]From vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu Mon Apr 18 08:38:25 1994 ]From: RGOLEN@umassd.edu Yes, yes; I know. I'm way behind on reading my mail. I'm on sabbatical, fer cryin' out loud. I only came into work today because they had a BBQ dinner and I NEVER miss out on free food. ]First off, I would like to thank Gerry Skerbitz, Steve Johnson and ]our "trivial expert" Joel Walker for a most stimulating and interesting ]discussion ( or was it an arguement...remember that old Monty Python ]sketch anyone?) on Vanagons, EVs and Chrysler shitboxes (can we all ]agree on the Chrysler shitbox designation?....after all they don't ]even have a ladder frame like a VW) this weekend. I would like to argue that Chrysler T-115s are NOT shitboxes at all. I have been quite impressed with several I've been close to the owners of. I think the real problem here is that they are sold as vans, when in fact they are not; they are tall station wagons. The Nissan Axxess, the old Toyota Tercel wagon, the late Honda Civic wagon, and the Colt Vista are other examples of this class. For some reason, this class goes entirely unrecognized, and most folks work hard at forcing the members of the class into other classes, calling the vehicles either vans or regular station wagons. Tall wagons are very useful vehicles that give better space utili- zation than traditional station wagons of the same basic size while still driving very much like a car. There are many people out there for whom a tall wagon is the right vehicle; I'm just not one of them. I recognize the difference between a van (whatever the size: mini, midi, maxi...) and a tall wagon. All the VW vans have been real vans, as are the American Astro, Safari, and Aerostar (now THERE's shitbox!), but all the VWs offer more engineering sophistication, which I happen to appreciate more than Joe Chevy (I don't like cart-sprung rear ends). The real problem is that the consumer's PERCEPTION of the EV is that it's VW's answer to the Chrysler "vans" and doesn't measure up. Of course it doesn't for someone who really wants a tall wagon. VW has an uphill battle convincing people to compare it to the real vans, where it's greater sophistication could win over at least those who can understand what that means. The lack of a V6 is about to be fixed (next year) for those who want to compare it to the V6 powered American vans. I LIKE the EV; I just like the layout of my Vanagon better. I just wish it had a better powerplant. I hope I didn't relight the flame war. I just felt another point of view would be useful. And the fact that I used to be an engineer in Chrysler's Power Train Group has no bearing on my coming to their defense. :-) -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Jerry Dunham, MSE (512)244-8598 Tandem Computers, Inc. dunham@mpd.tandem.com Integrity Systems Division dunham_jerry@tandem.com Computium Ergo Sum Foodium (I am programming therefore I am hungry)
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