Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 21:34:41 -0800
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Stuart Redford" <scr@pacifier.com>
Subject: Re: VANAGON digest 1311
----------
> > ------------------------------
>
> We've seen a few EV Westie Weekenders here in St. Paul, too.
> When we lived in Vancouver in 1995 we saw scads of EV Westies with
> _full_ camping gear.
> I friend of ours let us borrow his '92 DIESEL powered EV Westie. I think
> it had 78 hp! It was
> slow going over the mountians... We loved it, and would have bought one
> ourselves (gas powered,
> though) except that we were moving back to the US, buying a house, and
> getting married.
>
>
> We were told that VWoA did not import any of the full Westfalia EV
> conversions because of the
> exchange rate, and the VW of Canada was discontinuing their Westie
> conversions for the same reason.
>
> Does VWoA Care? Or was the Westie market so small that they could walk
> away from it? Do they think
> people who would have bought an EV Westie will buy a bigger, more
> expensive EV Winnebago?
I'm only guessing based on what I see in the market........but, I think
VWofA wanted a more elaborate camper
with a furnace, more plumbing (gray-water sump, exterior wash etc.) and
Franz Noble (the Westy contractor) wasn't
ready to support that. Also, I think VW wanted to have the Eurovan frame
available with larger camper bodies. So,
Winnebago was a logical supplier for both styles, the Eurobago and the
Rialto.
I know that the (3) items I missed most with my '91 Westy was a sump for
cooking anywhere, a furnace for year-round
lounging and an auxiliary battery. The Eurobago has all of them.
>
> Personally, I think they blew it.
Well, It's seems they opted to not go after the market looking for
smaller, less elaborate campers. But, I paid $24.4K for
my '91 Campmobile. Today, an equivalent Eurobago would probably be ~$27K..
Would a significant number of buyers pay
15>20% more for more comfort? I think so.
Stuart R.
>
> -Steve
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