Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is celebrating the 25th birthday of the Volkswagen California model . At the same time, it is also celebrating a round production jubilee, as 100,000 California cars have rolled off the assembly lines over the past 25 years.
Air travel was expensive and tents were out of fashion. In the 1980s, RV camping vacations experienced their biggest boom. As before, Southern Europe and the discovery of its beauties continued to be the main attraction for vacations – but now without a tent or a caravan, without traveling by car or train, but in your own motorhome. This also created a completely new model of spending a vacation – two days here, three days there. More freedom and individual experiences without daily responsibilities can hardly be imagined. This was reason enough for Volkswagen to build its own motorhome called the California .
The idea was not entirely new. For a long time, Westfalia produced the Joker motorhome based on the Volkswagen Transporter model, the basic concept of which has fully proven itself over the years. The folding rear bench for two people, which can be folded out into a lying surface if necessary, is complemented by a narrow kitchen unit with a refrigerator, gas stove and kitchen sink, and storage space on the left side. Thanks to this division, free access to the vehicle remained through the wide sliding doors. But the reconstruction of the Joker , thought out to the last detail with many small extra-standard elements, was unaffordable for ordinary consumers. And Volkswagen worked on exactly this point. Thanks to many cost-saving measures and the prospect of serial production on a significantly larger scale, the equipment of the Joker model has been cut down to a reasonable level. The success of this diet was the base price of only 39,900 marks.
This laid the foundation for entire generations of California vehicles , whose brilliant concept proved itself for the next 25 years. Unlike the high-roof or long-wheelbase versions, the rear -hinged convertible California model was represented in the production program continuously in all years and generations (T3, T4 and T5)
In the current fifth generation , a 2.0 TSI engine (204 hp) and four 2.0 TDI engines in power levels of 102 hp, 114 hp, 140 hp and 180 hp are available on the Czech market for the California model. Both powerful TDI and TSI engines are connected to a six-speed mechanical gearbox. Depending on the selected engine, a combination with a DSG gearbox and 4Motion all-wheel drive is also possible. The base price of the California model on the Czech market is CZK 876,046 without VAT (CZK 1,060,016 with VAT) with a 102 hp 2.0 TDI engine.
Source: Volkswagen
