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« on: July 29, 2015, 10:10:18 am »
I had been lusting for a Eurovan for awhile. As I was fully immersed in the Vanagon scene for quite some time, I thought the Eurovan brought some nice features when compared to my other vans. You still could easily camp, escape rain, play cards on the weekender table, and have a bit more modern components. The main drawback was that we never got the Syncro version in the USA. As I ski and bike religiously, a Syncro would be really nice to have. I scoured the internet almost every day to see if someone who was lucky enough to import one, was getting ready to move on. I did come across a few but the sticker price was $50k or more. That $50k also was an entry price as each van I saw needed major work. Finally, the holy grail appeared about a month ago: a 1993 weekender where someone imported all the Syncro parts and even had a spare viscous coupler and rear diff. It had a high mileage 2.5 engine and was listed for $25k. After talking to the mechanics that worked on it, I offered and bought it for an even $20k. It was located 500 miles from my house so I had to wait a few weeks to go and pick it up due to our family's schedule. During that time I sold my "never to be sold" restored Vanagon.
Upon pickup, I was impressed. The PO had most major records and showed me the ins and outs of the van. He was a cabinet maker and had crafted a great replacement table for the standard weekender one. I drove it the long way back home, traveling Hwy 40 through Steamboat Springs, up Rabbit Ears Pass, and then completed the voyage via Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park (I even came across some Moose). The van was a bit underpowered on the steepest of grades but was very fun to drive overall. It is the short wheelbase model with 16" wheels so it felt more like a car than my previous vans.
A week of driving it around town and I was anxious to do some upgrades. I put in a new stereo and had been talking to Cole about some Cavevan improvements. On Sunday, as I was driving to meet Cole, the front driver's side wheel popped off my van on a major highway. I was surrounded by K-rails on both sides of me but luckily was able to control the van as it drove on one front wheel and one front rotor until the K-rails ended and I veered it into the shoulder to a stop. There wasn't much warning and I feel lucky that we weren't hurt (my 10 month old son was sleeping in his car seat during the whole ordeal and slept another half hour on the side of the road while we waited for a tow). An interesting start to my first week of adventures in my "new" Eurovan.
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