James Cook once again Camper Van of the Year in 2008
Sprinterin second place as a base vehicle
Numerous camper vans based on Mercedes-Benz well placed
Stuttgart ? Strong traditions should be maintained: the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter James Cook Westfalia is once again Camper Van of the Year. The readers of the magazine "promobil" voted it into first place in the category "Camper vans over 45,000 euro" by a wide margin. Accounting for no less than 48.1 percent of all votes, the James Cook only just failed to reach an absolute majority and achieved the best result for any camper van in the entire poll. Indeed, with this figure the James Cook even bettered the excellent result achieved in the previous year
(46.9 percent).
Taking first place for the 18th time
This outstanding result for the James Cook is by no means a one-off occurrence: together with its preceding model series, the readers have now voted the James Cook the winner in its category no less than 18 times. In other words, the unstoppable James Cook has emerged the winner in its category whenever it has been included in the vote. In giving the current model first place, the readers acknowledged the vehicle concept of the James Cook with its two very distinctive model variants and wealth of individualisation options.
Sprinter in second place as a base vehicle
The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter provides the basis for the James Cook and numerous other camper vans in the premium class. It too achieved very good results in the vote, once again taking an excellent second place and considerably narrowing the gap on the winner. In the readers? vote the Sprinter particularly scored by virtue of its incomparable safety features and comfortably equipped cab. It is also the only base vehicle available with a combination of rear-wheel drive, a low-frame chassis and independent rear suspension ex factory. It is also the only model in its class available with a particularly convenient automatic torque converter transmission.
Numerous camper vans based on Mercedes-Benz well placed
A number of other camper vans by well-known manufacturers using Mercedes-Benz base vehicles also achieved outstanding results in the poll. Victory in the category integrated camper vans over 100,000 euro went to the Sprinter-based Hymer S-Class. The top models in the Hymer B-Class SL series are also based on the Sprinter, and took first place in the category integrated camper vans up to 100,000 euro. Also worthy of mention are the second place achieved by the new Weinsberg LEV based on the Sprinter 4x4, and the third place for the Bimobil EX in the "Pick-up and all-wheel drive" category. The La Strada Regent repeated its third place in the same category as the James Cook.
In the imported vehicle categories, models by Esterel, the Le Voyageur Homeur, Rapido 9/90 series and Wanner Silverdream also achieved places on the winners' rostrum. All the above camper vans are produced on the basis of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, while the spectacular Bimobil EX is based on the Atego 1023 4x4.
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