Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 15:40:14 -0400
Reply-To: "John S. Cronin" <john.cronin@OIT.GATECH.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "John S. Cronin" <john.cronin@OIT.GATECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Importing a Vanagon from South Africa etc.
In-Reply-To: "Reinhold, Matthias"
<Reinhold@SAGAFYI.COM> "Re: Importing a Vanagon from South Africa
etc." (Jul 16, 1:41pm)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
On Jul 16, 1:41pm, Reinhold, Matthias wrote:
> Subject: Re: Importing a Vanagon from South Africa etc.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John S. Cronin [mailto:john.cronin@oit.gatech.edu]
> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 1998 12:57
> To: Reinhold, Matthias; Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Importing a Vanagon from South Africa etc.
>
> On Jul 16, 12:40pm, Reinhold, Matthias wrote:
> >> Subject: Importing a Vanagon from South Africa etc.
> >> Has anybody ever looked into the possibility of importing a Vanagon
> from
> >> South Africa?
> >> What are the problems other than that the whole vehicle is
> 'mirrored'?
> >> What about a T2 Bus from Brasil?
>
> > Let's see - first off it needs emission controls, so a catalytic
> converter
> > and all the electronics needed to ensure it can meet the emissions
> >requirements.
> > This will probably cost a fair sum.
>
> European cars meet or exceed american emission requirements. I know
> nothing about South Africa or Brasil
That is all very nice, but since we are talking about importing a
Vanagon from South Africa or a T2 from Brazil, then what is important
is the difference between American (or European) required emissions,
and what one will get on a Vanagon from South Africa or a T-2 from
Brazil. That's why I inserted these comments here - I did make note
later that importing Eurovan variants from Europe would probably be
easier.
When did the Europeans tighten their emissions standards so much?
And I seriously doubt most of them are up to California standards
in any event.
> > Next, how about American (or European, or whatever) spec safety
> equipment:
> > glass, side impact beams, seat belts, air bags, etc.
>
> airbags are available in european eurovans, so are seat belts and safety
> glass
Fine, but what about Vanagons from South Africa or T2s from Brazil? That
is what you asked about first in the original message. Also, there are
sometimes differences in American and European specs, and bureaucrats
(ie government inspectors) tend to look at the letter of the law, not
the general gist of it.
> > There should be some crash testing done, if you
> > want to do more than one at a time (ie import for sale, not for
> personal
> > use).
>
> My interest is for personal use only. I am assuming (hoping) that some
> requirements have waivers available.
They used to if you were in the Army and posted overseas, but you could
only use the waiver once in your lifetime.
As someone noted, Bill Gates tried to import a Porsche 959 many years
ago and as far as I know it is STILL sitting in US Customs - they would
not allow it to be imported because there had never been a crash test
of a 959. Porsche only made 200 or so of them, and refused to crash
a $500,000 vehicle for a test.
> > I am sure there must be other issues as well - it is probably not
> > cost effective - if it was, somebody would probably be doing this
> > already.
>
> That's what I was wondering about: Has somebody done this?
If so, not too many people. Do you see any Brazilian T2s running
around? I don't...
By the time you got done, I am pretty sure you could buy a Schwimmwagen
or Hebmuller, or a Syncro 16 (which you would have to import) with the
same amount of money.
> > It is similar to the situation with the Mexican Beetles
> > (old style, not New Beetle). The only Mexican Beetles I know of that
> > are legally imported, you have to ship them a pan and they put new
> > components on it and ship it back (so it is really rebuilding an old
> > car, not getting a brand new one) and that costs about as much as a
> > New Beetle.
>
> How about shipping a pan to Brasil or South Africa?
Just how much are you willing to spend?
--
John S. Cronin phone: (404) 894-6164
Office of Information Technology Operations and Engineering 0715
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
Internet: john.cronin@oit.gatech.edu
