Sportsmobile West & Military Contract -- YOu guys see th

[jlrray]

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRel ... RN20080401

Exclusive Military Contract Awarded to Sportsmobile West to Build 17 Elite
Search and Rescue Response Vehicles
- Off-Road Vehicles Serve as First Responders to Aide Third World Countries -

LOS ANGELES, April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Sportsmobile West (SMB), North
America's premier tier-two manufacturer of Ford Econoline, Dodge Sprinter and
Chevy vans, today announced that it has received a military contract from the
Country of Qatar to build out 17 customized elite search and rescue response
vehicles. As part of Qatar's humanitarian mission to the world, these response
vehicles will serve as first responders to many disaster areas in third world
nations.
"This is one of the biggest contracts Sportsmobile West has ever been
awarded and we are proud to be developing these response vehicles for such a
global cause," said Alan Feld, president, Sportsmobile West. "For nearly 18
years, Sportsmobile has specialized in building one of the very best off-road
adventure vehicles on the market. With a 12-gear 4x4 system, we are sure our
friends from Qatar will be very happy with the final product."
Sportsmobile first received interest from the Qatar Government in late
2007 when a special delegation came to the United States to visit Sportsmobile
West's Fresno facility. Impressed with Sportsmobile West's manufacturing
process, a government contract was issued to Sportsmobile to build all 17
vans.
After collaboration with Sportsmobile, Qatar placed an order in December
to build 17 elite search and rescue response vehicles that include the
following:
17 Elite Search & Rescue Response Vehicles
1 - Command vehicle
2 - Support vehicles
2 - K-9 vehicles (8 dogs per van)
12 - Transport vehicles

Ford Econoline (E350) Chassis:
* 12 Gear Sportsmobile 4x4 System
* Dynatrac Pro-Rock 60 front axle
* Atlas 2 Transfer Case
* Hella powered top-mounted flood light system
* 12,000 lb. front mounted Warn winch
* 46 gallon gas tank (long range fuel capacity)
* Industry-leading Aluminess Front and Rear Bumper Package
* 35-inch BF Goodrich all-terrain tires mounted on American Racing wheels

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, QATAR QUOTES AND PHOTOGRAPHY ARE AVAILABLE BY
CONTACTING DRIVEN MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS.
For more information on Sportsmobile, please visit their web site at
www.sportsmobile.com.
For media information, please contact Lynne Kristensen, DRIVEN Media
Communications, www.drivenontheweb.com, 951-587-9465 or
lkristensen@drivenmc.com
SOURCE Sportsmobile West

Lynne Kristensen, of DRIVEN Media Communications, +1-951-587-9465,
lkristensen@drivenmc.com, for Sportsmobile West

[surfgeek33]

Joe,

I saw these Van's in production the few times we were there for a factory visit. Its neat seeing these vans being built exactly the same. According to the staff, this was the reason why SMB west had a back-log on production dates. I believe they are almost finished with the contract.

[daveb]

Here is a shot of one.
daveb