Date:         Fri, 08 Nov 1996 01:20:32 +0100
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Sue Booth <lonesomedog@mindspring.com>
Subject:      Mexican VW's

I was in Baja this past September and after seeing hundreds of 
newer beetles and lots of water cooled buses cruzin around the 
country side, I just had to check out the VW dealer in La Paz.  

They had one new beetle in the outdoor showroom and no buses 
on the lot, except for a couple in for service.  The new Mexican 
buses are basically the 1979 body with a radiator up front.  All trim 
is black including the bumpers.  I saw quite a few of these buses 
with a higher roof line.  The roof is stamped steel and the height 
is a little higher than a westy, so it's not quite a true hightop.  The 
9 passenger models have high open head rests on the back of the 
front seat.  Looks kinda strange from behind with all those 
headrests sticking up.  I didn't get a chance to look at a bus engine.

The beetle comes in four colors, red, white, black and metallic 
green.  All models come standard with a burgler alarm and have 
a 1.6 L fuel injected engine.  Upholstry is like the new golfs.  I sat 
in the car for a while trying not to drool all over the nice interior.  
I was pleasantly suprised that the fit and finish and quality was 
excellent.  It made a really sweet sound when the doors were 
shut.  

The best part was the price, because for a mere 45,000 pesos you 
could have one of these (I didn't get a price on the bus).  On that 
day, the exchange rate was about 7.8 pesos to the dollar, so the 
beetle was about $5,800 US.  So what if it doesn't meet all the 
safety requirement we have for new cars today.  Any car that's 
more than a couple years old doesn't meet current safety 
standards either.  No US car manufacturer could compete here 
with a new car as nice as these beetles in that kind of price range.

Kinda makes you wonder doesn't it.  

type2sue