Everyone knows that distinctive smell of "old Volkswagen". I remember asking about it as a kid, riding in my father's 76 Beetle, and him explaining that it's the horsehair padding in the seats. Later he showed me it, visible on the back of the rear seat backrest. When I first bought my '90 Vanagon, it had the same smell, which I found surprising given the foam padding in the seats. Where does the smell come from? Today I had to remove the rear heater and cap off the hoses (the usual leaking rear core). The carpet and underpadding were soaked with coolant, so I tossed the carpet (it was trashed anyway) and pulled up the mulched and formed foam pad to hose it off. Upon closer inspection in the sunlight, I saw this: <http://i.imgur.com/cchmh.jpg> Is that what it looks like? Is that our old friend Horsehair mixed in with the crumbled recycled foam? Is THAT where the classic VW Smell is coming from? |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.