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r39o Samba Polizei
Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 9800 Location: San Diego
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:40 pm Post subject: Curmudgeon |
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It finally happened. I have over the years never met an unfriendly Westy owner until today. Sometimes I stop and talk to other Vanagon owners. I kinda know where lots of them are around town. They are hard to miss as you drive by. I have been driving past this particular one for about 4 years.
Today I made a quick stop at a house that had the garage door open and a (beat) Vanagon Westfalia camper in the driveway, sideways.
Long story short, this person would only answer in single syllable replies, so it seemed and I left after a minute of his terseness.
Waz up that? Anybody else ever had such an experience? _________________ "Use the SEARCH, Luke" But first visit the Vanagon FAQ!
1990 Multivan EJ 22, Rancho trans 0.82 4th, Small Car front AC, CLKs w/ 215/65-16, homemade big brakes 303mm, Konis, Recaros, etc....
Click to see my ads for Cup holders, Subaru clutch fix and CLK wheels (no wheels currently) |
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Ahwahnee Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2010 Posts: 9775 Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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Never had that experience.
He might as well get a Porsche. |
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PDXWesty Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2006 Posts: 6235 Location: Portland OR
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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Why are you bugging the guy at home? Maybe he was in the middle of Peoples Court and didn't want to talk to you... _________________ 89 Westy 2.1 Auto |
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Glenn Mr. 010
Joined: December 25, 2001 Posts: 76760 Location: Sneaking up behind you
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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Are we talking any westy or just vanagon westys? _________________ Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
Member #1009
#BlueSquare |
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DAIZEE Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2010 Posts: 7552 Location: Greater Toronto Area Ontario West Side
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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Some people are really shy and awkward or the person may have had his mind on something else or he was just not a good communicator. Some people just aren't communicative and who knows, maybe he stole it and was uncomfortable with your presence. Latter just kidding but lots of reasons not friendly. But I hope you don't find another such person. You know I'd talk to you! _________________ '09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold) |
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HeftySmurf Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2008 Posts: 879 Location: Washington, USA
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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to be honest I have met some smug vanagon owners since I moved to the PNW. I have met many more good than bad, but it is not universal that all VW owners are care free and friendly.
The bad ones I have run into have just seemed really arrogant, especially the ones I talk to when I am not around my van.
When I am in my Syncro it is a diffrent story _________________ -Lorenzo
90 GL w/ Bostig |
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pioneer1 Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2008 Posts: 2068 Location: Ontario Canada
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:35 pm Post subject: |
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Ahwahnee wrote: |
Never had that experience.
He might as well get a Porsche. |
_________________ "Always waiting for tomorrow ruined everything"
'85 Porsche 911 Targa
'76 Westfalia project |
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HeftySmurf Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2008 Posts: 879 Location: Washington, USA
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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LOL
Very true about Porsche guys...... _________________ -Lorenzo
90 GL w/ Bostig |
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purplepeopleeater Samba Member
Joined: July 23, 2005 Posts: 3117 Location: E. Washington
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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I've met quite a few that where kinda jackass to me, mainly its because I scaled the gated driveway and i'm asking if they'll sell the syncro on the side of the house.
but yeah, eurovans are dicks.
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thummmper Samba Member
Joined: November 25, 2009 Posts: 2015 Location: Meadow Valley, California Republic
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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all the time-- borrow a tin top and see what doesnt happen |
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JPrato Samba Member
Joined: December 15, 2006 Posts: 788 Location: Livonia, NY
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe the guy didn't eat his prunes that morning.
What ever.... My friend and I went to the Adirondack National car show last weekend in Lake George, NY. His company assembles the big block GM create motors which we saw a bunch of there. He would talk to the owners about there engines. A few were like the guy you ran into, but most liked to talk about their cars. One or two expressed some issues with getting the motor dialed in exactly to their liking. My friend took out his black berry and gave them the phone number of a GM engineer that could answer any question they may have. Told them to call him, he would love to talk to them.
So you never know who you are talking to and what may become of it, I'm sure those guys are just loving they have a direct line to the source now! _________________ Joe
87 Syncro Tin Top project
84 Westy, 2.5L Subaru power
06 Subaru 2.5 turbo in waiting
46 Cessna 140 |
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bosruten Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2011 Posts: 544
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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We went here this past weekend http://explorejasper.com/sights/miettehotsprings.htm . Had a great time, I strolled past a '95 eurovan(lots around here) and tried to strike up a conversation. He proceeded to lecture me on how ALL vehicles needed regular maintainance, not just VW's! and then blew me off! Oh well, we waved to them on the way out. _________________ '87 Syncro Weekender
Last edited by bosruten on Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Captain Pike Samba Member
Joined: December 30, 2003 Posts: 3327 Location: Talos IV, Piedmont Arizona
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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We are not "OLD" enough.
AND
We have heat. |
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j8 Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2003 Posts: 575 Location: Minneapolis, MN
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:46 pm Post subject: Re: Curmudgeon |
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*Channeling Charlton Heston in Soylent Green*
Vanagon owners are made of PEOPLE!
In my various enlightening, enjoyable, slightly awkward, or straight-up eyebrow-raising discussions with fellow VW owners, I've discovered that many of them tend to be human and all the fun or foibles that entails.
Sorry it was a bummer, though. _________________ Julia
'89 2WD Westy (No end to names...) |
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psych-illogical Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2004 Posts: 1181 Location: AZ
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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Ahwahnee wrote: |
Never had that experience.
He might as well get a Porsche. |
Do you know what the difference is between a porcupine and a porsche?
The porcupine has it's pricks on the outside. _________________ 83 1/2 Westy waterboxer
'57 Beetle-sold
Coupla '81 BMW motorcycles (R80G/S; R100RS)
'96 BMW R1100GS |
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jbart Samba Member
Joined: February 17, 2011 Posts: 76 Location: sunny Eugene, Oregon
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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maybe he was having a bad day. happens to everyone.
when I had my baywindow, other air-cooled VW owners always waved (90%+). in the vanagon, maybe 30% of the other vanagon owners wave or wave back. changing times I guess.
but on my vespa, if you ain't riding vintage, I ain't waving back. yes, I am a snob. _________________ 86 Vanagon L (present)
04 Golf TDI
98 Beetle (pile of crap)
96 Jetta
88 Jetta
87 Cabriolet (Karman, best vw I owned)
69 Bus (pile of rust)
68 Squareback (loaned to a buddy in college, never saw it again) |
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carterzest Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2008 Posts: 3842 Location: Eagle, ID/Sun Valley, ID
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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Ioweigan, the Samba Cirmudgeon, owns a vanagon
I have only met 3 such people in with such chips on their shoulder. One was a Eurovan owner who I tried to make nice with, the other two were other Vanagon Camper conversion owners who were somehow above us.
Side note, all had porta potties inside their vans if that makes a difference _________________ Happiness=Portland, Oregon in the rearview mirror! |
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curator Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2005 Posts: 89 Location: Midwest
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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psych-illogical wrote: |
Ahwahnee wrote: |
Never had that experience.
He might as well get a Porsche. |
Do you know what the difference is between a porcupine and a porsche?
The porcupine has it's pricks on the outside. |
why all the porsche hate? they are german and break down often, so not really that different... _________________ 91 westy
87 924s |
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FNGRUVN Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2007 Posts: 2237 Location: Fort Collins, CO
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:08 pm Post subject: |
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Don't let this one guy change the way you interact with fellow van owners. I'd be flattered if you stopped off at my house for a chat. Just the way I roll, dog. _________________ "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin |
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WestyBob Samba Member
Joined: June 11, 2004 Posts: 2346 Location: Portland, Oregon
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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In Pdx we can usually get a pretty good vanagon turnout for camping and day trips but the percentage of all vanagon owners in town that join in is very small. Ditto for the PNW ... we can get large numbers but still peanuts compared to the total still on the regional road.
I concluded a long time ago most just like driving them (or don't have any coin to get anything else) but just weren't into group activities, talk, and vanagon celebrations (worshipping ?).
There are two vanagon westies on the next block in the 'hood, each owned by a young woman. They love their westies but don't care to talk about them. I frequently mention vanagon-type regional events and they nod their heads politely and say, "cool" but never come. |
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