the living room comment reminds me of the reason i bought the thing in
the first place.  the syncro can take me up 4wd roads to remote trail
heads, and in the winter, i can gear up (skis, climbing rack, crampons,
whatever) in the comfort of a warm living room.  there's room for a
couple people to assemble gear into backpacks and put on skins.  we jump
out into the snow ready to start adventuring, starting the day with warm
fingers and toes.

aaron
'97 syncro gl

-----Original Message-----
From: John Bange [mailto:jbange@GMAIL.COM] 
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 12:27 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: "Favorite Vanagon Features"

On 5/13/05, Matthew Turner <sailormatt@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'd have to say that my favorite Vanagon characteristic (while not 
> necessarily design-related) has to be the way that my van "Vera" slows

> me down. There is no reason to rush around when driving a V'gon, and I

> just love that.

Heh. dunno it counts as a design "feature", but I must say I like it as
well. Definitely "no hurry" transportation. Adds to that feeling you get
that you're driving around in your living room.

But if I had to pick the one thing that tickled me most when I
discovered it, it'd have to be that toothed bushing on the back of the
alternator adjustment bolt that engages with that rack on the slotted
arm. After years of owning a variety of other cars, for the first time I
didn't have to improvise a lever with a stick or a big screwdriver to
tension the belt. I even called my wife over to show her, saying "now
THAT'S German engineering!" (her reaction, of course, was a polite "yes
dear, that's quite ingenious"). I guess I'm a sucker for the little
stuff. Conversely, I'm still not sure how I feel about the way they used
a long bolt to hold the starter to the final drive, which goes all the
way through to take a nut and thereby also hold the engine on. Crafty,
but it makes changing the starter just that much more difficult. I guess
that balances with the "one-screw to remove the outside door handle" VW
design which has saved me so much time as a locksmith...