Hi, All -
 
I'm currently sifting thru the feedback, looks positive.

here's another website you can punch up with a pic of a brand new SA "Microbus" 
( I know - thats sacreliege to call a Vanagon a "Microbus"!!, but hey - I didn't
name it)

So, as you know - any reference to "Microbus" "Kombi"  "Caravelle" "Volksiebus"
etc.  is all referring to the current Vanagon bodied 5 cyl rear engined  Vans
that are still being made there. (this was forwarded to me by a someone in SA -
he thought the name "Vanagon" sounded strange...) I don't blame him  :<)

Anyway - here it is: ( "R" is the South African monetary unit, the Rand)
I must tell you - the pics take a long time to load, and there was a bunch of
"schrapnel" on the finished image...
-Notice how the lower rad. grille goes all the way to the turn sigs....
and the bumpers are different too, and I believe those are the European version
of the Carat alloy wheel....
try it out.

>Check out a pic of a current Microbus with the new-style dual round
>headlight grille at:
>http://www.mg.co.za/mg/oldvolks/newmicro.jpg
>
>If you're on the vanagon (awful name!) list you might want to point them at
>it as I gather there is some interest in the Audi-engined SA Micros. Just
>to update you, VWSA still builds the old rear-engined Microbuses (as you
>know) with a choice of engines: 1,8l carb-fed Golf engine, 2,3l FI Audi and
>2,6l FI Audi. They come in Panelvan (1,8 only), Volksiebus (1,8 and 2,3),
>Microbus (2,6) and Caravelle (2,6) guises. The Volksiebus version is the
>equivalent of the old Kombi, tho nowhere near as spartan. They are also not
>cheap -- the 1,8l Volksiebus costs over R80 000 (R4,50 to the dollar) with
>the Caravelle starting at nearly R150 000.

chris