Date:         Sat, 15 Apr 1995 20:11:33 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <schwarze@io.nosc.mil>
Subject:      Re: Blasphemy, tires, and handling.

leo mulvihill writes:
> 
> > > Believe me I love air-cooled VW,s but a Vanagon cannot even coume close 
> > > to a Chrysler van

Depends how you want to compare them.  If you compare them for camping, the
VW wins hands down because of fuel economy, utility, and ground clearance.
If you are comparing them on the basis of being urban people-movers, the
Caravan *may* have a slight edge.  =)

Then again, when you compare a Chr*sler minivan against most cars, it gets
bad mileage, handles and accelerates like the dog that it is.  I would only
buy one if I had more than 3 kids, or if I had to drive the boss and 5
friends to lunch every day.  And as long as we are babbling about our
favorite cars (and since the Fords list is down) my Mustang with over
120,000 miles just ran 14.23 @ 99.88mph in the quarter mile at the track
today.  Yesssss!  Let's see a Chr*sler minivan match that!

If you have $44,000 I saw the *ultimate* camping vehicle at an RV show last
weekend.  Interestingly, it is made by Sportsmobile, who started out in
1961 making camper conversions for (you guessed it!) the 1961 VW Van.
These days, they are converting Ford vans.  Man oh man, are these things
AWESOME!  Four Wheel drive with aluminum wheels and big (33"?) tires
gives it enough ground clearance to drive a Yugo under.  It has a huge
chrome bumper with a built in winch, and a full-length pop top (also
available with permanent fiberglass tops).  Inside veeeery classy.  All
amenities, including built in color TV, CB radio, CD player, etc.  Of
course, they also have a 3-way fridge, sink, stove, and microwave.  The
little dinette in the back is kewl, and a little cubbyhole next to the
table hides 4 champagne glasses!  Nice touch, I thought.  Anyway, I can
supply the address and phone # of the company if anyone wants info.  They
are in Huntington, Indiana, Austin, Texas, and Clovis, Calif.

-David

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David Schwarze                  '73 VW Safare Custom Camper (Da Boat)
SAIC Comsystems                 '73 Capri GT 2800 (Da Beast)
San Diego, California           '87 Mustang Lx 5.0 (Da Bruiser?  Soon...)
schwarze@nosc.mil                http://papaya.nosc.mil/~schwarze
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