Text 14929, 76 rader
Skriven 2005-10-18 15:05:13 av Roy Witt (1:1/22)
  Kommentar till text 14892 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: looters in NO
=====================
17 Oct 05 22:23, Ward Dossche wrote to Roy Witt:


 >> WD> It was a V8 made in Canada. I believe it listed somewhere 5.6l and

 >> Probably 5.8l..they used those extensivily in those vans.
 WD> Could very well be. An impressive piece of machinery in any case.
 WD> Quite easy to maintain, all parts easy accessible.

Yeup, sadly days and vehicles like that are long gone.

 >> WD> I loved that car but the taxes and insurance and modifications
 >> WD> needed here were a headache. The guy that bought it from me knew
 >> WD> it, but :
 >> You didn't check into that before you imported it?

 WD> Yes, but apparently I underestimated what was under the hood. I had
 WD> bought the van in Montana for about $6,000 and kept it there stored
 WD> for my private use. We traveled so often to Montana and put so much
 WD> time and mileage on rentals that it made sense to own a vehicle
 WD> there.

Makes sense, if you have a place to keep it there.

 WD> So it was stored with friends in Great Falls who once in a while
 WD> drove it around town to keep the parts moving, they maintained the
 WD> insurance and registration for me which turned-out to be peanuts
 WD> there. When we, or I, flew into Great Falls they had the van serviced
 WD> and ready to go.

Nice friends.

 WD> After some years my mother's cancer was worsening and she was
 WD> uncomfortable in a regular car so I went to Montana, drove the van to
 WD> New Jersey and had it shipped to here because it was so comfortable
 WD> for my mom and we would be able to take her on vacations.

 WD> In the US I never worried about the HP of that van, I loved it too
 WD> much. But here it suddenly started to matter and the cost would have
 WD> been horrendous (appr. $5,392 a year just for the road-taxes and
 WD> basic insurance) plus that it was gulping about 20 liters per 100 km
 WD> (which was OK if it was only used for specific trips). So the
 WD> original plan had to be abandoned and I was lucky enough to find a
 WD> buyer for it, otherwise I already had someone lined-up in Montana to
 WD> buy it for some $8,500 which would've covered my original
 WD> purchase-price as well as the cost of round-trip by boat and the
 WD> travel to/from Montana.

Either way, you were lucky to find that buyer...and get that price for it.

 >> A year or
 >> two before he died, he bought a Grand Caravan, just more of the same
 >> vehicle, except that it had an American built engine. My mom would
 >> rather have her Olds, so the van was sold.

 WD> I have now a Chrysler Grand Voyager, but I think that is the Dodge
 WD> Grand Caravan overthere.

Ummm, that'd be the same vehicle as the Dodge, but it's a Plymouth Grand
Voyager here. Chrysler would be the Town & Country...

 WD> An automatic which is still uncommon here but I wouldn't want to have
 WD> it otherwise.

True. They make a nice one.

 WD> It has an American-made 2399cc engine in it which, as I said earlier,
 WD> leaves it underpowered when going up-hill.

Those are underpowered just going down the road. Shoulda opted for at
least the 3.3l V6 or the bigger one at 3.8l.


Roy
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