I've been driving an auto trans 81 ASI weekender for about a month.
WHAT A DELIGHT! Harald Rust has raved about his auto Westy for years
and now I know why.  An absolute joy to drive.

If you're interested, this one is for sale. (Need $ to purchase new 1.9
diesel for the Orphan.) I'm located in NE Oregon.

Pmail for details.

Jim

On Thursday, Jun 3, 2004, at 09:15 US/Pacific, Andy Stalick wrote:

> Hello All-
>
> I'm shopping around for an 86+ Westfalia, and one of the big question
> marks in my head has to do with the transmission. I had a '76
> bay-window
> camper a number of years ago with a manual transmission, and it was a
> great vehicle, but driving the manual in traffic got really tiresome.
> The
> clutch pedel was pretty much vertical, forcing me to lift my entire leg
> from the hip to operate it. Now, I am pretty tall, so perhaps more
> average
> height drivers wouldn't have this configuration. I haven't driven a
> manual
> vanagon, so I don't know how the pedals fit me.
>
> Another concern is the reliability of the automatic transmission. How
> well
> have these things held up? Are they markedly different from the
> manuals?
>
> I don't expect to drive the vanagon like a racecar, so the lower
> shift-points of the automatic don't bother me that much. Driving
> moderately around town and on the highway, how do the two transmissions
> compare? Both mated to the 2.1 wasserboxer.
>
> Comments?
>
> (Also, if anyone has a sweet deal on a well-kept Westy, near Austin,
> TX,
> let's talk!)
>