Old Eurovans never die…but they do need repairs now and again.

Two years ago, my wife fulfilled a dream she’d had since she was old enough to drive: owning a Volkswagen camper van. She hunted for a good long while before eventually finding just what she wanted: a 1997 Eurovan Winnebago that had been treated beautifully by its owner in Carlsbad. This was the one. Unfortunately, it was missing the optional middle row of seats that we would need for our family of five, so we hesitated. After a few days of scouring the internet, we found the right spare seat for our van, being sold by someone in Texas who could ship it. Done! We got the extra row of seats and the van, and we were all delighted.

The van wears a pleasing, smooth creamy white coat, with none of the glitteriness that contemporary cars all seem to sport. Inside, the upholstery is deeply 90’s — gray fabric with a turquoise and purple triangular motif. No CD player or Bluetooth here; we jam to cassette tapes that we buy for peanuts at record stores. This bad boy fits under drive-throughs and into regular parking spots, but contains all that a camper should: pop-top, hot plate, refrigerator, water hook-up, ample storage, and even an exterior awning to sit under while parked at a campsite. It invites plenty of admiration; other dads eye me enviously as I roll into parking lots.

The Eurovan has, however, needed a lot of care over these past couple years. That care has been provided in splendid fashion by Alex Ficachi, the man behind Eurovan World. Ficachi has been a gearhead since his youth. In his high school years, his brothers and friends would often go out on weekend nights while he stayed home working on a car — and they would return home at evening’s end to find him in the same place.

Ficachi bought his first Eurovan over a decade ago. Like mine, it needed a lot of work. His personal repair projects led to the collecting of parts, and eventually, to the acquisition of whole vans that could be cannibalized as needed. He started to sell his parts and developed more and more expertise on his chosen ride. By now, he is the Eurovan authority in San Diego, and in who knows how much else of Southern California. He tends to have between 10 and 25 vans in the shop at a time, and I understand that Volkswagen dealerships sometimes call him to consult.

Eurovan World does routine service and maintenance as well as more extensive repairs. They can lift a van or convert it to a pop top, work on interiors, or convert a van to diesel. They sell an enormous array of specialized parts, and they also design and 3D print parts that can’t be obtained otherwise. (I confess that I have even less of an idea about how this last thing works than I do about any of the other mechanical matters.)

Ficachi is energetic, friendly, and talkative. He has an obvious affection for his work, an affection evident in his very thorough automotive sleuthing and in his eagerness to share information about the van. I’ve seen him make remarkable efforts to work with a customer’s schedule, to return messages, and to make sure that a job is done when it needs to be. He says he treats every customer like a VIP and every van like his wife, mother, or son is driving it. I believe him.