BenT said:

> Dear lostranger.
>
> You are sadly lost indeed if you are making this judgment based on the recent
> discussion.

Hello BenT,

First, if you took offense at my comment or thought I was attacking you
personally, I gladly apologize. I in no way intended a personal attack. Your
statement merely triggered my interest in posting a different perspective.
I'm happy you find in Vanagons a business niche that suits you. More power!
The only judgment I made is that I have no interest in collecting cars or
maintaining them for future collection, and that issue was settled decades
ago.

Now, I will state plainly what I thought was implied in my earlier comment.
THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY THIS WRITER ARE MY OWN AND NOT INTENDED TO IMPUGN
THOSE OF ANY OTHER LIST MEMBER. I continue to operate under the assumption
that this list is a public forum for the exchange of information and
opinions which might be of interest to some portion of the membership and
that posting to such a forum carries with it the expectation that others
will express different viewpoints.

To that end, here is my opinion in different form: If I was in the market, I
would pay more for a Vanagon with a recent Subaru or I4 VW or TDI (or "fill
in the blank") conversion which I thought was good for the job than I would
for an identical vehicle with a high mileage WBX. Heck, I'd pay more for the
conversion than I would for a "rebuilt" WBX. But then, I'm a user, not a
collector.

Jim Huskins
The Lost Ranger