This should convince Wannagons that life is an adventure...;^-) Posted without permission from 7/22/98 Detroit News AUTOS section: Vanagon adds excitement - and headaches- to driving Dear Tom and Ray: I am having a genuine, bona fide mid-life crisis. I want to ditch a perfectly good, reliable 1985 Honda Accord hatchback and get a used, but not very old, Volkswagen Vanagon. Why? Because I'm sick of driving short cars in which everyone else's halogen lights shine directly into my eyes. Because I like sitting up straight instead of having my legs and lower back in stupid extended positions while driving. I want something I can use for road trips, something that will seat my friends, and hold the plants I pick up when I stop suddenly at a nursery. I also want to be able to keep my clothes in it and sleep in it when I go to a week-long camp and it rains! Even if I am crazy, what vintage of Vanagon is most reliable? Help me either not do something stupid, or, if I'm going to be stupid, help me do it in style, guys. Thanks. - Margie Tom: We'll help you do it in style, Margie! Ray: I completely understand why you want to do this. In "perfecting" the automobile, Honda and Toyota have essentially turned cars into appliances. That's great for reliability. But do you ever get excited about your toaster oven? Does your crock pot make you smile? Of course not. Your Honda is reliable and trustworthy, but it's boring. Tom: The Vanagon is just the opposite. Getting places will be an adventure in the Vanagon, Margie. Since you'll never know whether you're going to make it, you'll feel a thrill every time you do. While driving down near the ground with lights in your eyes in the Honda is tedious, wait until you get blown around in a windstorm way up in that Vanagon. It's the next best thing to hang gliding! Ray: I think this is a great move, Margie. After all, what is life, if not an adventure? I'd go with the latest model Vanagon you can afford. I think Volkswagen made it up until about 1991. Then they redesigned it as a front-wheel-drive van and renamed it the Eurovan. Tom: Either one will completely wipe out the memory of this boring Honda, Margie. But make sure your AAA membership is paid up before you pull the trigger, OK? Copyright © 1998, The Detroit News
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