Repair-It

http://blog.caranddriver.com/vws-new-va ... tty-sweet/

I assume Ed has seen this.

The good news is that I'm sure it will be faithful to the original.....in reliability.

Too soon?

This picture made it clear that this is not a US-market vehicle.

What is that proboscis coming out of the dash?

The 'concept car' VW busses they come out with from time to time are pretty silly. One was based on the Golf/Jetta platform?! They all try to make a front engine van look like a rear engine vw bus, but they miss the point before they ever put pen to paper.

The original VW bus was used as a utility vehicle, offered in pickup truck and ambulance versions as well as the campmobile and transporter.. It didnt look the way that it did because it was trying to appeal to future yuppies, it looked that way because it was a simple useful design. They were also everywhere and dirt cheap enough for various youth cultures (stereotypically surfers or hippies) to adopt. The point is, I don't think VW busses were made popular by their first owners. They became 'cool' as second or third hand vehicles.

They have made the "Eurovan" or transporter in europe for quite a long time now. It is a work vehicle much like the original was, and it was offered in America in camper trim once in 1993 and again in the late 90's to early 2000's. But it was too expensive for the hippies and yuppies didn't buy enough of them for there to be a big used market here in America.. The few used ones that come available are quickly snapped up. Sadly, I dont think they will ever be common or cheap enough to become cool again.

The family of one of my friends from high school had a Eurovan back in the day. It was powered by a 109 HP 2.5L I5. I drove it once. I think it may be one of the slowest modern vehicles I have driven.

Bob wrote: I drove it once. I think it may be one of the slowest modern vehicles I have driven.

So they got that part right, at least!

I think the later one that I drove was a VR6 model.. It sure beat the heck out of the 2.0l ~120hp 80's saab I drove at the time...

Slower than a 22R Toyota pickup? Is that "modern?"

How about a Ford Club Wagon (15 passenger Econoline) with the 300cid I6? Calling that modern would be a stretch I suppose. The 300 is in that proud category of engines that adhere to the motto (that I may have just made up): "You can't kill it, but you'll want to.". Or a variation: "You can't kill it, but not for lack of trying.". The second one describes a certain 1991 Corolla...