| Subject: | Re: Why do you like your Vanagon? |
| From: | Ron Semko |
| Date: | Mon, 23 Apr 2001 21:33:42 -0400 |
<html><DIV> <P>Joel,</P> <P>I couldn't have said it better: "because it fits" says it all.</P> <P>And, I', mot taxing around the O'Club tonight.</P> <P>Ron</P> <P><BR><BR> </P></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV></DIV>>From: Joel Walker <JWALKER17@EARTHLINK.NET> <DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: Joel Walker <JWALKER17@EARTHLINK.NET> <DIV></DIV>>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <DIV></DIV>>Subject: Re: Why do you like your Vanagon? <DIV></DIV>>Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 22:37:11 -0500 <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>> > Why do you like your Vanagon? What made you consider one? What was <DIV></DIV>>you <DIV></DIV>> > first experience of one? <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>i dunno exactly. it just fits me. quite well, thank you. :) i first <DIV></DIV>>encountered the vanagon way back in 1979, when Road & Track had an <DIV></DIV>>article about the "new generation Transporter". looked kinda neat in <DIV></DIV>>the pictures. then in December of that year, i saw one at the dealer <DIV></DIV>>... love at first sight. after having a 71 bus and a 73 bus, i was <DIV></DIV>>overjoyed at the changes in the vanagon ... huge engine hatch, fuel <DIV></DIV>>injection!!, more room up front, smaller steering wheel, much better <DIV></DIV>>seats, bigger windows and better visibility, better handling and <DIV></DIV>>cornering (scared the salesman ... who apparently had never even <DIV></DIV>>driven the thing!), bigger rear hatch and lower cargo deck. just loved <DIV></DIV>>it. probably showed on my face, too ... they didn't come down on the <DIV></DIV>>price much. :( <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>so i drove that one for six years. probably the best bus i ever had. <DIV></DIV>>Der Bus was its name. made up some stencils and painted it on the <DIV></DIV>>rocker panels and the rear hatch, in old german font. some of my <DIV></DIV>>neighbors ridiculed him by calling him Derbus :) it was light blue top <DIV></DIV>>and darker blue below. <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>but i was weak, and when the watercools came out, i looked. peeked, <DIV></DIV>>actually. but didn't buy. then the 1986 models came out with power <DIV></DIV>>mirrors and fold-down rear seat and different air conditioning. and i <DIV></DIV>>let myself be suckered into a test drive while buying parts ... i was <DIV></DIV>>doomed. <DIV></DIV>>:( until then, i never noticed all the sweat rolling off my body while <DIV></DIV>>driving around Alabama and the southeast. just kinda accepted it as <DIV></DIV>>"normal" ... i'd never had ANY car with air conditioning before. well, <DIV></DIV>>let me tell you ... one test drive in an air conditioned 1986 white <DIV></DIV>>bus, and i was hooked!!! :) yeah, i bought it. <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>so i've been driving vw buses for 30 years, and vanagons for 21 of <DIV></DIV>>those years. just seems kinda natural. :) <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>what do i like about them? i like the way they FEEL. to me, it's a <DIV></DIV>>good feeling ... sitting up high with great visibility; sitting inside <DIV></DIV>>with all that room behind me; being able to walk from the front seats <DIV></DIV>>to the back seats (assuming the bus is stopped!) ... i don't get that <DIV></DIV>>feeling in any other car. and yes, i've had other cars during the 30 <DIV></DIV>>years ... porsche, mercedes, honda. tried out some toyotas, chrysler, <DIV></DIV>>chevrolet (never again!), and ford. nothing is quite the same. so i <DIV></DIV>>stick with what i like ... Vanagons. :) <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>it may not be cool, in this part of the country, and there may not be <DIV></DIV>>many (any!) others around here (i own 3/5ths of all the vanagons in <DIV></DIV>>this town ... there are only five of us), but it's what i like. and <DIV></DIV>>i'd rather spend my time and money on what i like, than to spend it on <DIV></DIV>>something someone else likes ... <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>like the poem says ... <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>Believe It ... or Don't Department <DIV></DIV>>Willy "Bill the Bard" Shakesbeer drove a vw bus! <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>> Sonnets xxix <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>> When, in this race of Fortune and men's lies, <DIV></DIV>> I often sit alone and contemplate ... <DIV></DIV>> Where might I be, had I been much more wise <DIV></DIV>> In choice of cars with which to link my fate? <DIV></DIV>> What might I drive to work, to play, to cope <DIV></DIV>> In rageous traffic, more than some can bear, <DIV></DIV>> Were I to let someone decree my scope <DIV></DIV>> In what to buy, to say, or clothes to wear? <DIV></DIV>> How more in profit might my time be spent <DIV></DIV>> Than nursemaid to some broken old auto? <DIV></DIV>> A smile replaces brow with troubles bent <DIV></DIV>> As to the wheel I climb and off I go ... <DIV></DIV>> And though my drives through rolling country end, <DIV></DIV>> I love this bus, this one that makes me grin. <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>:) <DIV></DIV>>unca joel <DIV></DIV>>1987 Vanagon Camper GL, 180,000miles <DIV></DIV>>1988 Vanagon GL, 145,000 miles <DIV></DIV>>1991 Vanagon Carat, 123,000 miles <DIV></DIV>>1984 John Deere SX-95 lawn mower (currently not working). :( <DIV></DIV><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p></html>
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