Date:         Thu, 23 Apr 1998 23:37:02 -0700
Reply-To:     "Steven X. Schwenk" <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Steven X. Schwenk" <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
Subject:      Re: Advertising & the Demise of the Westy, longish,
              lite VW bashing
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

VW does do selective advertising.  San Francisco is plastered with VW
ads/billboards.  They are everywhere.  Of course, they're all for the
new beetle...and this historically is VW country.  There are lots of VWs
on the road here...new ... ancient and in between, bugs, busses,
vanagons, EV westies all over, lots of new passats, jettas,
cabriolets...a few things...and some wild things, too...

The neatest new vehicle thing I've seen around Haight street and during
concerts in Golden Gate Park is where you take a vw bus....remove the
chasis...cut the bottom portion of the body off up to floor level, or
higher...then weld the bus onto the top of an old school bus...or better
yet...an old greyhound.  This ads a really nice touch...I've seen quite
a variety...from passenger vans (providing abservation-deck seating for
9)...to westys...(providing a penthouse with a bedroom, kitchen,
observation seats and a guest bedroom (when parked)).  I saw a fairly
large older blue bus yesterday near the Castro with a regular vw bus
(early 70s') welded on toward the front and a westy welded on toward the
back of the roof.  An amazing creation.  If only I had known about this
when I was 16.  The neatest one I saw, though, was parked down by ocean
beach with a bunch of others such creations (vehicle art is big out
here) during the 30th anniversary celebration of the summer of
love...instead of a vw bus, the guy JB-welded or epoxied the deck of a
25 foot boat to the roof of his bus...with some bow rising out over the
front...it had a small cabin/flying deck and the deck had rails so you
could walk out there while in transit...geeezzzz.  and to think that way
back whenever I thought bolting a window from a b-52 bomber onto the
roof of my '67 volvo station wagon/camper was cool.

steve
san francisco


Modl6971 wrote:

> Just wanted everyone to know (that's on this mailing list), that I
> forwarded
> this email to the head of VW sales and advertizing (I happened to know
> one
> important person sorry I can't use any names) but at least the right
> VW
> personel is hearing VW enthusists oppinions.  Michael.
>
> << VW hardly caters to its prospective BUYERS, much less vintage
> owners. So I
>  wonder:  Does anyone know why VW _*barely*_ advertises in the US?
> This
>  mystifies me. They have fantastic vehicles, but don't bother TELLING
> folks
>  about them.>>