Hi Chris,

I thought that the idea of the coming of age roadtrip is to get out
in the world and experience life. What useful life lessons can you
learn driving an appliance like a VW golf or Honda civic ??

BACKGROUND:
Back in 1984 I bought my first car. it was a 1972 westy. Before that
I had inherited a 1978 Fairmont wagon, but the westy was my own
purchase.  I did indeed drive it into the ground. But to be fair, it
was 12 years old at the time and well on its way there before it go
to me. I seized its engine after a year. The replacement engine cost
2/3 of what the bus cost, but was from a Porsche 914. THAT was a
blast, while it lasted. After 6 months of "Hey you-all, watch THIS" I
put a rod through the case. The next motor was not nearly so much
fun, and my next VW bus would not come my way for another 12 years.
Now that I am older and wiser I know that the vehicle will last a lot
longer if driven within its limits.

It's not like this kid's on a schedule. When it breaks, he learns
about maintenance. (preventative or otherwise) As long as there's
some $$$ available at the end of a phone line I can't think of
anything that can't be resolved on a '71 baywindow.

I would recommend a Bay over an aircooled vanagon because the
baywindow is lighter (less load on the engine) and the more primitive
suspension/steering keeps the driver more in tune with the road. It
isn't as good a platform for covering long distances, but as long as
the kid's got a strong young spine he'll be fine. I don't really
expect to get a lot of sympathy for my opinion on *this* list, but
I'm mature enough to know that you can't please everyone.

Seriously... Which of the following two engines would you want this
youngster to be responsible for?

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/332178.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bl.bachman/volks/WBX.JPG

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
1973/74/77/79 Westfakia "Bob The Tomato
www.pottsfamily.ca
www.busesofthecorn.com

On 25-Feb-07, at 4:41 PM, JordanVw@AOL.COM wrote:

> honestly i'd never reccomend a vanagon to anyone as a first
> vehicle..especially a first vehicle daily driver for a teenager.
> its just a nightmare waiting to happen..