Hi Pete,

I think we should correct that subject line. It should read  "The
Volkswagen Space Up Blue concept is DESPERATELY TRYING TO ASSOCIATE
ITSELF  with the VW Samba Bus introduced in the 50s and popularized
as a hippie symbol in the 60s. ..."

The "Up is a nice bit of technology. The roof-line windows, rear
hatch and rear-engine are certainly reminiscent of the bus, but the
size just doesn't  make it into "Bus" territory.

OTOH, It is slow, and ugly. If they also forget to install a heater,
and put in a corrosive battery tray and a dent-attracting rear
quarter panel, then I guess maybe it should be considered a bus.

Personally, I would prefer that VW let the Bus remain dead. The
introduction of the New Beetle had a terrible affect on the parts car
market; suddenly every rusty but restorable bug sinking into the
weeds was considered a "priceless classic" worth thousands of
dollars. As the years go by, the bug gets worse and the price goes
up.... until the day the owner finally relents and the remains are
hauled off to the crusher. There are few enough buses available as it
is... a "New Bus" on the market will NOT help our hobby in the least.

Happy Trails,

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

On 15-Nov-07, at 8:21 PM, Peter T. Owsianowski wrote:

> Check it out, bus brothers and sisters:
>
> http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=123437
>
> --
> Pete
> '79 Westy "Aardvark"
> '87 Westy "Joe's Van"
> WWW. Busesbythebeach.com <http://busesbythebeach.com/>