Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 23:26:55 -0700
Reply-To: Aristotle Sagan <killer_jupiter@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Aristotle Sagan <killer_jupiter@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Non-Family Hauler
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Nope, no way. The kids like the 84 van but ya know, no shoulder belts, no
rides. As soon as the kids were out of baby seats, the van became a extra.
Volkswagen proved that saving 30 bucks a vehicle and making a much unsafer
van... just don't cut it.
Fricking a-holes.
So some day I will finish making the 84 into a Westy type vehicle. It will
serve my SO and I for trips to the mountains and seashore. Until then, I
haul junk in it.
Do I sound bitter? Be prepared. Get yourself another real vehicle. I hope
you don't regret selling the Toyota. How the heck could you not have enough
room in it. We did fine with a Saab 9000.
tim in san jose
>From: joe trussell <vanagongl@HOTMAIL.COM>
>Reply-To: joe trussell <vanagongl@HOTMAIL.COM>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Family Hauler
>Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 02:02:42 +0000
>
>Hi List,
>
>I hate to add more fluff to the list, but I'm happy to be back and am
>sharing...
>
>I've had my second '85 GL for about four years now, and when my wife got
>pregnant eighteen months ago, we decided that the Vanagon was not going to
>cut it as our primary family hauler. It went into the garage and we bought
>a '94 4Runner (with part of the downpayment courtesy of selling my '66
>Westy
>project--never even got to drive it.) The 4Runner was a great truck, but
>we
>found out once we had our daughter that there was NO ROOM in it. My wife
>was driving it, I was driving a '93 Corolla, and the Vanagon sat. Then
>about six weeks ago we decided to sell the 4Runner--I can't believe the
>thing sold after being posted online for two days.
>
>To make a long story short, after the sale of the 4Runner we tried to
>justify to ourselves the expense of a Eurovan. It just didn't make sense
>to
>me to shell out a gigantic car payment and only get 18 MPG.
>
>So, much like the USS Missouri in the '80's, my '85 GL has been taken out
>of
>mothballs and is now back in fulltime service as the primary family hauler.
>A Vanagon that once was used primarily for following bands, camping, and
>tailgating now has two strollers, a pack-n-play, and a carseat in it. Our
>daughter loves riding in it; she loves the view.
>
>Nothing technically valuable here, just letting folks know that our Vanagon
>is once again worth its weight in gold, and in my opinion, all Vanagons are
>worth their weight in gold. Of course, after driving it for a few weeks I
>realize that it needs brakes, shocks, eventually a new engine, and a
>thousand other things, but I find myself a much happier person turning it
>into our family machine, and I also am refamliarizing myself with this list
>after re-signing up from an 18 month absence and thoroughly enjoying the
>posts, even if there are a thousand today.
>
>Here's a photo of my Vanagon in the parking lot at Arapahoe Basin after
>making it over 12000 ft. Loveland Pass a couple of weekends ago fully
>loaded! My daughter is checking things out, making sure I'm not leaking
>anything:
>
>http://photos.yahoo.com/joetrussell.
>
>Oh--Sidewinder Salvage in Commerce City has an '80 Sunroof van in their
>U-pull-it yard...Picked pretty clean, but somebody might find something
>useful on it. Also, there's an aircooled sunroof van (same color,
>coincidentally) at Colorado Salvage out on Ratcliff.
>
>It's great to be back on the list.
>
>Joe T.
>Denver, CO
>'85 GL
>
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