Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 19:26:02 +0200
Reply-To: James Cohen <jscohen@SPRYNET.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: James Cohen <jscohen@SPRYNET.COM>
Subject: South Africa report #1
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi Vanatics,
[First of all, if you have comments for me, DO NOT SEND THEM TO THIS
ADDRESS, I will not be checking it in the next few days, plus I'm having
problems with this computer and my sprynet account. Send all email to me at:
jscohen@aol.com]
I'm here in SA again, truly Vanagon heaven. I absolutely drool whenever I
see these penultimate Vanagons. If they sold them fitted like this in the
US, everyone would've forgotten all about Astro vans. These Vanagon are
beautiful with their larger side windows, 15" alloy wheels, Quad lights,
and Golf or Audi engines. Too damn bad they're RHD!!!
There are just a few new items to mention since my last trip.
1: The Eurovans are coming. Due to be on sale in Dec, and it's called the
Carravelle VR6 (yep, I guess they realized the 5 cyl was not the ticket).
It comes with 15" wheels, ABS...the works.
However, this seems to be marketed as an upscale status vehicle, like a
Range Rover. It's imported from Germany which will put it out of price
range for 90% of the people who could afford a Vanagon. It is billed as a
luxury car. I Have several brochures, and I'll scan them when I get home.
2: The Sharan is coming too. The Sharan is, well, a luxury mini-minivan I
guess. It's smaller than a Euro, but has two rows of back seats. I saw
these in Europe last summer and was puzzled at what niche they were
supposed to fill.
The brochure reads this way:
"Fully imported, the sleek and versatile new VW Sharan is first class
travel in a 5-star setting. An urban escape, a panoramic view, a week at
the health farm. (Every feature is designed for the ultimate in luxury,
comfort and relaxation)." Ummm, okay, yet another luxury mini-van?
It has a choice of engines: 1.8 Turbo and VR6. This is power overkill. I
guess VW is compensating for all the years of underpower in it's cars.
Naturally I'll scan this one too, but it's printed very lightly and the
specs may not come out.
3. 5 Speed Trans! I have new info. First, it ain't cheap here, about $2000!
But that's because it's IMPORTED! It's made in Austria and apparently can
be bought there for about half the price. 1 Grand for a 5 speed? That's a
deal. I have no other info yet. I hope to find out the name of the
factory. I would guess, however, it's the same one who made the Syncro.
4. I will probably NOT be able to get to any junkyards. :( The young lady
that I'm visiting here is getting sick of my VW obcession. (Hey, long after
she's just a fuzzy memory, I'll have VWs! My Bus/Van collection has seen
them come and go!)
5. I got a lot of requests for parts. I'll be able to bring some home, and
I'm looking into other means of shipment. I'll know better what kind of
pricing I'll have when I know what shipping is possible.
Here are some of the parts I can get:
Quad Grilles with lamps ($150 to 175 I think)
Audi engine-to-Vanagon bellhousing NEW (probably in the $150 range)
Audi engine carrier (under $100, I think).
Heavy duty springs (about $50 a piece or less)
Golf engine-to-vanagon bellhousing (don't know yet)
Anyone with requests email me and I'll see what I can do. At least I can
get info.
6. I'll probably out of email touch till Thurs, in less I can find an
internet cafe or something in Cape Town. But DO NOT EMAIL ME AT THIS
ADDRESS. Use my alternate:
jscohen@aol.com
That's all for now.
James
