VW California Biker: A Dream Van Come True

Reporting from The Black Forest, Germany -- I would like many things. I would like a large four-bedroom ranch home to fall on Jon and Kate. I would like my life to be more like Bollywood. I wish my hair could talk.
 

These things are not going to happen. Indeed, I could spend this column and the next listing all the things I desire but am not going to get: a 1-meter telescope; a poodle with a knowledge of fine wine. Somebody stop me.

In a column a few weeks ago I rolled a grenade under the epically chintzy VW Routan, and whilst so doing bemoaned the fact that VW -- the company whose heritage of van-making includes the beloved Westfalia camper van -- did not offer a modern version of the Westy, preferably with a high-output diesel engine and all-wheel drive. Au contraire, readers wrote back. VW offers precisely that vehicle, in Europe.
 

I happened to be on the Continent this week anyway and so arranged to borrow the vehicle you see here, the VW California, which is, maddeningly enough, not offered in California or anywhere else in the U.S. (more on that in a moment). This particular model was equipped with a gleaming, beautifully made custom bike rack. That makes the vehicle a California Biker.

Wishes do come true.
 

Did you go to Humboldt State? Did you vote for McGovern twice (once as a write-in candidate)? Did you stop following the Grateful Dead because they became too corporate? Brace yourself. This is the Westy of your dreams: a state-of-the-art camper van with a gas stove, running water, an electrically deployed pop top, a fold-down double bed, rotating front captain's chairs and a staggering number of reading lights, climate outlets, cabinets, storage bins and convenience features, and all of it executed with the kind of aerospace precision one might associate with Piaggio corporate jets...Read the entire article at LA Times.com!