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IF A MORE LUXURIOUSLY CONCEIVED SUBURBAN EXISTS, WE’VE NEVER SEEN IT.

Edited by Matt Stone

Reprinted from Motor Trend Magazine, June 1999

Actor/rapper Will Smith is on a roll: His recent movies are hits, his CDs bag sales and Grammy Honors, and he’s got a fabulous wife (actress Jada Pinkett). It probably goes without saying that he’s financially comfortable and can drive just about anything he wants. But you won’t see a million dollar McLaren F1 in the Smith/Pinkett driveway. Just an average, everyday Suburban. Sure. . .

To say that Will’s new Sub is an average truck is to say that Mark McGuire is an average hitter. Yes, it began life as an off-the-rack ’98 7.4 liter 2500 Suburban 4×4, but then Will turned it-and about $120,000-over to Becker Automotive Design. You may never have heard of Howard Becker, but folks like Barbara Striesand, Jerry Seinfeld, and Steven Spielberg know him well. They, and a host of other entertainment and business glitterati, are Becker’s customers. They want the best. And they can afford it.

Becker is known for designing and engineering Tinseltown’s most outrageous sound systems, yet it’s far more than just a stereo shop. “We approach the vehicle from three viewpoints: sound/entertainment, performance, and styling – both interior and exterior,” notes Becker, who’s been fiddling with star’s cars for better than 20 years.

Nearly every square inch of the Sub’s interior was stripped. Everything you can see, touch, or sit on has been redesigned and upgraded to Lear Jet quality levels. Custom bucket seats, front and rear, are upholstered in European leather, while the headliner and contrasting trim areas are done up in rich suede. The wool carpeting is the same as that found in a Rolls-Royce. The deliciously black Japanese ash burled-hardwood trim is custom made in Becker’s shop, as are the consoles, speaker enclosures, bracketry, and just about everything else inside.

There’s more communications gear in here that you’ll find in Air Force One. Its sound system is a mind – and ear – blowing combination of Sony, McIntosh, Soundstream, Kimbler, AVI, and dynaudio componentry, plus enough speakers to broadcast the Super Bowl. Toys? How about three liquid-crystal video monitors offering their services to a Sony DVD, stereo VHS, TV tuner, Nintendo 64, and Sony Playstation. Don’t forget the two cell phones, Phillips Carin Nav system, and the refrigerator in the back (no joke). Naturally, the entire truck’s electrical system was totally reengineered, using custom crossovers, the best speaker and electrical wire available, and no fewer than three batteries with s multiple charging system.

Colorado Custom 18-inch billet wheels are wrapped by Bridgestone Dueler HT Tires. The suspension received a through workover to improve handling, while dealing with the increased weight of the interior hardware – Will’s Suburban tips the scales at an all-conquering 7170 pounds! Anti-roll bars were enlarged front and rear, and most of the bushings were swapped for polyurethane pieces.

The stock 454 was treated to a Whipple supercharger, Thorley headers, custom exhaust, engine management system, and transmission shift program revisions, 4.56:1 front and rear diff gears, and a host of other powertrain upgrades. The exterior restyle is subtle yet imposing. Bumpers were smoothed out, custom fender flares fitted and a billet grille and set of Smittybilt running boards pretty much sum up the upgrades – with everything painted black.

But the real beauty is in the driving. You’re surrounded by lush materials, entrenched in home-theater-quality sound, and going faster than anything this big really ought to go. Despite its weighing some 1500 pounds more that a stock ¾-ton Suburban, Will’s Sub bellows to 60 mph in just 6.9 seconds (as opposed to 9.4 in unmodified form). We simply don’t have the room to adequately describe the depth of this rig’s metamorphoses, but suffice it to say that it’s extraordinary in every way. The world’s most awesome Sub? We say yes.

JETVAN FOR THE JET SET

by GARY WITZENBURG

Howard Becker of Becker Automotive Design espouses a new form of transportation based on chauffeur-driven utility. “Not only does it give you the ability to rest, relax, and enjoy,” he asserts, “but, given the mobile office, the amount of concentrated work you can do in an hour’s commute can be enhanced by high-speed wireless Internet. When you get to the office, you’re an hour ahead of where you would have been.”

Consider this Mercedes Sprinter-based Becker JetVan custom-built for Eric and Diane Holm, who own a chain of restaurants in Florida and Georgia. They also own “his and her” Bentleys, Benz SLs, and Land Rovers, and a private Jet. They are well-accustomed to comfortable, quick, high-quality transportation.

The base U.S.-market Dodge Sprinter is a thinly disguised Mercedes-Benz commercial van powered by a federalized 2.7-liter turbo-diesel 5-cylinder engine producing 154 hp and 243 ft lbs of torque. But Becker’s Sprinter-based conversions are anything but standard. Appropriately dubbed JetVans for the executive aircraftlike interiors, they are easily the most functional, well-designed, and opulently equipped Becker Automotive creations yet.

He exterior is transformed with Mercedes-Benz trim augmented by tastefully designed front spoilers, headlights, tubular side steps and custom wheels and tires – and nothing is ostentatious. “Our customers want a low-key presence on the outside,” Becker explains. The engine is tuned to deliver approximately 200 hp and more than 300 ft lbs of torque. Bigger brakes, a better-balanced center of gravity resulting from substantial floor insulation, and a choice of suspension improvements round out the package. Soft Ride provides gentler springs that are teamed with beefier shocks and sway bars, and a custom-designed independent rear suspension – offering the ultimate combination of agility and rear passenger comfort.

The best part of a JetVan is its custom-designed interior: state-of-the-art mobile office married to a top-of-the-line home theater – an executive jet for the road. “The substantial application of lightweight aviation materials is apparent in our work,” Becker says. “Until now few have been used in automotive conversions, partly because of the expense of those materials. We’re not trying to outdo our customers’ private jets or luxury cars, but we are trying to provide a seamless transition from on to the other. A vehicle like this looks like and feels like the rest of their world while fulfilling their needs for room, privacy, and function.”

One thing Becker learned along the way is how to please A-list artists such as Burt Bacharach, Cher, and Barbara Streisand. “They’re not just kicking back and enjoying music of a movie,” he says. “They’re listening to their own stuff and dissecting it. To say that they’re critical would be very accurate, so we have been well schooled in how to satisfy their standards. We got schooled in video as well by some of the entertainment industry’s top performers, managers, producers, and directors.

“The outcome is that we can compete well with a high-quality home entertainment environment,” he continues. “The music can be powerful but must be stress-free – good at high volume but very accurate, very rich, and very comfortable to listen to. That’s what our customers expect video-wise as well.”

In the 1980s, the company began developing and building its own parametric equalizers form acoustically tuning each vehicle’s interior. “When we’re finished,” he says, “it’s what the entertainment industry calls ‘voicing a room.’ Once you’ve got the basic room as good as you can get it, the next step is to correct any problems, which has been done with parametric equalization in sound studios, theaters and high-quality home environments for a generation. It’s the guy in the back of the concert with the big mixing board – an absolutely vital element.”

Becker’s mobile work environment includes a laptop with a high-speed Internet card that fits into a port replicator to integrate with a wireless keyboard, gyro-mouse, and printer, and displays on a large LCD screen. Visitors’ laptops can also be plugged into the system.

Becker JetVans are built to order, and because customers’ requirements can vary significantly, the company offers six floor plans and two wheelbases. “Some customers want more than four-passenger seating,” Becker explains. “Some don’t want the divider so the driver and front passenger can walk through to the back.”

The pictured example features seating for four, privacy curtains, and an array of advanced – yet easy-to-use – electronics fir the Air Force One. A pair of ultra-comfortable, electronically adjustable custom recliners slide eight inches forward or back between the rear wheel wells to optimize cargo space behind them. Three characteristics make them unique: The seat backs recline to the optimum position for crash safety, leg extenders deploy electronically from under the cushions, and the bases rock back to distribute body weight evenly from head to heel, for the lowest possible stress. The console between them contains two aviation-style stowaway tables that can slide fore and aft, which are made of strong aluminum-skinned and hand-veneered honeycomb material.

Two large rear-facing buckets sit behind the divider, with a 1.5 cu ft top-opening refrigerator/freezer between them. Along one side of the van is a well-secured row of glasses and an upholstered ice bucket atop a beverage service cabinet. Along the other are the mobile office, a magazine rack, and a beautiful burlwood and upholstery liquor cabinet with safety-glass door panes.

The overhead lighting emulated that of a private jet aircraft with the most advanced LED strip, map, and dome lighting. “It’s very expensive,” Becker says, “but has tremendous longevity and puts out a light that I’ve heard described as ‘white sunshine’ – easy on your eyes, but it illuminates wonderfully in terms of detail and reading ability. And all the lighting is on dinner circuits so you can adjust the intensity to the level you want.”

The Holms’ JetVan sports factory-original, two-stage silver metallic paint and rolls on matching Brabus wheels. “Eric has been instrumental in selecting a lot of the function,” Becker says, “while Diane has been tremendous in working with us on the cosmetic and interior appointments.” We think they’ve achieved a new standard in custom ground transportation.

In addition to the new Becker JetVan, Becker Automotive Design transforms Ford Excursions, GMC Yukon Denali, and Cadillac Escalade SUVs into fully equipped and gorgeously turned-out mobile lounges, offices, and theaters ranging in price from $125,000 to $275,000. Comprehensive armoring programs are available at additional cost.

REPRINTED FROM CALGARY LIVING, JULY/AUGUST, 2006

By Toby Welch

Mix together the luxuriousness of an executive jet, the convenience of a portable office, and the sexiness of a sports car, and you have the Becker Jet Van.

The innovation of Howard Becker, owner of Becker Automotive Design Inc. in Oxnard, California, and a forerunner in the custom car industry, the Becker Jet Van is the ultimate in first-class transportation. Even Maybach owners will cringe in envy.

Ford, GM, and Sprinter vans are customized with your choice of one of six floor plans, all created with lightweight aviation materials. Jet Van options include an advanced lighting system, mobile office, high-speed wireless Internet, satellite links, a permanent computer, ultra-comfortable heated massage seats, aviation-style hideaway tables, electric window shades, deep-pile carpeting, driver privacy divider, a liquor cabinet, and a home-theater quality entertainment system, among other options. Howard Becker has achieved his three goals with his Jet Van – discretion, transportation, and luxury.

Jet Vans range from $110,000 to over $400,000 depending on the make and model of the vehicle you select and the materials and options you choose. For an additional $75,000 and up, .44 Magnum armor plaiting is available. Sorry – the cost of a driver is not included. Complete conversion takes from sixty to 150 days, and the price includes worldwide delivery.

Past clients of Becker’s include Barbara Streisand, Eddie Murphy, Cher, Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Tiger Woods, Steven Spielberg, and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Reprinted from Valuerich, September, 2004

A convoy of shiny black vehicles smoothly snakes its way along Pennsylvania Avenue and glides into the grounds of the White House, barely attracting a second glance from the ever present tourists and curious bystanders.

Unless you are close enough to notice the small state pennants fluttering discreetly on each side of the windshield, there is nothing about the well-appointed, black sport utility vehicle to give onlookers a clue as to the importance of its passenger: King Abdullah II of Jordan on his way to a state visit with President Bush.

“There was nothing conspicuous or ostentatious to indicate a royal leader was part of that particular entourage. And that’s the way it was meant to be,” custom SUV manufacturer Howard Becker told ValueRich magazine.

“We felt very honored. King Abdullah’s drive to the White House was the maiden voyage of one of our custom-designed Excursion SUVs, tailor-made down to the last detail by our company to the specifications requested by King Abdullah himself.”

Jordan’s monarch is only one name on an impressive, fast-growing list of international personalities who are turning to efficient, luxurious, and discreet customized SUVs – primarily Ford Excursions, GMC Denalis and Cadillac ESVs – and leaving behind the more overt trappings of power and wealth such as in-your-face stretch limos.

With this in mind, it would be stating the obvious that Becker and his exciting vehicles happen to be in the right place at the right time – providing refreshingly new and welcome means of transportation for security-conscious executives, celebrities and assorted dignitaries.

But it’s also true that nothing happens in business by pure accident. Becker Automotive owes the major share of its success to president and CEO Becker’s entrepreneurial skills in developing the modest car radio business he took over from his father.

With degrees in business and psychology, he is more that equipped to cope with present challenges and deal with future issues.

When a well-meaning critic suggested that his SUV limousines were a tad pricey, Becker responded succinctly: “They’re certainly not overly pricey. If you consider the value of a businessman’s time gained by commuting in one of these, it virtually pays for itself”

For obvious reasons, Becker is reluctant to go into great detail about celebrity clients whether they’re entertainers, captains of industry, sports figures, politicians or heads of state.

Suffice to say, past and present customers of this unique privately owned company include Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen, Sylvester Stallone, Barbara Streisand, Tiger Woods, King Abdullah II and corporate customers such as Dell, Disney and Dreamworks.

Becker Automotive Design, based in Oxnard, Calif. – where a staff of 40 is currently working on 15 vehicles at a time – has an early foothold in a business that, for obvious reasons, is going to be around for some time to come.

SUVs are no longer most popular as the transportation choice of harassed soccer moms. They also have evolved onto today’s luxury stealth vehicles – vehicles that appear everyday ordinary from the outside, but inside are a pleasure to behold. As Becker himself says, “They’ve become the elite vehicles in today’s world, popular with every segment of the population.”

For those requiring more room and seating, or the added comfort of recliner seating for four to six executives, Becker offers custom conversions of Ford and Mercedes Benz Sprinter Vans with a variety of floor plans that include everything from luxury shuttle seating to limousine configurations inside a completely private compartment.

To establish itself as the unchallenged design group for these vehicles, Becker has come up with the ultimate transportation for all occasions – a high-concept but low-key d ream machine in which you can travel in style, feel secure and be productive, while remaining incognito.

It’s a mobile office and conference room equipped with on onboard PC or personal laptop docking station, wireless keyboard, mouse, printer, and wireless Internet connection via cellular or secure satellite networks. The computing desktop id displayed on the 20- or 30-inch screen perfectly coordinated into an entertainment system on a par with the best home theater instillations.

The end result is a high-tech communications and entertainment center where international movers and shakers can conduct their business while they are securely in the lap of luxury.

And for the seriously security-conscious, one fascinating extra is the option of automotive armoring. Based on your risk assessment, Becker’s vehicles can be armored to .44 magnum handgun or powerful assault rifle specifications, and include top-echelon features, such as bullet traps in all the doors, designed to deflect hot shrapnel, and fully functional windows. Additional security features include custom machined anti-grab door handles, ram bumpers, Runflat tires, remote engine start and GPS tracking. And, of course, the best security feature of all is the inconspicuous exterior.

Getting into the armored car business was not a Becker business plan. But clients kept asking for the security and Becker acquiesced – but only if the security innovations dovetailed with his discreet transportation concept. Unlike most armored vehicles, Becker’s conversions remain completely luxurious and appear normal, inside and out. “Unless you’ve been in an armored vehicle, you have no idea how oppressive they can be,” says Becker. “With our design, you hardly notice anything unusual.”

Sitting inside a Becker product is an experience in itself. Once you got over the initial thrill of an impressive array of state-of-the-art entertainment and wireless communication installations, you can relax and enjoy plush luxury you’d most likely associate with a multimillion-dollar Gulfstream jet.

Becker SUVs have taken their inspiration from the best of everything – Maybach-type leather seats, Rolls Royce burl wood veneer and Mercedes-Benz upholstery. Comparing the exquisitely detailed Becker coachwork interiors to the plush cabin of a private jet is no accident or coincidence.

“Describing them as Gulfstreams of the road – as some people have – is okay with me,” says Becker, acknowledging the comparison compliment. “In many instances our interiors are equal to and often surpass what you’ll find on a expensive jet.

“Many dignitaries and celebrities who buy our SUVs already own private planes, yachts and European luxury cars. They are used to the best. And we will continue to supply them with that luxury but in a subtle stylish way with no exterior ostentation whatsoever.

“So if our interiors do seem aviation-oriented, it’s not by accident. We are re-creating, in a SUV, the same luxurious appointments they are used to in their privileged lifestyle. Whatever the latest technology is for – business or entertainment purposes – we can provide it with total luxury thrown in as a bonus.”

Becker and company didn’t set out to become the foremost manufacturer of custom-converted SUVs. The company’s initial idea was to create a limousine without resorting to a stretching process.

Eventually, Becker found that a Ford Excursion, 7 ½ inches longer that GM’s Denali and other SUVs, was perfect for what he had in mind – except for the suspension. Becker was very discouraged to learn that the Excursion suspension was a tooth rattler on the cobblestones and potholes of New York City.

“Since 40 percent of our production goes to New York, we had to make a tremendous investment and develop an independent rear suspension for the Excursion,” says Becker. “Now the Excursion gives a smoother and quieter ride on New York streets than a Cadillac.”

Although the Excursion is ideal for his purposes in terms of its length, Becker says that any or most SUVs could be adapted if requested. The adapted Excursion provides a comfortable ride for five rear passengers, with walled-off privacy from the driver’s compartment.

Since Becker Automotive got off the ground in the mid-1990s, its popularity and business have increased by leaps and bounds. Just recently, Becker shipped 10 all-wheel-drive Chevy Express Vans to Tokyo. Becker conversions can be found around the world in places such as Romania, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Kuwait, Mexico City and Beijing. A showroom in Moscow is in the works.

The base price for one of Becker’s conversions starts at $85,000, but prices typically range from around $120,000 and frequently go as high as $200,000.

Becker’s armored packages, excluding the cost of the car and interior accoutrements – start at around $75,000 and go up to about $145,000. A fully armored vehicle with a complete interior package can cost $365,000.

A Becker conversion is all about options, and they don’t come cheap. But as Howard Becker would put it, “The best option is the option to conduct your business using the latest secure mobile wireless Internet technology, in privacy, safety and comfort even though you’re stuck in traffic for an hour on the way from the airport.”

THIS SPRINTER CONVERSION WRAPS LUXURY AROUND UTILITY TO DELIVER A FAMILY-SIZED TRAVEL CRUISER.

Credit Howard Becker for thinking inside the box to meet the challenge from a client for a sumptuous yet functional long-distance family hauler. The foundation of Becker’s nine-passenger travel wagon was the Dodge Sprinter, as XXL-size commercial van only recently imported into this country but sold worldwide bearing Mercedes-Benz badges since 1995.

The Sprinter conversion represents the latest stage in the evolutionary growth of Becker Automotive Design that began in the late ’70s with the design and installation of sophisticated automotive audio systems for the cars of Hollywood stars. When the world’s top entertainers began driving SUVs, Becker expanded his creative efforts by offering luxurious interior and exterior appointments to surround his custom sound systems. In 1998, Becker Automotive Design separated itself from the herd of aftermarket SUV customizers with a Suburban designated for actor Will Smith. It began the trend for urban cruisers that offered the privacy of an opulently upholstered interior crammed with studio-quality multimedia equipment.

To prove his company was more than a one-trick pony performing only for Hollywood glitterati, Becker moved forward by combining his appreciation for the expanding applications of mobile wireless technology with inspiration sparked by the latest trends in executive jet interior design. He built vehicles aimed at the new breed of road warriors, the busy executives who could appreciate that saving time was the biggest luxury of all. Becker turned Ford’s Excursion and full-sized passenger vans, which provided ample interior space and heavy-duty carrying capacity, into lavishly furnished mobile offices with multimedia computer systems, Internet capabilities, and video conferencing to go. The scheduled 2004 demise of the huge SUV and cloudy future of the full-size vans prompted Becker to seek alternatives, a search that ended with the Sprinter, which, in addition to being taller and longer, had the cachet of being a Mercedes-Benz. This is where Al Parish enters the story.

Parish is an economist and college professor in Charleston, S.C., who was looking for a comfortable way to haul his family on vacation trips and weekend outings. He and his wife have four children, ages 7, 4, and 8-month-old twins. Their travel companions also include his mother-in-law and nanny, plus assorted strollers, car seats, and other child-rearing necessities. The arrival of the twins has obsoleted his seven-passenger minivan. He considered a stock Excursion but ruled it out, based on the awkward procedure required to strap in four small children. Parish, whose daily driver is a Jaguar XKR roadster, wanted his family vehicle also to be a bit more special, so he turned to Howard Becker for ideas for a conversion vehicle.

“We like the Sprinter because it offers us the versatility to meet different customer needs and we can send it to customers around the world,” Becker says of the utilitarian vehicle that can be ordered in three wheelbase lengths (118, 140, and 158 inches) plus two roofs heights offering either 64.3 or 73 inches of interior standing room. The Sprinter can be ordered with windows and seats a la an airport shuttle or as a windowless cargo carrier. Cargo and people easily enter through a nearly 3.5-foot-wide sliding side doors or two rear doors that swing back 270 degrees to the sides of the van.

All U.S. Sprinters are powered by a Mercedes-Benz 2.7-liter, 5-cylinder turbocharged and intercooled diesel engine. The engine features the latest in common-rail direct injection and produces 154 hp at 3,800 rpm and 243 ft lbs of torque at 1,600 rpm for decent acceleration (zero to 60 mph in 13.1 seconds) considering the base curb weight of 5,186 pounds. The transmission is a 5-speed automatic that also allows manual gear selection.

What made Parish decide to become Becker’s first Sprinter conversion client was the generous access through the side door and capability to stand while buckling in his kids. The diesel powerplant’s nearly maintenance-and clatter-free operation while delivering fuel mileage more than twice that of a gasoline unit was another big plus.

Becker also had a number of reasons to be excited about the project as his client was. The Sprinter has an independent front suspension with a tried-and-true rigid axel supported by leaf springs at the rear. Becker feels that this gives the Sprinter a better ride and better handling that the Ford and GM vehicles he has used. The Sprinter is also more easily adapted to an independent rear suspension to further enhance ride comfort for limousine applications. All-wheel-drive versions of the Sprinter are available in Europe, and Becker says grafting on the necessary components could also be easily done for those customers willing to pay (about $20,000) for the added traction. Speaking of traction, the Sprinter comes standard-equipped with the Mercedes Electronic Stability Program (ESP) antiskid control and computerized traction control (ASR) as well as ABS braking.

Despite coming fully equipped with the above features plus amenities such as power steering and cruise control, the Sprinter remains basically a big, tall, empty box on wheels, something that gives the normally exuberant Becker a shiver of doubt upon first seeing it sitting au naturel in front of his 40-employee, 18,000 square-foot shop north of Los Angeles.

“When it arrived in the raw, I though, ‘Oh God, what did I just get here!'” he recalls.

Closer inspection of the sliding door also put a few dings in his mettle. The door was heavy and awkward to close, especially from the inside. Parish’s major stipulation was that this door be easy to use because he and his wife would usually have their hands occupied loading or unloading the children. Becker’s solution was to reengineer the remote control power unit from a Ford minivan for smooth, hands-free operation.

For the interior, Becker selected buttery-soft European leather, bird’s eye maple, Berber-style carpeting, and an Italian suede headliner for a rich but family-oriented environment that is light and airy. Parish opted for a seating arrangement that features a pair of custom-made, leather-covered, seven-way power-adjustable bucket seats for the first three rows with a six-way power-adjustable couch along the rear that slides forward for additional cargo space. The front seats include a cooling ventilation system, and Becker designed back massagers with a stimulating yet soothing alternation pulse pattern. For the second-row buckets normally occupied by the twins, Becker adapted the built-in child restraint harnesses from a Chrysler minivan for added security.

Becker’s fondness for aircraft-inspired touches shows in foldaway side tables at each rear seat and LED-based, ceiling mounted reading lamps. Sixteen feet of high-intensity white LED strip lighting along the edge of the ceiling provides striking but gentle-to-the-eyes interior illumination. Becker equates the effect to a Close Encounters of the Third Kind experience the first time you open the doors at night. Parish calls it “white sunshine.”

Of course, no Becker vehicle is complete without a superb and ingeniously designed entertainment system. For openers, the Parish Sprinter has a 20-inch retractable video monitor, six-disc DVD changer, VCR, and PlayStation game console. Sound comes with a 570-watt 14-speaker arrangement with Dolby Digital 5.1 processor, 10-channel parametric equalizer, and satellite radio receiver. A touchscreen navigation system includes a monitor with integrated rearview camera. There is also a PC and wireless Internet compatibility plus an auxiliary AC electrical system.

Becker says the exterior offered a bigger challenge than the interior. The Sprinter received a sporty face-lift with the addition of a front spoiler, a three-pointed star grille, fog and driving lights, and new bumpers. The bright blue paint scheme with silver accents adds flair and diminishes the van’s tall, boxy silhouette.

Parish is delighted with the vehicle’s handling and reports that although he avoids cramped downtown streets and low-cling parking garages, the Sprinter has been a delight to drive in his first 7,500 miles of ownership. He raves about the diesel engine’s highway performance and light appetite for fuel that returned 26 mpg on a Florida trip.

Becker Automotive Design has a number of floor plans and interior configurations designed for the Sprinter, as well as an armor protection program. Starting with the basic Sprinter that retails for about $35,000, Becker says conversions can range from $100,000 to $250,000, depending on materials and accessories.