In a message dated 8/15/98 4:06:33 PM, CarlMarin@AOL.COM writes:

>I had a thought today as I drove by some poor slob's new EuroVan that it
>would
>be a masterstroke of genius for VW to bring back the Vanagon slightly
restyled
>perhaps and with the 2.0L inline four engine for the US market.

Well, the SA version uses the Audi 4 & 5 cylinder, so the VW 4 cylinder would
be um, wasted effort.

However, I suspect that the reengineering required to get the Vanagon to
current US specs would be prohibitively expensive. Vanagon's don't have 5mph
bumpers (at least mine doesn't). Vanagon's don't have airbags (nor their
sensors). Retrofitting these would, I beleive, be too expensive for VW to
care.

Also, let's take a look at those SA Vanagon's again. I did a computation a
month or two ago (yah, the Rand has fallen since then, but the comparison is
still valid). The top of the line Vanagon was around $32k US (if I remember
correctly). Now, let's add in the airbag, and 5mph bumpers. I'd guestimate at
$38k, maybe even $40k.