Date:         Sun, 30 Mar 1997 11:26:57 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Derek Drew <drew@interport.net>
Subject:      Only 2,138 16" Syncros Were Made--letter from Germany

Thomas Niksch of the 16" Syncro club in Germany has written me a 3 page
letter. If I had a scanner, I would scan it in and share it with the list. 

According to that portion of the letter which regards production figures,
incredibly, it seems that only 2,138 16" syncros were produced out of a
total production run of 43,468.  Thus, it seems that 20 14" syncros were
sold for every 1 16" syncro.

Interestingly, Tom's figures show that more double cab syncros were sold
than single cab syncos. Also, about one third of syncros had the diesel
motor, while two thirds had the gasoline motor.

Here I quote the production figures by type of vehicle as Tom supplied them
to me in his letter.

--------------------------------------

Maybe you and your friends in the States are interested in syncro production
figures: (source: Steyr-Daimler-Puch GmbH -press-office- Graz, Austria).

T3 syncro total

LHD vs. RHD: 41,360 vs. 2,108

Transporter: 

       Pickup Truck (3 seats)           1,787
       Crew-Cab (5 seats)               6,849
       Van (3 seats)                       5,848
        Bus (7-9 seats)                  14,650
Caravelle: Bus (7-9 seats, de luxe) 14,334

16" package                               2,138

Figures for the Westfalia camper version are not available from SDP becauae
the conversion was the responsibility of VW's Hannover plant, not SDP.

I hope at least some of the points mentioned above are new to you, or at
least help to understand about the situation of 16" syncro owners. There is
not much qualified knowledge in the VAG dealer and service organization even
here--a three hour drive away from the manufacturing plant and a five hours
drive away from the center of (in-)competence in Wolfsburg. VAG-shops like
it very much to see the reverse side of a 16" syncro, driving off the yard
and heading towards the road to nowhere. The SP guys in Graz do their best
for us, because they all loved the syncro-bus like their baby and are still
proud of it. Ther support has a kind of private character, because SP were
only sub-contractors from the Wolfsburg point of view. Nevertheless, if
there is trouble or questions concerning the suspensions and 4WD parts, you
are more likely to obtain help from Graz than from WOB or Hannover.

......stuff skipped....

in the 16" reinforcements had to be interated into the bodywork sheet metal
structure. This means thicker or more rigid material for the b-column, the
shock absorber flanges, suspension hinges, etc. Gear-box and transmissions
may differ from the 14" in their ratio and details according to the engine
version, or options...
...a very important step was when the front suspension was changed from the
welded sheet-metal techniques to a steel-cast part.

(Derek comment: what the heck do you think Tom means by this?)

The half-axels are of a higher diameter (108 instead of 100mm). The filling
of the visco-drive differs in order to accelerate its traction control
function. 

(Derek comment: WOA!)
----------------------

The 16" heavy duty version was built in limited quantities because european
military customers interested in 4x4 light tructs, were preferring
diesel-dengines for logistical reasons and were not happy with the available
diesel engine. 

There were not many camping customers because the extra price for the 16"
package was $4,000, over and above the $5,600 extra for the syncro option. 

...

besides that vw marketing dept was already planning on the new T4 van and
meanwhile because of high manufacturing costs VW was losing $$ on every Type
II deliverd (Tom calls them T3) their intention was to let the T3 die as
fast as possible. It is clear, that there was especially one thing VW
managers do not want to have in these days, publicity for a T3 high tech 4WD
off road version attracting large amounts of attention was was so badly
needed for the new modell, which was not at first accepted by the majority
of customers. It is interesting to talk to motor journalists involved in off
road tests in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They describe the amazing
situation that they had to appear in Wolfsburg and --more or less--beg for
demonstration cars of the 16" syncro and not the other way around as usual.
____________________________________
Derek Drew                              New York, NY
drew@interport.net
'90 Syncro Westfalia... 
...seen off-road at http://www.anet-dfw.com/~ddes/vw/drew/index.html