Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 11:42:55 -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: I am not alone
In-Reply-To: <025701cf2f29$eac3aa50$c04afef0$@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I would not argue with that logic. They have to be pretty smart to figure
out how to keep them running at this point!
Huntsville has had a military presence back to WWII, and has had NASA since
the mid fifties. Back when I was a kid, soldiers could ship a vehicle back
to the states at low/no cost. Parts places and mechanics for these cars
were everywhere. I was friends with the guy who came here to be Dr Von
Braun's Mercedes mechanic and he opened a shop that has survived him, and
he spawned a lot of other shops (he was the Fiat dealer for a time, and you
know what that means). I came of automotive age at a pretty interesting
time. Morgan 3 wheelers, 2-stroke SAABs, Alfa Romeo Giuliettas, all manner
of British T-series and on, Simca, Renault, Citroen, VW, Muscovich (sp?),
NSA all cheap if you kept your eyes open. A lot of them deserved to be
cheap, but some cars were fun bargains.
If you couldn't find it in town, JC Whitney had it. Look at an old Whitneys
catalog and you won't believe your eyes. I have an old one that I am going
to scan someday and put up a few pages. You will sob.
When I acquired Fifty Shades of Brown, it had a sticker in the window that
read
SAVE ME FROM WHAT I WANT
That is good advice for an old diesel Vanagon owner. I was obviously smart
enough to ignore it : )
Jim
On Fri, Feb 21, 2014 at 11:25 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>wrote:
> University towns have always been VW centers, especially for campers. The
> Seattle area has three VW dealers, one four blocks from the University of
> Washington campus. They all sold a lot of campers over the years, which is
> why we still have so many around.
>
>
>
> At least that seems to be true in the west, and Huntsville too
> apparently. Hmm, does that mean smart people own Vanagons?
>
>
>
> Stuart
>
>
>
> *From:* Jim Felder [mailto:jim.felder@gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Friday, February 21, 2014 9:09 AM
> *To:* Stuart MacMillan; Vanagon mailing list
> *Subject:* Re: I am not alone
>
>
>
> I'm in Huntsville (Madison, technically). No shortage of parts here,
> thanks to me! LOL
>
>
>
> Plus we have a really good shop here and another in a nearby town. I
> looked at a Carat automatic yesterday at my local shop. It was parked out
> front with a Birmingham tag. The shop owner said that they owner has the
> car towed to Huntsville for any kind of service more complicated than an
> oil change.
>
>
>
> About a week ago a friend with a westy stopped by for a part. There were
> my two in their respective driveways, and this one on the street. My
> neighbor, who just bought a red passat TDI wagon, stopped and rolled the
> window down and said "You better keep them apart! They're starting to
> multiply!!!"
>
>
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 21, 2014 at 10:24 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> I've heard that Huntsville has a pretty good quantity of Vanagon owners.
> Aerospace folks seem to like them. Drive up for a weekend to get your fix!
>
> Stuart
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> JRodgers
> Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014 10:10 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: I am not alone
>
> For the longest kind of time I have not seen any Vanagons around
> Birmingham, AL but my own. Never see any mention of Birmingham on the
> Vanagon List so have wondered if I am all alone in the big city.
>
> Well, today, just after parking my van and nearing the steps into the
> house, I hear this familiar engine sound, and almost simultaneously hear
> the unmistakable sound of a Vanagon horn down by the street. I turn and
> look toward the street in time to see TWO Tintop Vanagons with cargo
> carriers on top - one behind the other, one blue, one green, chugging up
> my hill. They waved, blew the horn again, but didn't stop. Wish they had.
>
> But it's nice to know I'm not alone in the big city.
>
> John
>
>
>
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