I helped a friend move who has a VW vanagon. It's amazing the amount of stuff those things can haul. This particular one was a 1989 Wolfsburg eddition with 250k and it made a great 150 mile trip. I'm surprised that these vehicles were not more popular considering how well they were made compared to any other things out their like the dodge minivan with is pure junk from my observations and lacks any sort of charm. Has anyone had one of these or know anything about them? Thanks

Hmm didn't
Mercedes make a van that was very similar to the original VW van? What was it called

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...NA:en%26sa%3DX

They made the 307d, I think Kerry Edwards owned one. Use google image and a bunch of pics will come up.

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'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

I'm not familar witht he dielsels in those. I had heard of people doing TDI Swaps, which could be cool.

It's a VW. The only road trip recommended is straight to the nearest junk yard.

240Joe

i think they were offered with diesel at least one year. very very rare i would think.

i think they are pretty nice driving for a van. i haven't driven one though.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

oh yea those vanagon diesels are rare.. Synchros are fun

They are tough and reliable but slow. I did an inline engine conversion in my friends van and it was great. I still think he should have turbocharged the original engine. They really hold their value and if you buy them right you can own them for years and still make money of em!

Yeh, I owned a 307d and a 409d. The one that looked almost identical to a VW van was the old 206d built by Hanomag.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I worked for a place that had a couple of the eurovan which came after the Vanagon I think, both of them had diesels and standards, we could load those buggers up 1000 lbs easy and they didn't even grunt. They were awesome, especially when the other choices from the pool were aerostars. COG was low so they handled real well given what they are. Our only complaint was they red lined at something like 130 km/h given the way we drove the vehicles to keep our schedules they spent their life in the yellow zone.

As the old "VW & Porsche" magazine once said about the diesel Vanagon:

"Like trying to ride a bike in top gear everywhere, the diesel Vanagon will make you aware of the existence of hills that you didn't know were there."

Apparently, diesel Vanagons can't get away from Kudzu!

The thing that scared me when driving one was the fact that my legs were the crumple zone! I agree that they were pretty well built, but being so far up front always scared me.

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1992 500SEL 25K
1995 E320 40K
1995 SL600 120K
2002 JX8 Sport 43K
2005 Volvo S40 95K
2006 Isuzu NPR 304K (Frankencamper)
2007 Crown Victoria 150K
2014 Smart Electric 20K

Ahhh, the VW van a true icon of my hippie youth. Jimmmy Hendrix poster glued to the roof, green shag carpeting, love beads and oh yeah the sleeping bag. oh and an 8 track cassette player.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Or, as the Australians described the 206d, "It couldn't pull the skin off a rice custard."

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13