My van - a burgundy colored 88GL gets flags a lot. I've got a buddy
near here who travels with me sometimes. We both have a full gray bush
and he has a full head of long flowing gray hair to boot. I seem to have
left mine somewhere. But sometimes just for fun, he'll tie on a bandana
and I turn my pork pie flat-hat around backwards and cruise around a
bit. The high-signs, the expressions on faces - that we get are
absolutely priceless.  I wish I could show you all!

John

John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 4/10/2011 8:47 PM, Robert Fisher wrote:
> I pulled in at the grocery store next to a woman that was trying to shoehorn
> two kids and a buttload of groceries into what looked like an old Honda or
> the like. I don't have the middle seat in at present, and the boosters/car
> seat are on the back bench; she stood up and looked into the side window and
> said "Ohmigod, look at all that space...!" Then she said "That's one of
> those classic vans... do they cost much?" (She may have been confusing it
> with a loaf, actually.) One of the kids was diggin' it but I didn't pick out
> what she was saying because I was listening to the mom. I'm sure to her it
> looked like a rolling freight container right then... room for days plus
> kids' seats.  : )
>
> I told her she could probably get one in decent shape for around four grand.
> That's the number that popped into my head for a passenger van, but I really
> haven't looked lately. I didn't go into the whole spiel of cost/difficulty
> of upkeep and so on, as I figured it highly unlikely she'd ever really get
> one, assuming she could find it. I did tell her I paid $300 for it but had
> to rebuild the engine and tranny in short order. (Even with that I don't
> think I have more than $1400 into the thing for getting it on the road and
> reliable-like.)
> I still think (and I know that this is preaching a well-worn sermon to the
> choir) that a modernized, mid-priced Vanagon layout would sell in bunches
> and droves. It might take some heavy PR to overcome the perceptions of
> front-end safety, but every body's afraid of something on a car. Too bad we
> won't see it.
>
> Like many of you I occasionally get ppl that walk up and ask about the van;
> the expression on their faces when they actually look through the windows is
> priceless. In the back of my mind I always think they're thinking "My god,
> it's full of stars!" hehe
> --
> Cya,
> Robert
>
> '87&  '86 Auto GLs
>
>