Date:         Wed, 31 Jul 2002 22:58:49 +0100
Reply-To:     Clive Smith <clive.harman-smith@NTLWORLD.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Clive Smith <clive.harman-smith@NTLWORLD.COM>
Subject:      Re: WBX bashing
Comments: To: Jfp w/2 wbxs <jfp7@HOTMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> I consider ANY Syncro to be a collectors car
Yes John, so do I. Driving a good one on normal roads gives you a kind of
tingle, and as I've been eulogozing in these pages recently about handling,
I'll just say that after miles of tight lanes and complex curves, splashing
though puddles and pulling up steep hills with skiddy corners, one suddenly
'wakes up' to the fact that you're driving a quite exceptional and rare
machine - one that does everything it was designed to do - and does it in
style. I think they look pretty cool too.
So to for those in the know, Syncro's are stylish and cool - and still 10
years after their initial demise, pretty functional.

From my formative years as an aero engineer at De Havillands (the most
beautiful of all aircraft - of course - no response please - off subject -
just fact!) I remember:

FFF - Form Follows Function
KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid
ALAS - Add Lightness and Simplify

I think the whole Transporter T25/T3 (call it what you like, even Vanagon if
you must) concept  is worthy of applause - its pretty well the optimum
layout provided a dead flat loading bay is not considered a criterion (which
frequently it has to be). The South Africans have realised this, by
continuing to produce them, and where a flat load bay is not important, they
have proved to be superb vehicles.

Just make every effort to keep that longitudinal C.G. as far forward as
possible - the spare under the front and forward battery boxes is a must in
my opinion.
I've never seen a 14 year year old vehicle with so little inherent corrosion
of the chassis and panels generally as on my Syncro, and it hasn't been
sitting around all that time - its done an average of 10,000 a year over
that period, its first few years being on a farm.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jfp w/2 wbxs" <jfp7@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 9:45 PM
Subject: Re: WBX bashing


> Hi Stan,
>
> A Multivan IS a camper made by Westfalia complete with pop-top but without
> the space eating sink & stove. I consider ANY Syncro to be a collectors
car
> and you're quite right about my doublecab automatic. I may be impatient
with
> the tales of woe replayed again & again on the list. When the "service
life"
> of a Vanagon is used up by the PO, the vehicle needs to be fully
> reconditioned or you end up traveling with spare parts and tools. The
> Vanagon owner who spends $200 when he should have spent $2,000 is likely
to
> spend some time on the side of the road. And if that happens is the
Vanagon
> really unreliable or is the owner just short-sighted?
>
> Regards,    John
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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