Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Tue, 25 May 2004 07:00:50 -0500
Reply-To:     Charles Hill <hilltech@NETINS.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Charles Hill <hilltech@NETINS.NET>
Subject:      Eurovan & Wolfsburg crest
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi Gang, just a little input on the old Wolfsburg crest. I lived in Wolfsburg from '64 to '68 and even then was a car nut. I remember reading about the problem with the crest that had come up which caused the company to remove it. It turns out the reason was vandalism, especially in the US. Teen age boys were popping the crest off, and collecting them. There was a bit of speculation about why anyone would do this, and the Germans really couldn't explain it --nothing has changed much there, I guess. The best guess was the "fox", and it was a fox, not a wolf, had a raised tail, signifying something sexual, prompting a response from the American teen age male, who just had to grab that thing. Owners got tired of the thing being ripped off the car, and having to replace it. There now, that may be more than you wanted to know, but it is the true story.

On another point. I have a 93 Eurovan poptop Westfalia "weekender", as well as having a collection of Vanagons and Westies. Comparing the two is difficult, because the two are so different. I like the space and layout of the Vanagon better by far, but the noise & comfort level of the Eurovan more. The Eurovan is a much nicer road cruiser. The 5 cylinder engine is very trouble free if properly cared for. The main problem this engine has is timing belt failure-lack of maintenance-leading to bent valves. Overall I feel the Eurovan is almost the equal to a Vanagon body with a Subaru engine, and yes, I have one, well two, of those, so I'm speaking from experience. Eurovans may rust even worse than Vanagons, by the way. I can't believe they didn't use galvanized sheet metal on this vehicle.

On another issue, Why did VW stop importing the Eurovan. It's got to be price and sales volume. They just build the Eurovan too well, and it ends up costing too much. If it were simpler, it would be cheaper, but it wouldn't be the same vehicle at all, & the people at VW are really building it for their own market which demands the quality. The Germans have more money to spend on their vehicles these days, and they like the nice touches you find on their cars. Here in the States, we don't quite need the volume of the Eurovan for most families, and our products are cheaper to buy. So VW doesn't compete pricewise too well in our market, and the volume stays low. The answer to this is beyond the scope of our list.

Chuck Hill


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