North American High Tops

canadianhightops.ca        northamericanhightops.com

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This page will be used to provide folks with a quick way to get updates re the VW T3 tops. I will add to it in reverse chronological order so that the most current updates are at the top.


88. January 2016- March 10 2016 - Accepting orders with deposits on a run of AdventureWagen tops - run scheduled for March 2016

87. Mike Shaffer continues distribution run, dropping tops off at Sebastopol Ca. and Vancouver Wa before returning home with tops to Kennewick Wa.

86. April 2015 - tops for PNW transferred to Mike Shaffer's trailer at Joel Lane's facility in Colorado Springs

85. April 2015 - delivery of tops to "the West" .  Tops dropped in Cleveland, Springdale Arkansas, Colorado Springs Colorado.

84. Feb 2015 - delivery of 4 tops to Valley Westy Staunton Va. Nasty drive from Toronto to Staunton, great folks at Valley Westy, easy drive home.

83. January 2015 Production run of NAHT tops started. In total, the run will be about 20 - 30 tops. Tentative distribution will be Staunton Va (4),Springdale Ark(3), Colorado Springs(4), Sebastopol Ca.(4), Vancouver Wa.(4), Kennewick Wa.(4), Toronto(4), Quesnel B.C. (if we can get delivery sorted out)(3)

82. October 27, 2014 Both tops in Sebastopol that were available for resale have been sold. Only one top is still available for sale in North America (Sebastopol 1)

81. October 2014 Added Paul Williams (Arkansas) as an installer. First tops to Paul likely spring 2015.

80. Interesting install underway by Kevin et al at VeeDub Day Spa - given the relative wealth of space in the front storage area the install involves removing the headbanger vanagon AC cabinet and ceiling tunnel and replacing them with a modern evaporator in the front and custom ductwork to the front and rear areas. Aug 9 2014

79. Now working from home/cottage supporting folks re installing tops and answering inquiries re the next production run.

78. While on the road both dropped tops at Colorado Springs were sold, I of the Sebastopol tops as well.

77. Worked with the folks at VW Day Spa in Sebastopol on doing an install July 8

76. With trailer loaded with tops, we started on an epic delivery / family road trip. Delivery stops in Colorado Springs, Flagstaff, Sebastopol Ca., Vancouver Wa and Montana. Along the way - Garden of the Gods, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Death Valley, .Mammoth Lakes, Yosemite, Occiidental Ca. area and wineries, Mount Hood, Yellowstone, Old Faithful, Mount Rushmore. About 11000 km of travelling/driving - all great.

75. June 2014 - production continued of another 19 NAHT tops and 1 AW top for delivery to "the west" at the end of June.

74. Jeff returned to Nova Scotia with 2 tops on his trailer for installation on vans.

73. First NAHT top was installed at Busfusion - Dustin and Meg (van owners) assisted along with Jeff Hogue (Jeff of JeffsOldVolksHome)

72. May, June 2014 - first tops pulled from new NAHT mold. The target of 3 tops for BusFusion 2014 was met.

71. April 15, 2014  On schedule for mold production and thereafter top production from new mold.

70. March 2014 "Plug" made for new hightop mold.  Modifications from previous tops included changes to window areas, elimination of problematic areas. Aim is for the production of tops from the mold to begin early May 2014.

69. Sept 14 Flew back to Toronto

68. Sept 9, 10, 11 Drove to Colorado Springs - dropped the last AW top set off, began the drive back to El Paso

67. Sept 8 Drove to Streamline Audio in Vancouver to drop off all but 1 AdventureWagen top set

66. Sept 7 Drove from Sacramento Ca to near Vancouver Wa. to drop off the other "high" hightop

65. Sept 6 Drove from Az to Sacramento Ca. to drop one of the "high" hightops off.

64. Sept 5 Drove from El Paso Tx to Flagstaff AZ. - dropped AW top sets off for installer Andew Libby and picked up the 2 "high" hightops that he had there for redistribution to the PNW.

63. Sept 4 2013 - I flew to El Paso

62. Late Aug, 2013 - decision is made that due to the uncertain nature and timing of Fred's family emergency, that I will fly to El Paso and drive his truck and trailer to make the deliveries

61. Load of tops is stalled in El Paso Tx due to a family emergency of the trucker (Fred)

60. Completed tops are loaded onto trailer for shipping to Flagstaff, Vancouver Wa. and Colorado Springs Aug 13 2013

59. High heat and humidity slow down production run of AW tops - lesson learned - production will only take place in fall, winter or early spring in the future

58. Decision is made to offer the 2 tops located in Flagstaff for sale in the PNW. If sold there they will be relocated to the PNW as part of the shipping/delivery of the AW top roll out.

57. Mid June - production run of outer and inner shells and bulkheads for the "roll out" group is underway. Shipping planned for July 11/12 2013

56. Completed top is shown to folks at Busfusion 2013

55. June 11, 2013 First complete new AW top is assembled - outer shell insulated, inner shell, windows installed - see pics at New AW top images

54.  March 31, 2013 Roll out groups beginning to fill.  I hope that folks will take advantage of the groups if they are thinking about a top. When the groups close the molds will be stored until another production run is scheduled - likely late fall.

53. March 30, 2013  "Roll out groups" established for geographical areas with special introductory "roll out" pricing

52. March 24, 2013  I drove up to our fibreglass fabricator's shop to see the new ADVENTUREWAGEN top in person.  Terry had said on the phone that pictures did not do it justice - he was right. The top is the nicest, cleanest, most flawless piece of fibreglass work that I have ever seen.

51. Pictures of the first top are posted to the website March 18, 2013.

50. March 16, 2013  The first new production hightop made in North America is completed and taken from its mold.  The updated original AW top molds, refurbished and modified for hand laid production are back in service.

49. Rack prototype completed for AW top. Rack for the "high" hightop will be similar but will, obviously, have different dimensions

48. Feb. 2013 - the molds for the outer shell, inner shell and bulkhead have been refurbished and are ready for final inspection and production. Actually a new mold was made for the bulkhead.

47. November 19 - 26 2012 - AW top molds being assessed to determine need for repair and/or modification.

46. November 18 2012 - picked up the AW top molds in Lewiston and trailered them to a fibre glass fabricator

45. November 2012 (mid) purchased the AW top molds and made arrangements to have them shipped to Lewiston N.Y.

44. November 2012 - finally tracked down and established true ownership of the original Adventure Wagon top molds.

43. November 2012 (early) 2nd top delivered to Staunton Va. sold

42. Mid May 2012 I trailered 2 tops down to Staunton Virginia to meet up with the folks of Valley Westy. The Saturday was spent prepping a van for installation and ensuring that the folks of Valley Westy were comfortable doing future installs.

41. Shipment of 5 tops arrived at Justin Hall's Streamline Audio in Vancouver Wa. Installs and pickups are scheduled.

40. Feb. 18 - 20 - Andrew Libby drove to Joel Lanes' in Manitou Springs to pick up the tops for his installs. He and the tops are in Flagstaff ready to schedule installs. 

39. Phone call update with the Timbertech folks Feb. 17, 2012. The shipment of 5 tops for the PNW is complete and will be sent to the shippers the week of Feb. 20.

38. Conversations with the Timbertech folks  - they indicated that the next shipment of 5 tops for the PNW is in production.

37.  With all of the paperwork in hand, I set out again on Jan. 12 at 6am for the 12 hour drive to meet up with Joel.  This time even though the paperwork was complete, it still took 2 hours to clear US customs.  The delay meant that I had to drive an extra 3 hours around a storm that was moving into Northern Indiana. Nevertheless, on Friday, Jan. 13, Joel and I met in Des Moines Iowa, switched the tops from my trailer to his and he returned to Colorado Springs with them.

36. The shipment of 7 tops arrived in Toronto Jan. 4, 2012.  I cleared them through customs and strapped the crate onto a trailer to take to meet up with our Mountan distributor/installer Joel Lane on Jan 6.  After a 3 hour drive to the US border I was informed by a Customs Agent that the invoice I had was unacceptable inasmuch as it was in Pounds Sterling rather than USD. I had to return to Toronto with them and spend 3 days of nit picky minutae working theough a broker to get the "correct" paperwork.

35. Production is scheduled to begin on the shipment of 5 tops for the PNW. Target delivery: end of Feb/ early March.

34. Production delays in the UK meant that the shipent of tops did not make it to the shippers to be crated until early December. The tops are now crated and in a container due to "sail" aboard the MSC Alyssa due to sail Dec. 13. 

33. Oct. 17, 2011  As cost of tops, shipping, delivery, vent and windows firmup for these orders (7 for SW and Mountain and 5 for PNW) it is apparent that prices for future shipments will have to increase. The increase will likely net out to be in the range of $350 - $400 for the items above. Once the 5 available tops in (32) are sold, prices on the website will be changed.

32. Of the 12 tops ordered, as of Oct.3, 2011,  5 are still available.

31. Installer Joel Lane of Colorado Springs added to our installer/distributors

30.  Mid Sept 2011 Production begun on shipment of 7 tops. Production of further 5 tops to commence upon completion.

29. Two install/order groups were established, one of 7 tops for the Mountain area and South West for (around) U.S. Thanksgiving 2011 and the other for the PNW for around mid Feb. early March 2012.

29. Feb. 19th weekend 2011 - Four tops were installed at Justin's great facility - the 5th will be installed by Justin at some future date

28. Feb. 9, 2011  The shipment of tops for the PNW install group #1 is in Portland.  All steps are in order and we should be well prepared for the "grand install party" set for the weekend of the 19th Febuary.

27. The final (5th) top of the shipment was sold Jan 12, 2011. Time to begin a second PNW install/order group.

26. After a couple of false starts, the tops finally made it aboard the APL Arabia and began their journey to Portland on Jan. 11, 2011 due in Portland Feb 9.

25. Manufacturing of the tops was completed in the UK Dec 15. The tops were sent for crating and shipping

24. We began to assemble the first install group for the Pacific North West. When we had 3 firm committments for tops, an order for 5 was placed and manufacturing was begun

23. October 2010 Changed our name from Maple Leaf High Tops to North American High Tops to better reflect the international nature of the North American VW Vanagon community.

22. September 2010 Sourced opening windows for the tops. Many folks have inquired re. opening windows. More details to follow once we get the windows and evaluate them properly.

21. September 2010 Andrew has installed a top on his van and developed installation pieces to assist others in their DIY installs. We will post details when he is ready to market them,

20. End of August 2010.  Travelled to Flagstaff Az. to deliver some tops to Andrew Libby's location and to install a top.

19. July 21 - we have a distributor/installer for the PNW. Justin Hall of www.streamline-audio.com is looking forward to working with PNW folks to install their tops and assist them in finishing the interiors.

18. I am organizing a direct delivery of tops to the Seattle/Vancouver area for the fall. Let me know if you want in on this shipment.

17. I'm planning a delivery to Flagstaff for towards the end of August - let me know quickly if you want a top included in the delivery.

16. July 4 - 4 tops still available 

15. First top installed - Keith K - July 3, 2010

14. Tops picked up in a huge crate and brought to my driveway July2.

13. The tops arrive in Toronto end of June.

12. Projected arrival of replacement shipment around June 10, 2010.

11. Early May 2010 - Contact and quotes received from reputable and reliable shippers for delivery of tops from Timbertech to Toronto. All quotes based on 12 - 14 day delivery with full tracking.

10. Early May 2010 - Timbertech begins manufacture of a replacement shipment of 10 tops. Shipment due to be completed by 3rd week May.

9. Early May 2010 - All people who have put deposits down on tops are offered their deposits back.  Some accept the offer, some decline.

I would like to preface this by saying that playing "the blame game" is useless and unproductive and is not the intent of this page. Nevertheless, people who are interested in the tops and check for updates deserve to know of the progress of the top project.

8. Early May 2010 - the conclusion is made that the tops have disappeared - either lost in transit or stolen. 

7. Mid March to end of April 2010 - multiple attempts to track shipment through shipper prove to be fruitless.

6. Mid March 2010 - Tops picked up by freight forwarder/shipper to be shipped to Toronto. Expected arrival within 3 weeks.

5. Unforseen delay of a couple of weeks due to a requirement for special crating due to Canadian regs re. approved wood.

4. End Feb. 2010 - Production of the 10 tops was finished, ready for shipping.

3. Mid Jan. - Feb 2010 - Top production was somewhat slowed due to the unseasonably cold weather in the UK.

2. Mid Jan. 2010 - negotiations were completed,  funds were exchanged and top production began.

1. Early January 2010 - contact was made with Timbertech re manufacturing and shipping of tops.

 

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89-100  March 2016 - June 2019 

June 2019  Delivery run of tops to a new area - Western Colorado and Salt Lake City Utah area. Plans are for 4 tops to the Buena Vista Colorado area as of June 2, 3 are available and 6 tops to the Salt Lake City area, 3 are still available. 

April 2019 6 tops and window sets were trailered to Staunton Va.  By early June 4 were sold, 1 remained for sale

Spring 2019 - after a year pause to let distributed inventory "clear" we resumed production of NATH tops after thoroughly refurbishing the mold

North American Hightops passed the 75 top mark with a shipment to Kennewick Wa, with about holf of it being subsequently trans shipped to Sacramento.

NAHT tops delivered to Staunton Va, Colorado Springs and trans shipped to Kennewick Wa and Sacramento Ca. 

AdventureWagen tops produced from the refurbished AW molds delivered mainly to PNW