vanagon.com: The Paulchen rack system — historical view 2005-12-17

Paulchen rack system

This first image shows the rack in the folded position. When the rack is folded, it is held in place with a rubber strap and hook. (You can see this in a photo below.)

Note the brackets clinging to the hatch at the top and bottom. There are four brackets, each hooking around the edge of the hatch. Each bracket fits the body curve beautifully and is padded with rubber. The rack clings very tightly to your hatch. There isn't any play at all.

You can also see the bike holders in this photo. These 'trombone out' to fit your bike, and are then tightened with an included allen wrench. When you're not hauling bikes, these serve to give you a somewhat wider shelf area.

This photo was taken with the shelf in the 'down' position. Note that the rack completely clears the rear wiper, so that you can use the wiper while the rack is mounted.

You may also be able to see the lock in this photo. It's the small brassy thing clinging to the top of the right-bottom bracket. It keeps someone from ripping off this clearly superior rack for their undeserving bus.

These images show the rack from the side. The rack is very non obtrusive when it is folded. You can see the 'spacer bar' accessory near the top of the rack. This is designed to keep bikes from scraping your paint when you're hauling them.

One of the many great things about this rack is the fold-down shelf. Why don't more racks have shelfs? It's so useful! You can carry any of the following things on a shelf:

Spare tire

Cooler

Suitcases

Camp furniture

... even bikes!

Notice in the picture to the right that you can see the little rubber strap and hook that holds the shelf in the folded position. It's hanging down below the shelf.

Pricing & availability

Now I know you're saying

Ok already -- I'm convinced. Where do you get one? How much do they cost?

Well, I got my rack from

OWASCO Volkswagen, Inc.
1425 Dundas St. E.
Whitby, Ontario
L1N 2K6
1.905.668.9383
1.905.668.9734 fax
1.800.263.2676 (from Canada)

Owasco's Paulchen web page

Unfortunately, they no longer import the style of rack that I purchased. Mark McCulley ordered and received the newer-style rack, and he writes:

I just received a Paulchen rack system that I ordered from Owasco VW in Ontario. They've changed the design a bit and Owasco is not importing the old design anymore. As far as I know, they are the only importer in North America of these German-made racks. The new rack lacks the two vertical and two horizontal cross members giving better visibility out the rear window (according to Owasco), but fewer places to support and tie down odd articles placed on the rack (according to me). So now the basic rack is U-shaped. It still has the fold-down shelf which is cool but no longer uses the telescoping trombone things to carry bicycles. Instead there are V-shaped aluminum channels like you see on Yakima and Thule racks. This seems like it may be an improvement for bicycles but offers no versatility for other uses. Another limitation is that the rack will carry only two bicycles -- there is no extension offered for an additional two bicycles. Four bicycles seems like a lot of weight to hang off the rear hatch, but their literature showed this with the old design.

The price of the new rack is a bit cheaper, but still very steep. Owasco offers the basic rack with everything required to carry two bicycles for $429 CDN. Right now I'm overwhelmed with trying to assemble this thing. There are dozens of clamps, nuts and bolts, and funny-shaped pieces of metal spread out on my living room floor. When I get it together and on the van, maybe I'll post some photos.

If you're considering buying a used old-style Paulchen rack, here are some prices that I paid for my rack (new):

Part:	Price: (each, Cdn $)	Comments:
Paulchen rack for Vanagon (& mounting kit)	$249.00
BMX telescoping rail	$65.00	These hold both normal and mountain bikes, and you'll want two.
Spacing bar	$33.70
Anti-theft device for rack	$32.50	You definitely want one of these lock sets if you can get one!
Ski grippers	$27.30	Each pair of ski grippers holds one pair of skis. To use these, you need to move the bike holders to the vertical part of the rack and attach the grippers. This isn't that much of a hassle, and you'd probably only change over twice a year.

You can also get this rack from:

Cowell Motors Ltd. (Near Vancouver, BC)
1.604.273.5208

Finally, the address of Paulchen in Germany is:

Firma Paulchen
Grandkohlenweg 18
D-22549 Hamburg

telefon +49 (0) 40-83 29 590
telefax +49 (0) 40-83 57 67

Fiama rack

A much less expensive alternative to the Paulchen rack is a similar system made by Fiama in Canada. Their web site address is http://www.fiamma.com/. The rack specifically made for the EuroVan (T4) and Vanagon (T2) is the Carry-Bike®.