In a message dated 8/15/98 4:06:33 PM, CarlMarin@AOL.COM writes: >I had a thought today as I drove by some poor slob's new EuroVan that it >would >be a masterstroke of genius for VW to bring back the Vanagon slightly restyled >perhaps and with the 2.0L inline four engine for the US market. Well, the SA version uses the Audi 4 & 5 cylinder, so the VW 4 cylinder would be um, wasted effort. However, I suspect that the reengineering required to get the Vanagon to current US specs would be prohibitively expensive. Vanagon's don't have 5mph bumpers (at least mine doesn't). Vanagon's don't have airbags (nor their sensors). Retrofitting these would, I beleive, be too expensive for VW to care. Also, let's take a look at those SA Vanagon's again. I did a computation a month or two ago (yah, the Rand has fallen since then, but the comparison is still valid). The top of the line Vanagon was around $32k US (if I remember correctly). Now, let's add in the airbag, and 5mph bumpers. I'd guestimate at $38k, maybe even $40k. |
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