker
mdekker@eskimo.com

Dekker Service Inc. Website
http://www.eskimo.com/~mdekker