on 2000/10/26 10:08, Joe Romas at jromas@columbus.rr.com wrote:

> The reason they don't import "commercial" vehicles is because in the mid to
> late fifties, for those not old enough to remember, VW sold countless
> numbers of the Transporters because it could carry what ever for very little
> money. The auto makers yelled "foul" and the us goverment put a high terrif
> on imported complete vehicles sometime in 1962. We were then given the
> famous Corvair Greenbriar and the Ford Econoline. They were both total junk,
> IMHO. Anyway that's why we don't have good small panel vans. Notice the
> small jap diesel trucks come in without bodies and then get bodies put on.
> Another tidbit is that the Kenworth delivery truck, not the tractor trailer
> type but the kind with the body on the back, were made by VW in Brazil!
>
> Joe

The way I heard it the tariff on imported trucks was in retaliation for a
German tax on chicken exports from the US. I've heard it referred to as a
'chicken tax'. Still this tariff must not be all that high or else Toyota
and Mitsubishi wouldn't have sold panel vans in the US in the 1980s. I agree
about the Corvair and Econoline. In the late 1980s when PACCAR (Kenworth &
Peterbilt) started selling medium weight trucks I immediately recognized the
VW LT cab from VW of Brazil. The fact those were sold here should make it
easier for anyone importing a 1980s to mid-1990s LT van to get replacement
front doors, glass and trim pieces. I wonder why PACCAR discontinued them. I
checked out the VW Brazil website and they have a full lineup of medium to
heavy weight trucks. It is nice seeing the VW emblem on some big trucks.

Zach Kaplan