Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 14:35:48 +1000
Reply-To: Stephen Overmyer <s.overmyer@UWS.EDU.AU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Overmyer <s.overmyer@UWS.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: "Bus" or "Vanagon"
In-Reply-To: <199910141431.AAA16585@ob1.uws.EDU.AU>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Maybe I missed something but I'll still chime in (since it's Friday
here & a slow day at work) If I'm incorrect please set me straight...
At 10:33 14/10/99 -0400, you wrote:
>- here's my (very opinionated) .02....
>All VW Buses are Type 2's. the type 2 ended in '79.
Really? Hmmm,as far as I understood the Type2 was an official
designation up the the end of the Waterboxer's production run in '92
Then that new one with the engine in the wrong end was re-designated
simply as the T4 (Transporter 4th generation)
Yes the third generation of Tranporters '80 to'92 was also referred to
as the T3 (as in 3rd gen.Transporter) but still designated as a Type2 VW,
or so I believed.
>the classic type 2 rounded shaped split window Microbus was introduced in
>1950, continued until '67, and then the Baywindow Bus from '68-'79.
>1979 was the last year of the VW Bus, and the type 2 here in America.
Aircooled T3s with rear seats were badged as "Bus" here in Australia.
Similar watercooled ones got the Caravelle name for the first time.
>When VW changed the body significantly in 1980, ditching the rounded classic
>"Bus" style, it was given an official name, for the first time in it's life
>- it was called ...the "Vanagon". (unless you lived in europe, or SA)
No! only the US (& Canada perhaps?)got that cheesy name.To the rest of the
world it was still the Transporter as it always referred to by VW.
T4s are still Transporters too.Only the US needed to call them the Eurovan.
>gone were the classic rounded bus looks, the old school charm.. the "panache"
>:<)... replaced by a squarish angular modern looking van.
Ahh well nothing stays the same for ever does it? I like all Transporters
since they are the most useful multi-purpose vehicle ever built.The styling
isn't the most important issue to me.
>when someone says "VW Bus" a older classic styled Splittie or baywindow
>comes to mind. not a boxy modern looking Vanagon.
True but they're still busses and best of all,VWs.
>and if you dont believe me, try going up to a guy who drives a '79 down bus
>as a daily driver, and telling him your '91 Vanagon Carat with power windows
>and cruise control is a "Bus"....he might just set you straight :<)
If I was driving in my '76 Crew cab and someone said that to me I think
I could handle it without getting upset.Diffrent strokes for different
folks you know...
>chris (who subscribes to the "old school" vw philosophy, and who has alot of
>respect for those who drive Buses daily- especially here in the northeast
>during winter!)
Cheers,
Steve O
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
'92 Transporter WBX
'76 Crew Cab (my daily driver-do I have some cred. now?)
'68 Beetle Deluxe
