Date:         Fri, 26 Jan 2001 09:55:15 -0800
Reply-To:     Luke Plaizier <lukeyson@OZEMAIL.COM.AU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Luke Plaizier <lukeyson@OZEMAIL.COM.AU>
Subject:      Re: 1987 Vanagon GL Synchro for Sale
In-Reply-To:  <v04210103b6975231e0ce@[192.168.0.10]>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Ouch! Nasty words about my little Vanagon !

OK, I would have loved to have shipped 'Vanessa' to Australia. But it HAS to
be converted in Australia. The only way to register a LHD vehicle there (in
NSW at least) is if it is more than 25 years old. Believe me, I've looked
right into it. In any other RHD country I'd be OK to leave it LHD.

Also, the sliding door will be on the wrong side. Not such a bad thing, but
we have a small child, and in no way do I want her running out on the side
of the car facing traffic when she grows up.

The roof conversion is still in excellent condition - and looks the part
since I changed the external rubber seal. For California I prefer the
sun-roof layout for obvious reasons.

I'll have to concede that the Cabinetry is different to the Westies. But the
advantage of being able to remove the cabinets to revert back to a seven
seater minivan is the flip side. I'd say, now that I've done it myself, that
it would take me about an hour to get it all out and have the seat back in
again.

While Country Homes Campers the company doesn't exist any more, the guy who
ran the company is still around in Mountain View California and still sells
parts for any of the custom bits. I'll make sure to give his contact details
to the buyer.



Luke Plaizier

-----Original Message-----
From: Ari Ollikainen [mailto:Ari@OLTECO.com]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2001 8:16 AM
To: Simon Glen
Cc: Luke Plaizier
Subject: Re: 1987 Vanagon GL Synchro for Sale


        [...snip...]
>
>
>And, believe me, after you have returned you will regret not  having
>brought it
>back with you.  Westfalias are so beautiful compared to the Trakkas and
>Sundowners you get here which are crude cut-hole-in-the-roof jobs.  Your
>Westfalia came off the production line with a hole built into the roof (VW
>Option M-073).  And, the furniture and fittings are superb.  It is vastly
>superior to anything available here.  You could even make money on it, if
you
>wanted to.
>
>Simon Glen
>Toowoomba, Australia
>1992 VW T3 Transporter Syncro van (ex-Telstra)
>1969 VW 411

        EXCEPTING, of course, that Luke's Syncro is a

>
> > * California Conversion,

        which is actually a locally built conversion by Country Homes (now
        defunct) whose build quality as far as the camper parts and cabinetry
        is suffers greatly in comparison to  WestfaliaWerke's.

        Sort of like a Trakka...





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        OLTECO                    Ari Ollikainen
        P.O. BOX 3688             Networking Architecture and Technology
        Stanford, CA              Ari@OLTECO.com
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