Date:         Thu, 5 Oct 95 11:22:09 bst
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Andy Erskine <a.c.erskine@lut.ac.uk>
Subject:      Re: Sharan


>Oh my. How are they going to turn this thing into a camper? Wish they gave
>the dimensions. Unless the perspective is throwing the dimensions off,
>judging by the size of the doors its more of a station wagon than a van. It
>looks like they've succumbed to traditional "minivan" marketing. Has anyone
>ever seen the "European delivery truck" version of this? (That's what they
>supposedly made the EV camper out of.) I did note that they were offering a
>diesel engine option as well as a 5 cyl and the VR6. Can anyone translate
>the German?

Autocar magazine gives the outside dimensions as 1727mm high, 4617mm long
and 2142mm wide. Its too small to be made into a camper, vertically anyway,
more like a car inside. The road tests even complain about a lack of rear
seat headroom (875mm and 1585mm interior width). In something that big?! It
IS a minivan - there is no commercial version and its not a replacement for
the Transporter (Eurovan). BTW, Autocar showed a picture of the replacement
for the Sharan (already? Its only been on sale a couple of months) and said
it shared the floorpan and running gear with the next version of the
Transporter. So its not the end of the Transporter yet. Another BTW, apart
from the F*RD version, there is a SEAT version as well. Although virtually
identical, the Seat is a couple of thousand pounds cheaper. Can you say
'blatant overpricing'?

Andy E.

A.C.Erskine@lut.ac.uk