OKA-Interspecies cousin of the VW Syncro?

Hi, my current rig for the last 20yrs has been an 85 VW T3 transporter . I've travelled a lot in this and never been able to part with it because of its versatility and effective use of space. With 500,000km on the clock and counting, I naturally look for other options from time to time, but never found anything else suitable. I've been aware of the OKAs for years and they seem like the closest thing I can think of as a natural evolution of the VW Syncros. Slightly larger/higher ground clearance (but different drivelines altogether, with OKA as truck grade vs VW as lighter variant).

My eBike business is based on an Australian made off-road eBike, popular internationally, just like the OKA is/was, so there are some natural points of alignment here:
- Australian designed+made
- Rugged, highly capable
- Built to last

The VW has served well as a mobile workshop/retail/office solution, still gets used every day in this capacity, with improvements that mirror some of the things other OKA owners have done.

I'm wondering how many OKA owners have arrived at their OKA via VW ownership in their history? Just wanted to post this as my first entry point to learning more about the OKAs and to say G'day.

Welcome. Your bikes look very impressive, and how nice it is to see a product made in Australia.

I have never owned a Synchro, but used the earlier 2WD Kombis extensively and think they are wonderful, character filled vehicles. The leap from them to an Oka would be a big one - I used Land Rovers as a stepping stone.

The Oka will be a lot noisier and less 'refined' than the Synchro, but will be much more comfortable on a long trip and be vastly better off road or on rough, corrugated roads. It will also be a lot tougher. Oh, and it would carry a lot more pushies!

Good luck, hope you do get an Oka - you would not be disappointed.

QR, you could be right that several OKA owner's have owned a Kombi at some stage, as both the famous Kombi and the OKA are a bit left of centre (in my opinion anyway).
I have owned 2 Kombis, one of them a campervan, and a few years ago a friend of mine offered his Syncro campervan (trakka conversion) for sale. I loved that unit! I nearly bought it, but before I did, I thought what else is there around?
4 months later I bought my OKA.
Still have a softspot for anything VW (owned also a beetle, a buggy and a golf).

A sister's boyfriend had a Kombi just before I got my licence. I adored it but even at that age I couldn't help but think of how little there was in front to protect the legs. I bought a Holden One-Tonner and two weeks later t-boned a Fairlane at 60km/h (he pulled out blind from in front of a stationary bus). I don't think I would have had legs after that if I had bought a Kombi. Never had that feeling in the OKA - quite far from it actually. Welcome along.