Date: Sat, 8 Aug 1998 18:06:59 +0000
Reply-To: "Dr. Theodore B. Hoekman" <thoekman@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Dr. Theodore B. Hoekman" <thoekman@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA>
Organization: Faculty of Medicine, Memorial Univ. of Newf
Subject: Re: VW Argentina
>On 07 AUG 1998 Craig Jon Anderson craig@MARATHONTECHNOLOGIES.COM wrote:
>
> I'm new to the list and Vanagon-dom. Boy is that diesel transporter
sweet.
> Why can't we get those in the US?
> CJA
> At 10:20 PM 8/6/98 -0700, Barbara Sutton/Cris Torlasco wrote: >Check out
> ><http://www.volkswagen.com.ar/>http://www.volkswagen.com.ar/
> >for a sample of what VW is offering in Argentina nowadays. Many of them
> >are manufactured in the country. VW is one of the big guys there.(No
> >Vanagons, though). Notice the Transporter 1.9 Diesel.
> >Cris.
I just came back (mid June) from spending a month in Argentina. There are
lots of VWs there, many models vaguely like the ones we see or have seen in
North America, but several also very unique. I would confirm, that I did
NOT see a single Vanagon, lots of air-cooled "bread-loaf" vans but with
different configuration on the doors. Sliding doors were not always there,
often had side doors like the older split window microbus. Also quite a few
Eurovan vehicles. There are lot of competitive vans similar in size and
configuration to the EV, Mercedes all over the place many more than the
VWs, also Renault, and Peugot. The French vehicles are at least as
numerous as the VWs. There are still lots of old 2CVs scooting around.
Argentine drivers are in a class by themselves, hyper aggressive, with
tail-gating at a level unseen in NA. There is also a cavalier attitude to
stop signs and stop lights. On the other hand in Buenos Aires, where I
spent largest part of my time, and only rode in taxis or with natives, the
taxi drivers are very good drivers, in spite of the dangerous driving
practices. By the end of my stay I was no longer in continuous "white
knuckle" mode. However it was very common to see both VW and other vans
with their vulneralbe expanse of sheet metal front and rear, with quite
massive "bull bars" as a first defense for encroachment.
We had an interesting encounter in Mar del Plata, a city about 400km south
of Buenos Aires where we rented a car (Renault Twingo) for a few days.
This was a small enough city, and in the off season not nearly as frantic,
that we had the courage to actually "climb in the water with the sharks".
Anyway, I was doing pretty good, we had made a day trip down the coast to
another smaller resort city, and I was starting to feel pretty comfortable
(Actually ceasing to feel continually panic stricken!). We were heading
across town after establishing exactly where the train station was and
picking up our tickets for the trip to Buenos Aires which was the next day.
My wife Elena, an expatriate Argentine, was looking at the city map and
telling me where to turn and we came up to a complicated intersection. She
assumed from the map that the large diagonal boulevard we were crossing had
two-way corridors, and instructed me to turn right and head for the
boulevard. Instantly after turing I realized it was wrong way in one-way
street, since a motorcycle was coming toward me. I stopped and as he came
past me executed a u-turn to get pointed in the right direction. Breathed
a sigh of relief and continued for a few yards, after which the guy on the
motorcycle began to wave and shout something at me. Our initial reaction
was he was just explaining where we had to go, so I pulled over and rolled
the window down. By this time two other motorcyles appeared from nowhere,
all ridden by robust looking young men with leather jackets, and an
inconspicuous small Argentine flag emblem on the shoulder. The first guy
now was at the window saying very imperiously "Documenta!" Elena, began to
see the light and asked in Spanish if he was a policeman. He ignored the
query and again snapped "Documenta!". Elena quietly said in Spanish, "In
Canada policemen are not so rude!" You are from Canada? he then queried,
and became much more civil. By this time I had pulled out my Newfoundland
Drivers licence which I handed to him. There was then a conversation in
Spanish between the 3 cops, the first guy telling the others I didn't
understand anything they were saying, and discussing what they should do
with me. The consensus was they should let me go with warning. Since my
Spanish comprehension is pretty primitive, I had no idea of all the details
util Elena, explained to me afterward. Incidentally these are the police
that only a few years ago were "disappearing" people who were out of line.
Anyway a truly interesting and exciting trip, with lots of VW content too.
Cheers,
Ted Hoekman
Dr. Theodore B. Hoekman, Assoc. Prof. Medical Informatics
Faculty of Medicine
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF Canada A1B 3V6
http://cme.med.mun.ca (709)737-6703
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