Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 21:34:02 -0400
Reply-To: Ron Semko <vwbuspilot@hotmail.com>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ron Semko <vwbuspilot@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Why do you like your Vanagon?
Content-Type: text/html
<html><DIV>
<P>Joel,</P>
<P>I couldn't have said it better: "because it fits" says it all.</P>
<P>And, I'm not taxing around the O'Club tonight.</P>
<P>Ron</P>
<P><BR><BR> </P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: Joel Walker <JWALKER17@EARTHLINK.NET>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: Joel Walker <JWALKER17@EARTHLINK.NET>
<DIV></DIV>>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: Re: Why do you like your Vanagon?
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 22:37:11 -0500
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> > Why do you like your Vanagon? What made you consider one? What was
<DIV></DIV>>you
<DIV></DIV>> > first experience of one?
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>i dunno exactly. it just fits me. quite well, thank you. :) i first
<DIV></DIV>>encountered the vanagon way back in 1979, when Road & Track had an
<DIV></DIV>>article about the "new generation Transporter". looked kinda neat in
<DIV></DIV>>the pictures. then in December of that year, i saw one at the dealer
<DIV></DIV>>... love at first sight. after having a 71 bus and a 73 bus, i was
<DIV></DIV>>overjoyed at the changes in the vanagon ... huge engine hatch, fuel
<DIV></DIV>>injection!!, more room up front, smaller steering wheel, much better
<DIV></DIV>>seats, bigger windows and better visibility, better handling and
<DIV></DIV>>cornering (scared the salesman ... who apparently had never even
<DIV></DIV>>driven the thing!), bigger rear hatch and lower cargo deck. just loved
<DIV></DIV>>it. probably showed on my face, too ... they didn't come down on the
<DIV></DIV>>price much. :(
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>so i drove that one for six years. probably the best bus i ever had.
<DIV></DIV>>Der Bus was its name. made up some stencils and painted it on the
<DIV></DIV>>rocker panels and the rear hatch, in old german font. some of my
<DIV></DIV>>neighbors ridiculed him by calling him Derbus :) it was light blue top
<DIV></DIV>>and darker blue below.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>but i was weak, and when the watercools came out, i looked. peeked,
<DIV></DIV>>actually. but didn't buy. then the 1986 models came out with power
<DIV></DIV>>mirrors and fold-down rear seat and different air conditioning. and i
<DIV></DIV>>let myself be suckered into a test drive while buying parts ... i was
<DIV></DIV>>doomed.
<DIV></DIV>>:( until then, i never noticed all the sweat rolling off my body while
<DIV></DIV>>driving around Alabama and the southeast. just kinda accepted it as
<DIV></DIV>>"normal" ... i'd never had ANY car with air conditioning before. well,
<DIV></DIV>>let me tell you ... one test drive in an air conditioned 1986 white
<DIV></DIV>>bus, and i was hooked!!! :) yeah, i bought it.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>so i've been driving vw buses for 30 years, and vanagons for 21 of
<DIV></DIV>>those years. just seems kinda natural. :)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>what do i like about them? i like the way they FEEL. to me, it's a
<DIV></DIV>>good feeling ... sitting up high with great visibility; sitting inside
<DIV></DIV>>with all that room behind me; being able to walk from the front seats
<DIV></DIV>>to the back seats (assuming the bus is stopped!) ... i don't get that
<DIV></DIV>>feeling in any other car. and yes, i've had other cars during the 30
<DIV></DIV>>years ... porsche, mercedes, honda. tried out some toyotas, chrysler,
<DIV></DIV>>chevrolet (never again!), and ford. nothing is quite the same. so i
<DIV></DIV>>stick with what i like ... Vanagons. :)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>it may not be cool, in this part of the country, and there may not be
<DIV></DIV>>many (any!) others around here (i own 3/5ths of all the vanagons in
<DIV></DIV>>this town ... there are only five of us), but it's what i like. and
<DIV></DIV>>i'd rather spend my time and money on what i like, than to spend it on
<DIV></DIV>>something someone else likes ...
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>like the poem says ...
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Believe It ... or Don't Department
<DIV></DIV>>Willy "Bill the Bard" Shakesbeer drove a vw bus!
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> Sonnets xxix
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> When, in this race of Fortune and men's lies,
<DIV></DIV>> I often sit alone and contemplate ...
<DIV></DIV>> Where might I be, had I been much more wise
<DIV></DIV>> In choice of cars with which to link my fate?
<DIV></DIV>> What might I drive to work, to play, to cope
<DIV></DIV>> In rageous traffic, more than some can bear,
<DIV></DIV>> Were I to let someone decree my scope
<DIV></DIV>> In what to buy, to say, or clothes to wear?
<DIV></DIV>> How more in profit might my time be spent
<DIV></DIV>> Than nursemaid to some broken old auto?
<DIV></DIV>> A smile replaces brow with troubles bent
<DIV></DIV>> As to the wheel I climb and off I go ...
<DIV></DIV>> And though my drives through rolling country end,
<DIV></DIV>> I love this bus, this one that makes me grin.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>:)
<DIV></DIV>>unca joel
<DIV></DIV>>1987 Vanagon Camper GL, 180,000miles
<DIV></DIV>>1988 Vanagon GL, 145,000 miles
<DIV></DIV>>1991 Vanagon Carat, 123,000 miles
<DIV></DIV>>1984 John Deere SX-95 lawn mower (currently not working). :(
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