Date:         Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:41:04 -0800
Reply-To:     Nathaniel Poole <npoole@TELUS.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Nathaniel Poole <npoole@TELUS.NET>
Subject:      Re: More? New? Better? nah! (editorial content)
In-Reply-To:  <BAY105-F61CA923070ABC5A1014E0A3CF0@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"

The thing is you canıt blame VW, you can only blame the buying public. The
price of economic success. Remember what SUV stands for? And yet There
really is little utility in these things. They are just big and flashy and
expensive and so function as social icons for the middle class.
Vanagons are utility vehicles in every sense of the world, and society has
moved far beyond utility when folks use Hummers as daily drivers. The only
way for automotive economics to work is if they keep offering something new
into the marketplace; doesnıt matter if they already have something good,
you have to make people want something bigger, flashier, more expensive or
whatever to keep them buying. Which is why VW kept adding more and more
stuff to the Vanagon through the 90s. But evolving an old design just
doesnıt cut it for very long, especially in the huge increase in wealth of
the latter part of the 20th century. Which is why the beetle died the death
that it did, after such a long run. It couldnıt keep up with the frenzied
demand for the new without becoming completely different. Enter the Rabbit.
Today, few would pay the price they would want for a new camper Vanagon.
Someone mentioned competition by full-time RVs, and I think thatıs right.
Remember the seventies when camper vans were all the rage (shagginı wagons)?
With the fancy airbrushed murals and mag wheels and bubble windows? In those
days you could buy a rig like the Vanagon or a domestic camper van for a
reasonable price; today they are out of this world for what you get, and
people want (and can afford) much larger dedicated RVs that sit in the
driveway for 50 weeks of the year.
Right now on Vancouverıs Craigslist a guy is trying to unload a huge,
gorgeous Ford 150 Econoline camper on propane fuel, and he canıt seem to
give it away. The market for something even smaller like the Vanagon is
almost nil. If VW thought they could sell it they could and would build it.


Nathaniel

On 12/20/06 10:16 AM, "dan kapeller" <dkapeller@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Don,
> 
> I'm guessing that the reason this list is so active and full of die-hard
> vanagon fans is because there is NO vehicle on the planet that does what our
> vans do.  We shopped for a new car for over two years and found nothing even
> close to the Vanagon.  Here's a short and incomplete list:
> 
> 1. it's a rolling living room.  My family likes to move around while on long
> trips.  My wife is 5'1" and can almost walk around standing up straight.  This
> was really handy when our kids were small and need constant attention.  Maybe
> my family suffers mild claustrophobia (sp?) but I get nervous when I'm trapped
> into a modern vehicle that doesn't allow you to get up and stroll around
> inside now and then.
> 
> 2. it's a rolling locker room.  We like to X-country ski, and mountain bike.
> We throw all our stuff into the van, and drive to the mountains.  Once there,
> we all "suit-up" in the van (we have removed the middle bench).  Four people,
> all putting on ski boots, gaiters, coats, mittens, all inside the van.   In
> the summer, we return from the mountain bike trails and pile into the vanagon
> and change back into regular clothes without flashing our private parts to
> other people. Try that in a 4Runner.  And... all of our skis and poles fit
> nicely inside!  (We pull a trailer with our mountain bikes)
> 
> 3. it's a Pick-up truck.  We completed a major remodel and basement finishing
> project that lasted 3 years.  During that time we hauled over 50 sheets of
> drywall, 20 sheets of plywood, hundreds of 2x4's all inside our GL.  There is
> no better feeling than pulling up to the loading zone at the local lumber yard
> and watching everyone else try to strap a sheet of drywall into the silly back
> of a late model pick-up truck, or fit it inside a SUV.  It just doesn't work.
> With the middle bench in the GL and the headrests removed, you can stack 4x8
> sheet goods all day long.
> 
> 4. it's a camper.  Enough said.  However, even our GL has the rear bench that
> folds into a queen sized bed.  My wife and I prefer it to most hotel
> matresses.  It's huge and oh, so comfy.
> 
> 5. it's the most comfortable vehicle that I've ever driven!  As we test drove
> everything on the planet, we often crawled out of the Honda, Subaru or
> whatever and said, "Crappy seats!, lousy position for the driver!"  My
> shortish wife found that every other car made her feel like she couldn't see
> the road as well as in the Vanagon.  She didn't feel like she could safely
> drive an Outback.  Other cars just don't feel the same.
> 
> Sorry for the long rant, but your post hit a nerve with me because just last
> week, we purchased a 4Runner.  We have never been so disappointed in a
> purchase.  Yes it's new, and dependable, and servicable, and it has power.
> But, we can't haul plywood inside, we can't change clothes, we can't sleep
> inside, we can't change seats in flight, and our skis must go on a rack on
> top.  So, we paid through the nose for a vehicle that we don't really "love
> and cherish".  Isn't that sad?
> 
> So, why did we buy a 4Runner?  Mainly because VW quit making vans!  We needed
> a dependable vehicle with less than 150,000 miles on it.  I love my Vanagon
> and I will keep it as long as I can.  But with children, getting stranded in
> Smalltown, USA and trying to find service or parts gets frustrating.   I still
> believe that most of our Vanagons problems stem from the age and miles, and
> not from poor design.
> 
> IF Volkswagon made vanagons today, We'd be driving a 2007 Vanagon right now
> and grinning from ear to ear!  Could you imagine it???? Vanagon body, VR6
> engine IN THE BACK!, 16" wheels, airbags, ABS.  I'd be in heaven!!!  OK,
> enough dreaming.  It is Christmas, so I just made my wish.
> 
> Happy Holidays and safe travel to all the list members.  Thanks for all the
> support this year.  Our GL is running great, thanks to the combined wisdom and
> Karma that this list provides.
> 
> Dan Kapeller
> 
> '90 GL
> 
> '93 Weekender
> 
>  
> 
>> 
>> From:  Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
>> Reply-To:  Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
>> To:  vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject:  More? New? Better? nah! (editorial content)
>> Date:  Wed, 20 Dec 2006 07:05:08 -0800
>> I've recently returned to VW ownership, first with an old Beetle  ('72) and
>> now an older Vanagon.  Makes me wonder about 'stuff'.
>>       When driving either of my 'new' vehicles I often look around at the
>> other stuff on the road and think things like...'Hey, lookit that Honda
>> Element, is it ten times the vehicle that my $3k vanagon is?"  Or.."how about
>> that_____,(mmm, I can't even think of a car that compares to a Beetle...but)
>> do I want one of those?  Could I fix that in the middle of Nevada with a
>> screwdriver and some pliers?"
>>      After 33 years of Automotive Evolution, I figure my Vw Vanagon is right
>> up there with the best new stuff available.  Is that just me?
>> 
>>     I watched a lady get into her Chrysler mini-van the other evening.  She
>> walked up thumbing her key fob till the lights blinked and the horn
>> beeped...Up went the rear door, automatically..(Good thing my van wasn't
>> parked behind her, or my pickup with the light bar..)  She stuck her kid into
>> the toddler seat, after dis abling the automatic seat belt function, then
>> went round and got in, again thumbing the key fob...More blinking lights and
>> horn  then the door slid shut, automatically and down the hatch came,
>> automatically.Seat belts wrapped her up and away she went.   Wonder how all
>> those Gizmos will be working in 35 years?  The doors didn't even have
>> handles...Wonder if that POS was worth $20k+ to her?..musta been..
>>    Dunno, ya gotta wonder about a culture that finds people buying Hummers
>> for daily drivers and who find pushing a key fob more desirable than pushing
>> a mechanical door latch...
>>     Don Hanson
>> 
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