Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Sun, 17 Jun 2001 17:27:37 -0700
Reply-To:     Leon Korkin <korkwood@SURFREE.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Leon Korkin <korkwood@SURFREE.COM>
Subject:      Re: ?? SA Engine Conversion ??
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-2

Chris Mills wrote:

> All models that we don't get here in NA... > > After spending 3 years in Italy I think the US car market must be very > different than anywhere else with folks much more casual about what they > buy since apparently lots ok folks don't seem to expect to keep their car > past the end of their payments. > > Their are some wonderful cars out there that wouldn't have a chance here > (why???) - Opel sporty cars made from the same shell as the fatally boring > Cavaliers here, and some wonderful utility vehicles (4 door small trucks) > that we have only recently begun seeing on the roads here.

There is very little chance Opel cars will be sold in US, GM will not let it happen. Why? I have no idea. The only Opel that came here was rebadged and slightly reskinned Opel Vectra disguised as Cadillac(little one). I drove Opel Astra 1.6l in Europe on autobahns at 110mph ave. and it felt great. Very nice small car. It would sell very well here .

> All I can figure is that the car companies here know they can make more > money on the big carsthan the little ones and if they start selling (or > the public starts learning how wonderful the) clever little cars are (and > their small utilitarian cousins) the market demand will change and their > profits will fall.

There is huge number of small practical economical cars there. One of the important issues in Europe is parking and it is a lot easier to park smaller car plus gas sells at $4 a gallon and price varies very little. There is also huge market for conversions and several companies including Westfalia make very nice conversions of about any van available. Ford makes very good looking van called Transit that makes exellent camping vehicle

> > > Anyone able to elaborate on the topic?

In Europe people that can afford cars like BMW, Mersedes, Audi etc drive them not because of status simbols they are here in US but because they cruise autobahns all day long at 120mph. No SUVs there, no left lane cruising, no highway patrol etc. Europeans know how to drive and "road rage" so common here is non-existant there. Most people obey the rules without "enforcement" so rampant here. Big income for cities...That's why there are cops all over riding nice looking expensive BMW bikes... Leon 85 Subwagen Westy

> > > Enjoying the conversation. > > At 08:31 PM 6/16/01 +1200, you wrote: > > >By the way, the story of the Eurovan that Ari Ollikainen put us onto was > > >interesting. The T2 was introduced in 1967 and had its best year in 1971 > > >just four years later. After that it was downhill all the way to > > >1978. Every year a successful car is produced and remains on the road > > >makes it harder to sell the same car in the future. In that regard the > > >Vanagon was its own worst enemy just as the Beetle was its own. I'd like > > >to see similar stats for the Vanagon and the Eurovan. You can bet that VW > > >has been tracking such stats closely. > > > >Funny, the current Japanese van bodies (all forward-control/cabover > >designs) were all introduced in 1989 and are still selling like hotcakes. > >The only competition are the Frod Trans*it, very rare Fiat and Renault, > >"Mercedes" ?MB100 and VW T4 Transporter (+Eurovan), none of which are any > >danger saleswise or otherwise to the Nipponese, cheap as the Frod is. The > >only real competition is the Hyundai H100, which is a Korean-made > >current-model Mitsubishi Delica... > > > >My feeling is that VW should have kept the rear-engine/IRS layout (or done > >a midengine/IRS job) for the T4, but used a NEW DOHC engine design with a > >flat full-length floor, with forward-control cab. Instead they screwed the > >pooch and brought out a characeterless and totally anonymous poor-handling > >FWD lump. > > > >On another note, does "cabover" refer to the cab being over the engine or > >the front wheels? > > > > > >Andrew Grebneff > >165 Evans St, Dunedin, New Zealand > >ph 64 (3) 473-8863 > >fax 64 (3) 479-7527 > ><andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz> > >www.goingplatinum.com/member/vw1 > >www.highyieldcrusaders.ws/ref.html?ref=vw > >www.aciimoney.com/index.shtml?vw1 > >VW & Toyota vans, Toyota diesels and Macintoshes rule > > Chris in Tennessee > > '78 VW Westy > '65 Beetle (type IV powered) > '99 CR-V > '81 Honda CB900 Custom (FOR SALE) > > ICQ# 5544649


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