Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 20:45:16 -0600
Reply-To: Joel Walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joel Walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Re: [Syncro] Re: SYNCRO FOR SALE, BAD MOTOR, SEATTLE
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> nearly all of the syncros i see or hear about are 1987's. why? did
> vw make a bunch more that year? was that a really good year at the
> factory, and they are more reliable (my secret hope)?
a really good year for sales in the u.s. ... here's what i've gotten
from the web sales pages (like www.thesamba.com and
www.traderonline.com and www.ep.com and www.ebay.com
first, just raw numbers by year (percent of total)
1986 130 1986 --> 17.4%
1987 182 1987 --> 24.4%
1988 74 1988 --> 9.9%
1989 85 1989 --> 11.4%
1990 160 1990 --> 21.5%
1991 114 1991 --> 15.3%
745 total
so you see that, of all the buses i've seen on the web for sale, 1987
is the most common. so we can ASSUME that if more are for sale now,
more must have been sold back then. right? ;)
then, break it down by percent of total and raw numbers of
transmission type:
14.5% 108 syncros of all types
0.1% 1 5-speeds, non-syncro
41.1% 306 4-speeds of all types
40.8% 304 automatics of all types
3.5% 26 unknown <ad didn't say>
then break it down by percent of total and raw numbers of model type:
1.6% 12 <ad didn't say what it was, and i couldn't tell from
the photos>
28.5% 212 GL
5.9% 44 WLE
5.9% 44 Carat
2.0% 15 Multivan
1.9% 14 Camper
38.5% 287 Camper GL
0.1% 1 Custom Camper (like Adventurewagen or Country Homes)
2.6% 19 Syncro
4.7% 35 Syncro GL
6.6% 49 Syncro Camper GL
0.1% 1 Transporter (in Europe)
0.5% 4 Double-cab Pickup
0.7% 5 Syncro Double-Cab Pickup
0.1% 1 Hannover Edition
0.3% 2 Kombi/Ambulance
and further to amaze and annoy you, break it down by tranny type by
year ...
syncro other
5-spd 5-spd 4-spd auto ?<don't know>
1986 .....38 0 60 29 3
1987......39 0 86 48 9
1988........2 1 37 32 2
1989........9 0 36 40 0
1990......12 0 59 82 7
1991........8 0 28 73 5
total 108 1 306 304 26
14.5% 0.1% 41.1% 40.8% 3.5%
so you see, 1987 was a very good year. ;)
what i found interesting is that automatic transmission were just
about even with the 4-speeds. i wouldn't have thought that was true in
the vanagons. go figure. and look at how the difference between
4-speed and automatic changed over the years from 86 to 91. must be
why vw started putting only automatics in the eurovans after about
1996 or so. anyway, this is the stuff from that VIN data i collect.
unca joel
Ophishshal Data Pimp of the Vanagon Lyste!! ;)