It took some sleuthing to figure it out, but I got the bottom of the
Vanagon list!!!

After two years of research, and back-tracing of e-mail, I now know The
SHOCKING TRUTH!!!  The Vanagon list does NOT have 782 distinct
members...only TWENTY-FIVE!!!

That's right. The list was set up in 1994 by a smart Minnesota
entrepreneur, Corby Arbuckle, to sell Vanagon parts, side tents, engine
conversions, and all other VW-related stuff. To elude government
intervention once he established a monopoly on the Vanagon after market, he
decided to set up a mailing list that featured MULTIPLE "VENDORS"!!!  Who
would have known?

Arbuckle knew the list would need just enough 'chatter' to make it
appealing to the handful of Vanagon owners who actually want to preserve
their vans, so he hired two former VW mechanics, and two retired NYC copy
writers.

These four people actually create most of the banter you hear and see on
the list, splitting their time and responses into 782 distinct 'characters'
featured on the list. Each writer has a list of 195 personal vignettes they
write for, each with a different personality and e-mail address to make the
ruse complete. So the lists most notable voices are simply the imaginations
of Mack Gunther, Cam Rollet, Irving Schmertz, and Sara Limm. The 17
different list "vendors", from motor-builders and part sale folks to tent
vendors, are all imaginary divisions of Arbuckle's VW empire...order from
one, or the other, it's no difference, it is all Arbuckle.

If you go to visit another listee, you are visiting a well-paid actor,
supported by plenty of VW 'props' in the yard from Arbuckle's collection.
Pretty crafty, huh.

So it is just you, and a couple other real people, and the rest is just me,
and Mack, and Cam, and Sara. Happy Friday. :)

Irving Schmertz,
Writer
www.arbuckleVW.com
Bemidji, MN