They just quit importing them to the US.
VW made air cooled in Mexico, Brazil, South Africa clear up until 2001.
New 2000cc in the crate Air Cooled Engines only were available from Tiico
late last year.
The last air cooled vehicles imported into the US would just barely
squeak through US emissions testing even with Catalytic Converters.
Air Cooled never had enough power to properly pull an Air Conditioner
without over heating.
We Americans love our Air Conditioning.
The original purchaser of my Air Cooled 83 Westy paid $16,800.00 for it
in May of 1983. (I have the Dealer sales contract).
Any body got a hint how much the Water Cooled 1983 Westys sold for?
The PO told me that the 83 Water Cooled were a couple of thousand
more.(That put the Westies in the Luxury price range of Cadillacs and
Lincoln town cars and just a thousand or so below a new 83 Corvette)
I bought a new Cadillac in 1983 for $15,200.00.
The World Market for Air Cooled parts and complete engines is tremendous,
there will be plenty of Air Cooled parts when they are closing your
coffin lid.
If VW totally abandons the air cooled, there will be someone buying up
the tooling and continuing production.

Stan Wilder
83 Air Cooled Westfalia

On Mon, 25 Mar 2002 09:08:30 -0800 Allan Barley
<allanb@CARLSON-AUDIO.COM> writes:
> <<<<<(that's why they stopped making Air Cooleds)
>
> My understanding is that motor vehicle noise regulations in the US
> had a lot
> to do with it. Harder to quiet down an engine without a water
> jacket.
>
> Allan Bagley
> 86 westy
>

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