I have to confess now...
I too looked LONG and HARD at a Reimo from CMC which was the best of the conversions imho. though I also liked Vanworx stuff..and even had a Reimo all costed and specced up as I wanted...
but at end of day it was the fact it was VW's own factory model based on a Caravelle not a van prepared by factory for conversion, plus so much all came as standard on the SE...plus the fact that all the interior was covered by VW at a dealer if a prob ie no long drive back to convertor...plus a conversion was not really that much cheaper when you specced it like a base SE...and stuff like Alacantara upholstery was actually not really that dear and very, very nice (so much lighter and nicer looking than standard finish)...and I could go on and on here about the pluses...eg residuals (not that that influenced me as not into selling on)...the door on the "wrong side" was NOT an issue, I prefer the proper swivel for the LHD seat ...and the lovely stuff like chairs in tailgate and table in door...
nothing else comes close... and as for the Marco Polo and similar...not impressed at all...and that awful Bilbo roof...yuk!
6 years on and still best decision I ever made (vehicle wise) despite roof corrosion (I was one of lucky ones who had new canvas and excellent service)...
David, if you are the same David Eccles of splitty fame, then I’m sure you will know where I’m coming from (if not, I’m sure others will). I am an air cooled enthusiast, through and through. My first camping trip in our split screen van in the evening with our young daughter, the curtains drawn on bonfire weekend and the propex heater on, nothing beats that.
We then bought a 56 plate california when they first came out and used to tow splitties on a trailer to the shows, but always slept in the splitty because they are so special. Sold the california because weren’t using it even though it was amazing, work patterns changed.
Family grows and the splitty became a Westy bay window (need a roof bed and the best bay conversion imo), and loved it.
Sold the bay last year with a tear in my eye because I knew we were unlikely to buy another air cooled camper.
The only choice for me was a new california. When I remember back to the 56 plate which we called Arthur (because it was “arf” a uk van and “arf” a European van with the sliding door in the wrong side) it was a Swiss Army knife on wheels. We did decent mileage, towed other vans on trailers with ease (174 bhp tip Tronic at the time), used it as a daily driver, held meetings in it, when away from home had somewhere to work in comfort, the list goes on. This is before mentioning what it did as a camper!
The air cooled vans started the whole thing off, and the freedom and enjoyment they offered us over the last 20 years was without compare. The final straw was a trip we did to the alps in our ‘71 westy. On the climb into the mountains, we kept stopping to let the engine cool which was part of the trip, you take a more leisurely pace. In reality, that van was never designed to carry the amount of stuff we had with a family of four and four mountain bikes on a towball rack. But it did it.
The California offers exactly the same as every other Vw camper. The ability to get out there, no matter how you choose to do it. It has just evolved to the best it can be for today. No matter what you want it for, it does it all so well.
Just hope mine arrives soon!!
