This is a bit of a myth. VW designed and built 'Vanagons' for the whole world and the US market with 55 mph was only a small part of it. They built the same vehicles for many markets that had no such speed limits. Both before and after the brief time diesel vans were sold here they were selling them in Europe, with the same 48 hp and low gearing. They sold hundreds of thousands of them. The problem isn't that they designed them for us, but that they DIDN'T design them for us. That limited the market appeal here, where people want to just push down on the gas and go. VW learned that the hard way again when they came out with the Eurovan, here with a 2.5 5 cyl. Though we got the most powerful engine option of any market it was given such bad press here as underpowered that VW withdrew it until the 6 cyl version was ready. In other markets it was successfully sold with far less powerful 4 cyl engines and NA diesels. Mark > . Back in those > days we had the 55 mph speed limit and the early Vanagons especially the > Diesels were designed around that limit. For some those vehicles are fine > but the lack of power is probably the main reason these never really sold. > > > |
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