I had a german client from Karlsruhe about 1990. He came over to the US
to start an American office. He took a ride in my Vanagon and had me
order one for him, you can be he wanted AC in that thing after
experiencing our August temperatures.  It just doesn't get very hot
over there. If you've ever been in england when it hits the mid-80s,
you'd think they were in Baghdad.

And as far as I know, there aren't any Germans who haven't been to
Disney World in the summer. So you know they know.

Jim

On Nov 22, 2004, at 8:01 PM, JordanVw@AOL.COM wrote:

> In a message dated 11/22/04 5:04:00 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> kayakjr@juno.com writes:
>
>
>> Why does the Westy have the rear AC, which takes up valuable storage
>> space,
>> instead of a truncated overhead unit?
>>
>>
>
> uhh...cuz they got these things called poptops..   ;<P
>
> but if your question was:"why didnt vw engineer the vanagons with
> in-dash A/C
> like north american vans"   then the answer is:
>
> a/c is an afterthought.
> in europe, older vehicles seldom had a/c, and most cheaper and
> commercial
> vehicles (ie, vans) still dont.   it doesnt get hot and humid there,
> they dont
> need it.  a/c is just for us lazy americans, so VW just stuck it on as
> a add-on
> to appease us..   thats why its crammed into the easiest space with
> the least
> design thought to put it in, the overhead rear cabinet.   what?  the
> condesnsation from the evap leaks onto you while youre sleeping?  haha
> those germans
> laugh at us..it will only leak on those lazy pampered americans who
> need their
> climate controlled vehicles..    LOL
>
> chris
>