Not familiar with the previous goings on about rights to use Adventure
wagen name and all, but if the mold is changed 10%, there's not much the
person owning the "rights" to the AW design can do in court.  This happens
to kayak designers all the time.

Max

At 10:20 AM 2/7/2005, Joe Federici wrote:
>I would agree. . . I've had the option of having these molds for quite
>some time and so have the members of the aw list on yahoo. Really it's
>quite funny to me that Ed had been trying to sell them for next to
>nothing for over a year. I posted about this I think twice to this and
>most of the lists. At that time you could have worked out a deal for
>the adventurewagen name with them. Now is desperation he gives them
>away without any  rights to the name and everyone has interest. I just
>think for the amount of money and time whoever is going to put into
>these molds 500.00 to pay him would have be nothing. Either way all I'm
>looking for is the name and contact information for whoever Steve or
>the body shop turns them over to. I  don't see the point in debating it
>on the list and wasting everyones time. That's not the point of this
>list.
>
>I will as a friend of Ed's also be keeping an eye open to make sure the
>new high tops will not be using the adventurewagen name as they are
>not. This is no different then putting a westy top on a vanagon.
>
>JFF
>
>On Feb 7, 2005, at 4:03 AM, Robert Fisher wrote:
>
>Just up front and off the top of my head, I'm not sure the 'group's
>approval' has any bearing here, just yet. That is, the molds belong to
>somebody: They still belong to Ed, or he conveyed ownership to Steve, or
>someone else. It seems that Ed doesn't care and has probably bestowed
>ownership on Steve, but I'm just speculating from earlier posts. Steve
>doesn't want ownership, there's another Steven that does, there was
>another
>guy that already has a glass shop, and now there's you.
>
>I'm not sure any 'group consensus' has any meaning or bearing unless
>Steve
>or whoever has ownership wants to play it that way- like most things
>it'll
>probably come down to a personal deal being struck. Obviously there's no
>point in saving them if they're not going to be put in production,
>which you
>say you want to do and are capable of doing. You've obviously done some
>homework and seem to have the desire, but that's a long way from being
>able
>to perform, as I'm sure you know.
>
>So, some additional thoughts/questions in general:
>
>Is the future owner going to actually have the time and inclination to
>support and operate what is essentially a one-off, on-demand business
>with a
>low profit margin? This is probably the only real marketplace for these
>tops. (?)
>You wrote about possibly getting a local glass shop to do the actual
>fabricating- is somebody really going to want to keep these things
>around
>and interrupt their normal business ops to make maybe 2-5 in a good
>year?
>Quality control? There's some artistry involved in this- how do you know
>when you're 'good'?
>What can be done and what should be done about the window problem?
>How to handle shipping? Installation?
>What about the particulars such as headliners and the A/C ducting? How
>are
>these things obtained/reproduced?
>What were the accessories required to install one of these tops and how
>are
>they obtained/reproduced?
>Legalities- warranties, DOT requirements, etc.
>
>I'd like to see these things 'available', if nothing else, preferably
>from
>somebody that's a Vanagon enthusiast who will deal with the market (us)
>in
>good faith and with good service, as Jonathon says. Aside from that, I
>couldn't say I have a preference if for no other reason than that I
>don't
>personally know a single one of you- except that it'd probably be a lot
>cheaper for me if they stayed in California, assuming I can ever afford
>one.
>: )
>
>Just some thoughts to add to the conversation; here's hoping they find a
>good home.
>
>Cya,
>Robert