Yesterday I purchased, for my growing family, a 1984 VW Bus. There it was on the corner with a for sale sign, it test drove really nice, and I got the guy selling it down from $1500 to $1000. Done. We'll soon need something with seating for 7 anyhow, but the REAL reason I chose this particular vehicle is because it handles and drives so darn well. The Germans really know how to make a smooth, stable, well mannered van that handles winding roads like a car. I like the clean efficient styling. I like the close ratio 4-speed. I like how it feels huge inside even though it's just the size of a mini-van outside.
There is only one catch. The VW Bus is the classic, iconic, legendary "hippie ride." I have nothing personal against hippies; mainly just the welfare-state policies they are often known to endorse. Yet driving a VW Bus, highly enjoyable from a "fahrfegnooogen" or whatever standpoint, sticks in my craw as an affront to the American values I hold dear. Like burning twice as much gasoline with room enough for only 3 passengers, while causing erosion on backcountry roads in my old V8 powered GMC 4x4 truck, displaying EVIL assault rifles in the rear window. You get the idea.
Not that image matters near as much as what's inside, but how do I temper the potential "Euro-loving environmentalist, U.N. supporting socialist suckweasel" image of this ride with the true, all-American, "live free or die" attitude of my inner persona?
Maybe some big knobby tires and a gun rack? Any other ideas? Anyone?
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