Date:         Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:30:44 -0600
Reply-To:     Stephen Edwards <welfarewrkr@IGC.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Edwards <welfarewrkr@IGC.ORG>
Subject:      Re: Are Vanagons pretty?
In-Reply-To:  <201002281048.1nLLnB2OR3Nl3pw0@timothy.mail.atl.earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

I think that what sets VW design apart is clean lines in which "form
follows function". So I'd say, not "pretty" but satisfying in a
different way.

I understand that in Germany it is normal for people to save up for
years, then go out and buy a car - not on credit but for cash.
Needless to say, this means that once they buy it they expect it to
last.

I'm sure that's why the biggest German automaker didn't do the annual
style changes that were expected of US auto makers.  Annual style
changes were a marketing ploy for a consumer market driven by
"keeping up with the Joneses".  These changes had nothing to do with
function, and the need to change the style annually forced both US
manufacturers and to a lesser degree their Japanese counterparts (who
were aiming for the US market and were mostly part-owned by US
companies) to create twiddly, functionally unnecessary exterior
design features year after year just so your neighbors could tell
that you had bought the latest model.

Long story short - VW and Porsche could create durable classics
because they were subject mainly to engineering pressures (making the
vehicle last) rather than marketing issues that had nothing to do
with the vehicle's ability to get you economically from A to B.

Of course they also saved a load of money by avoiding the annual re-
tooling that annual style changes required... and this conservatism
apparently extended into ENGINE design which is why my Vanagon
doesn't have a German engine any more... but that's another story!

Steve Edwards, 91 GL Vanaru (my 6th VW van in 29 years).