Date:         Sat, 16 Feb 2013 15:30:44 -0800
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Friday Philosophy: On Community
In-Reply-To:  <20130216203334.OCU0A.299902.imail@eastrmwml207>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

>
> I just want a camper like I have now but reliable enough for me and the
> wife to trust.  I'm getting too old to crawl around in the mud and gravel
> in order to beat on the starter with a club, or to spend a week in some out
> of the way little town while I wait for a part or get something jury
> rigged.  And of course, we still want to poke into places where we are
> unlikely to see another vehicle for a few days (and that is getting harder
> and harder to do anyway, in the lower 48).  I'd like to believe we'll get
> back when we do that.
>
> We'll see.
>


I went through the VW Van stage of my life years ago...and I loved them
back then.   I was a happy hippie, with my 36hp South African  panel van,
had a few more though the years, too.   But I simply got sick of working on
the fu**ing things all the time, and I got sick planning on a 45mph average
for all my travels.
    So I moved on to other various camping rigs...panel trucks, American
vans, pickups with Alaskan campers...all were 'better' for me than the old
VW splitties or loafs....They were a lot more dependable and also got me
across the deserts and the Baja in a reasonable time....
    But, when fuel went up drastically about 10yrs ago in the US, I again
thought about the VW vans and how they moved lots of 'stuff' for little
fuel...thinking about 'going back' to a VW Van, an air cooled....that was
not even considered but I began looking into Vanagons among other
alternative vehicles........The Vanagons I read about, they got the same
rap as old time VW vans...."Pretty slow, undependable as hell, work on em
all the time, etc etc"...so I almost ruled them right out, since Subaru
converted ones were costing a ton of money (in my economic state) and stock
ones have a reputation as undependable dogs....   Then my almost local
Craigs List came up with an inline conversion van, cheap...I took a chance
and got it as mainly a disposable work vehicle....but it turned into my
full time driver and my camp vehicle of choice...My  Ford turbo diesel with
the Alaskan hasn't been moved now in 3yrs except to tow my S.O. home when
she got stuck on the freeway with her horses in the trailer......

   So for me, the crawling under to fix crap, the breaking down or
rebuilding motors all the time...that was a total deal breaker when it
comes to Vanagons.....but with a good transplant of a better motor, they
seem to work just fine...and they are pretty  economical for what they
are.....And they are almost unique when it comes to size and
equipment....My 84 has power nothing, no pop top but the rest of the Westie
interior and it suits me to a "T"...Just today I was working at a townhouse
in a development with my bikes hanging on the back hatch and my tools in
the slider...When it came time to go home I just whipped a u turn right in
the single residential street and drove away....Going into tight camp spots
or through low hanging forest, driving into most normal garages....no
problemo.   Parallel parking is a breeze, it can go 75mph uphill and I get
23mpg as an average (with my  5sp)

  Yeah, I gotta roll the windows up with my hand and roll forward or back a
little to make steering easier and I don't have AC to break or lose it's
charge (or sometimes even keep me cool)...and no cruise control or
automatic shifting...But I didn't have to pay extra to leave all that stuff
off...I actually found a mostly manual van...

   I think as long as our DOT regulations allow us to drive these fine old
vehicles, they are very worth spending some money on to re-vise them into
dependable rides...

   Don Hanson