I am very aware of the Greenbrier - I lobbied my parents heavily to
get one when they were new! (We didn't get one - kept the 57 Chevy
wagon until it fell apart 20 years later - in retrospect we were
probably better off.)

The L'Universelle was a totally different project that was shelved by
GM.

There are three major differences between the L'Universelle and
Greenbrier - water cooled (v-8) vs. air cool (flat 6,) front vs rear
wheel drive, engine placement front vs. rear.  I see much more of the
'55-'56 wagon (including the Nomad) in the L'Universelle details.

I do agree that the Greenbrier is the much more obvious copy of the
Type 2 - it just took GM a few more years to work out the reverse
engineering.

Dave Richoux
On Aug 1, 2006, at 12:45 PM, Jake de Villiers wrote:

> I beg to differ. The Chevrolet Greenbrier, based on the Corvair
> platform and wearing sheet metal very similar to that in your pix,
> was produced as a van, passenger van and as a pickup with fold-down
> sides just like a Type 2. Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery.
>
> http://www.mkellstrand.com/corvairs/my_64brier.html
>
> Jake
>
> On 8/1/06, David Richoux <tubaman@tubatoast.com> wrote:The GM
> "L'Universelle"  was never produced, but it was mocked-up or
> prototyped in 1955 - word was they reversed engineered a VW
> Transporter best they could...
> Mid-front engine, front wheel drive!
>
> http://www.gmphotostore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=53217233
> http://66.34.72.138/gallery/image/3097.JPG
> http://66.34.72.138/gallery/image/3096.JPG
>
> Dave Richoux 83.5 Westy (for sale)
>
>
> On Aug 1, 2006, at 9:31 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
>
> > Subject: Re: Dr. Z - (vague volkswagen content)
> >
> > No way. That is more like a sedan delivery. Don't know who made the
> > first one of those but Chevrolet built a ton of them along with
> panel
> > delivery vehicles in the late 40s.
> > On Monday, July 31, 2006, at 10:00 PM, Automatic digest processor
> > wrote:
> >
> >> "Date:    Sat, 29 Jul 2006 14:44:05 -0700
> >> From:    Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
> >> Subject: Re: Dr. Z - (vague volkswagen content)
> >>
> >> Ford invented the mini van. Look at the pictures of the model
> box at
> >> the
> >> bottom of the page:
> >>
> >> http://www3.sympatico.ca/guinnessd/pinto/
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com