Date:         Fri, 10 Nov 1995 13:26:03 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@megatest.com (William Abbott)
Subject:      Progress

	Oh come on, Steve, emissions control isn't consumer blackmail. I
visited LA in the early 70s. Way fewer cars, way fewer people, way WORSE
air. Guess why? So far, in 17 years of car ownership, I've had three
smog-related issues arrise: I needed a throttle positioner dashpot for
my 69 bus, my Rabbit's EGR valve failed at 203,000 miles and I recently
had some kind of hickup with the EGR on the Corrado. I fixed the first
two myself, and pretty trivial fixes too. If I'd had time I would
have handled the Corrado's problem too. I'd take FI over a carb any day-
less to clean, way fewer mysteries, simpler adjustments. I've never
actually gotten the hang of carbs, and about half the cars I've owned
had 'em.

	50s American cars had to be greased every 3-5000 miles. Thats
drive shafts and steering/front suspension, and if you don't do it,
stuff starts breaking. They were heavy cars, with drum brakes, no
seat belts, vague steering, shock and and tube tires that wore out
quickly, single circuit brakes, non-safety glass, dangerous interiors,
poorly laid out controls, lousy seats. The big chrome bumpers weren't
designed to do anything except look good. And the wierdest thing
of all, they're not very big inside. They're, frankly, cramped. And
don't forget they were designed to wear out in 3-5 years. 100,000 miles
working life was not considered economically practical for those cars
when they were new.

	Compare to a VW Beetle or Bus, and you've got half the wieght,
no worse maintenance, better visability, vastly better seats, better
handling. The 25 mpg a Beetle got was two to three times what a
big American sedan got. And a Beetle or Bus can go 100,000 miles 
without terminal spring-sag, without the interior falling apart,
without the styling becoming horribly dated. Yes, you needed a 
rebuilt motor at 60-75,000 miles, and the Detriot product would
still be running, with little actual motor maintenance, when
the body and interior were worn out.

	Now I love splities, but the T2 is a better bus in all respects.
The type IV motor was a revelation itself, and the Waterboxer made
the vanagon accelerate like a 914. From a couple trips with a friend,
I think the EV is even better. However, from the late 70s on, costs
for new busses have gone through the roof. I can't see how it makes
the price go up so much, but plushyness has gone up too. Certainly
crash safety is way better, and I think that accounts for a lot of the
cost. Smog stuff added some cost, but by itself it didn't double the
price of the busses. There's plenty of cheap ways to build a gutless
but smog-legal motor.

	With hindsight, its clear VW missed the boat with the wasserboxer
as compared to using the inline 4 from the Golf/Jetta/Scirocco. Oh well.
A good used Vanagon is still 10 times the car a Chrysler Voyager or
Chevy Astrovan ever could be. They also seem to have lost the knack of
making inexpensive cars. My Golf II and my brother and sister in law's
Vanagon were luxurious compared to 58 Beetle, 68 and 69 Busses and
the 77 Rabbit I can compare them to. The new Golf III seems less
fancy, if not as low-priced as I'd like. Eurovan prices are just silly,
but I'd argue that whereas the T1 was of about the same quality as
a Beetle, the EV is one notch better quality than the Golf/Jetta ///,
maybe more. 

	If there is an austere van market in this country, nobody is
selling a vehicle suited for it any more. Maybe the Concept 1 will
change that and we'll be able to buy a Concept 2 (T5!) I'd love it,
I'd buy one. They make 'em in Mexico and Brazil, for all intents
and purposes. Problem is, we're some kind of disenfrancised minority
in the market.


	I've realized that I'm spending a lot of time arguing recently,
and I'm afraid its because I can't be home working on my truck :(
I'll try to tone down the rants, concentrate on VW content and try
and get some wrench time this weekend. 

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	cheers!			|#######\   = \/ =   /#######|
	Bill Abbott		|########\  =\/\/=  /########|
	'70 single cab		|#########\  -__-  /#########|
	'93 Corrado		|##########\      /##########|
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