I recall that in the 70's when I started to drive and got interested in cars, out in Southern California where I lived foreign cars (VW's, Datsun, Toyota, British sports cars) were becoming quite common whereas all my mid-West cousins drove Ford, Dodge, Chevy, GM (to this day, I've never owned an American car).� Maybe it was because we had ports nearby to import cars from overseas, whereas the mid-West was already "close" to Detroit and all the US auto assembly plants.� I think the weather had something to do with it (no salt, no extreme winters); I think the foreign cars might have been deemed more "fragile" and the early examples sure seemed to be compared with the domestic "tanks" on the highway.� So maybe these factors plus many more caused VW to get a strong foothold out west.� And of course the iconic "hippie-bus" from those crazy days in San Francisco and the "surf-vans" in Southern California helped sell a lot of Splitties and Bays and later,
 Vanagons out West...the "cool" factor.� Cheap to buy, good on gas, and easy to keep running--everybody knew somebody who had one.� And, the salt-free roads and plenty of access to VW shops for parts and repair helped keep Vanagons on the road.� You definitely see plenty in California; it's fun to go up to Los Osos where GoWesty lives....Vanagons are EVERYWHERE (lots with GoWesty license plate frames)!

Rich
San Diego

--- On Wed, 10/19/11, Gary Anderson <Gary.Anderson@USM.EDU> wrote:

From: Gary Anderson <Gary.Anderson@USM.EDU>
Subject: Re: Vans in the hood
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 1:40 PM

On Oct 19, 2011, at 4:20 PM, "John Rodgers" <inua@CHARTER.NET> wrote:

> Dunno why exactly, but it sure seems there are a whole lot more
> Vanagons west of the Mississippi and on the left coast than east of the
> Mississippi. 

And almost none "in" Mississippi!

Gary
MS Westy