Fitment Centre Feature
Unique caddy conversion
gives drivers with physical
disabilities a lift
Volkswagen of South Africa, in partnership with the Quadriplegic Association of South Africa (QASA), has
converted one of its MPVs in order to showcase the mobility solutions available to people with disabilities.
➲ Test driving the Caddy Maxi Trendline: from left to right: Brian Bezuidenhout, executive director APD and Jakkie Pieters, national
vice chairman NCPPDSA
T
he converted Caddy Maxi
Trendline, with a 103kW DSG
engine, has been making waves
since it was first showcased at the ACSA
Disability Trade Show last November
and during its first appearance in Nelson
Mandela Bay during April. The Caddy
was converted by AMF Bruns in Germany
and features a lowered floor, with an
automatic lowering suspension, and
wheelchair access for a passenger at the
rear of the vehicle. It includes a 4-point
restraint system to secure the wheelchair
and occupant as well as anti-slip
surfaces.
The Caddy Maxi, which is usually a
7-seater vehicle, becomes a 5-seater
with the rear seats removed in order to
accommodate the wheelchair platform.
The wheelchair conversion can be done
on any of the Caddy Maxi models (this
includes the Trendline and the Crew Bus).
Local conversions include an AutoAdapt
Turney seat to lift a passenger into the front
seat and a VS Hydraulics push-pull hand
control to enable a wheelchair user to drive
the vehicle.
At the push of a button, the Turney seat
moves through a range from inside the
vehicle, swivelling through the door
opening and lowering the seat to the
wheelchair level and back up into the
vehicle. This provides an easy transfer
from wheelchair to car seat. The pushpull hand control gives people with
physical disabilities the opportunity for
a degree of independence and mobility.
Pushing the control brakes the vehicles
| words in action
46
may 2014
while pulling it accelerates the vehicle.
Able-bodied people may still drive the
Caddy as it retains full pedal functionality
and the steering column is independent of
the hand control.
The National Council for Persons
with Physical Disabilities South Africa
(NCPPDSA) has given the Caddy
Maxi Trendline and its conversions the
thumbs-up: “The universal accessibility
of the vehicle allows for independence
for all persons with disabilities,’’
Jakkie Pieters, national vice chairman for
the National Council for Person with
Physical Disabilities South Africa
(NCPPDSA), says.
For more information, contact Mark Fish
at Tavcor Commercial Vehicles on
041 404 4400 or email [email protected].