I had always believed it true and knew of Vans (not necessarily Sandmans, although they might have been) that had cloth seats and power windows upon delivery (all late HZ's)
We discussed it before on the forum but Byron was adamant it could only be dealer fitted options. As with all end of run models the parts bins need to be emptied and promos start to happen.
The article is interesting but without context (atleast here). What print media is it from? Could be an official GMH magazine or could be a dealer story in a review magazine or just a reporter making up the options available.