>when i decided to buy a 80's vintage snow-country hauler, it was between >the 87-89 4wd toyota van and the syncro. they have similar boxy >styling, and fold-flat rear seats. i went vanagon because they're way >bigger and there are far more parts/mechanics/listgroups available. has >anyone had experience with both vans? i'm still fascinated by the >toyotas. The Toyota Liteace series are excellent machines, with a huge number of variants (and two entirely different body-styles available in the mid-to-late 80s) including cab-chassis, engines etc. As you say, they are quite small. They will do fine for most folk, but though I considered buying an upmarket turbodiesel, the size put me off. >I don't have much to disagree with regarding this assessment except that >the the VW Type 2 vehicles are not, and should not, be defined as >minivans. Minivans are built on car chassis and the Vanagon is clearly >built as a truck, albeit a small one. I think the only thing that the >Vanagon has in common with the Chrysler product is the word "van." With >that in mind, I think Chrysler can lay claim as the inventor of the >minivan. VW can lay claim to the inventor of the small truck, perhaps? >Were there other small trucks in 1950? There were lots, including "competitors" from Germany & Britain... though anyone who could contemplate buying one of those when the Type 2 was available needed their heads read... -- Andrew Grebneff Dunedin New Zealand Fossil preparator <andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz> Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut HUMANITY: THE ULTIMATE VON NEUMANN MACHINE DEMOCRACY: RULE BY THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR |
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