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Date:         Thu, 2 Feb 2012 06:38:15 -0600
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: How to get the tumbler out of a lock mechanism?
Comments: To: BenT Syncro <syncro@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <29FF6B76-915B-4A48-9051-FCAFF41D339D@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

The reference was to the Ruff and the 930... nothing eclectic about Vanagons!

I had access to lots of bad cars as a kid. There is NASA here, and a military base, and at that time soldiers cold ship back anything they liked for free. So I could get a Simca, Renault etc for under a hundred (well under in some cases) where an Austin heal Sprite or MG was going to cost several times more. I loved the british cars and had lots of them, I never loved the French cars because they sucked worse than the british ones, and they were just trying to be little American sedans. They did not have the appeal, even, of British family cars (Morris Minor, etc.)

It took me a long time to figure it out (I did a frame-off restoration of an MGA in the early nineties that's still winning shows) but they suck. German cars don't, by and large, and Vanagons fit my needs, are easy to work on, and come with a great community to back them up. Though I had plenty of VWs (buses and bugs) it was a long time before it finally hit me that the German stuff was better made and better thought out. That MGA I restored: the year it was made, it was part of the third larges car company in the world. Just over ten years later, the marque was gone.

All that said, I wouldn't turn down an Aeronde if one came my way today and it was in good shape. That was one cool looking car.

The only thing worse than a British or French car (besides a Moskovitch or something) was a British/French car: the lotus Europa! In its original form before the twin cam was dropped in it, it had a Renault drive train in a British chassis. You had to get into the late eighties or early ninties before you could find them with more than 40K on the odometer.

Jim

On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 6:18 AM, BenT Syncro <syncro@gmail.com> wrote:

> What's so eclectic about Vanagons. Are perhaps on the wrong List, mate? > > So Simcas. French cars are an acquired taste IMHO. Just as I have no > craving for escargot, there has not been a great demand in my garage for > any French autos or trucks. There is a Citroën SM at my local Landrover > specialist. Talk about eclectic, this gig also has an MGA w/ an Austin > Healey engine. He also owns an Defender 110 with the annoying plate that > reads 'TRI*' or '3 stars' Can't remember exactly at the moment. Those > plates should be on a VW Tristar! Anyway, it's the sort of thing you get > from a sworn Frenchman, raised in the UK with a Spanish family name, > married to a Filipina, & blessed with a beautiful set of triplets. > > > BenT > > sent from my Bowler Tomcat > > On Feb 2, 2012, at 3:53 AM, James Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Yeah, I remember that! You sure have eclectic collection? Any Simca > Aerondes in there? : ) > > > > I guess I will try a cylinder swap with the new mechanical and a new > switch and aww what happens. > > > > Jim > > > > > > >


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