Another in a series of my reviews that appeared in the online version of African Americans On Wheels, a now defunct automotive magazine that was included as an insert in the Sunday newspapers of major cities.
I specifically reserved the EuroVan for this particular week because one of my best friends from Florida was coming to visit with his wife and one-year-old son. His wife was attending a conference in downtown D.C., so we graciously offered to let them stay with us in our apartment in Arlington. As the conference was only for the weekend, we figured that’s about as long as they were staying. We found out later that they were staying an entire week. In our one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. As icing on the cake, the son was born in a botched C-Section which mostly incapacitated the mother for a year and caused an unusually strong dependent bond between the infant and his father. Basically, whenever my friend was out of sight (like going to the bathroom), the kid would scream like a banshee. It was a very long week, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we didn’t start having children of our own for seven more years.
We did make good use of the EuroVan during the week. Most memorably, we drove it down to Central Virginia to show them our new townhouse and some of the touristy sites in the area. Even though I wasn’t terribly impressed with the EuroVan, my friend loved it. However, when he replaced his wife’s Escort GT with a minivan shortly after returning to Florida, it was with a V6 Caravan. My guess was that, like for most buyers, the high price and horrible gas mileage took the EuroVan out of the running.
The following review was published on August 26, 1999
When a model fails to generate interest and is pulled from the market, you generally don’t see it again. But, after a six-year absence, the Volkswagen EuroVan, descendent of the legendary counter-culture Microbus, returns.
Aside from some cosmetics, the biggest change lies under the hood. Volkswagen’s ubiquitous 2.8-liter VR6 engine replaces the anemic five-cylinder engine, although it loses 32 horsepower for utility duty. Unfortunately, ALL of its competition offer larger, higher output six-cylinder engines, making the EuroVan one of the slowest minivans on the market, and its gas mileage is atrocious.
Unfortunately, nothing else has changed. You step up, high up, into the cabin. The steering wheel is still at a bus-like angle. Although you can walk into the cargo area, you have to make sure that you clear the floor-mounted shifter and emergency brake. A fourth sliding door is not offered. Finally, the price is higher than the price American’s thought was too high in the early 1990s, making it one of the most expensive minivans on the market. Oh yeah, it looks like a brick on wheels, too.
We have to remember, however, that the EuroVan wasn’t designed for us, but for the European market. They don’t have big Econolines or RamVans, so businesses use smaller vans like this. Furthermore, Europeans don’t have Winnebagos, so campers use it too, and Americans can outfit theirs with goodies like a pop-up roof and refrigerator right from the dealer. These factors make for some interesting features unique to the EuroVan. While it’s only about as long as a base Caravan, it’s about as tall as a full-size van, yielding incredible cargo room in an easier-to-manage package. While the base GLS has all forward-facing seats, the middle two seats of our MV face rearward with a pop-up table in between. The cargo area has a rigid, removable, padded shelf that works in conjunction with the rear bench to form a bed, if desired. And, of course, with so few out there, it’s one of the few vans that attract attention.
Compared to its competition, purchasing a EuroVan makes little sense. I guess those who do purchase it are as counter-culture as their Microbus-owning ancestors.
For more information contact 1-800-444-8987
SPECIFICATIONS
Type: 3-Door Minivan
Engine: 140-horsepower, 2.8 liter VR6
Transmission: Four-speed Automatic
EPA Mileage: 15 city/20 highway
Tested Price: $33,975
Yikes, late 80s/early 90s power from that V6 (not to mention power to weight ratio) at the turn of the century. My family owned a 4cyl ’89 MPV (126hp 2.6L 12 valver) and then bought a last-of-the-run ’98 Allsport 4WD fully loaded and with the wheezing 3.0L V6 making 155hp. It had short gearing to sort of compensate but all that did was make it suck gas on the highway. The ’89 was no hotrod but it was noticeably lighter so that 4cyl actually wasn’t a big downgrade. My 4Runner’s 3.4L V6 was a vast improvement (217lb ft at a reasonably low rpm) in a slightly lighter truck to the Mazda’s 169 ft lbs, and got better mpg with much less drama on hills. My ’06 Suburban with the 5.3L likewise meets or beats the Mazda on MPG with boatloads more power and refinement.
I remember the advertising campaign for these vans back in the day as an extraordinary feat of denial. As I recall they never mentioned minivan competitors, nor the minivan market in general. I had the impression it was directed at loyal existing VW owners who never considered another brand and wouldn’t buy a minivan until VW produced one. So the ads extolled the generic virtues of a minivan as if they never existed before and the EuroVan was the first., summed up with the smug description ” a really big car”.
Of course the model was hopelessly uncompetitive because it was intended for a different market. VW’s capitulation shortly afterwards, the badge engineered
market leading Chrysler minivan , the Routan, seemed like a stunning admission of VW production failure, as if they just gave up and purchased a solution.
I’m shocked by the power figures for that. I had a T4 2.5 TDI (a Euro er, EuroVan) and that was amongst the quickest on the market at the time. Even more so when I had it remapped to 140bhp. Lots of torque and lots of fun. I’m assuming you guys only got the VR6 because you didn’t really do diesels at the time??
Fun to read the review “of the day”. Now, twenty years later, looking at asking prices and craigslist ad copy for Eurovans, you’d think nobody had ever created a better vehicle and that this was state of the art in all respects when it debuted and has continued to remain ahead of anything else that has been offered since. Granted in some areas it was genuinely good from the factory (like the seating arrangement options, especially on the “Weekender” etc. but others, as you pointed out, make clear why there just aren’t that many around. (This doesn’t mean that I believe a ’99 Econoline or the Chevy equivalent is really a great van either though, just that some things don’t work out as well in translation.)
Adam, great concise review, as always.
I have a question; apologies if it is a stupid one. Your reviews all end with a phone number for more info. Yours are the only car reviews I’ve seen with that feature. Most would say “For more information, see your local [whatever] dealer.” Was there a specific reason you did that?
Thanks Alan. Adding the phone number was my instruction from the managing editor. Like you, I’d never seen it before nor since. Since every manufacturer had a website by this point, adding the URL would have made more sense, but she was old school. Also, the print addition used the phone number as well and she wanted to be consistent.
Thanks for the response. One has to do what one is told by one’s managing editor.
Furthermore, Europeans don’t have Winnebagos
True about RVs branded Winnebago, but genuine motorhomes (Class A and C) had been built in Europe for decades before this time.
But your point is well taken inasmuch as the van based campers were popular, of course. And the fact that these were decidedly different from American minivans in their greater height, which allowed tall seats that were drastically more comfortable than those in minivans.
The Eurovan just didn’t cut it in the US for obvious reasons, but its unique qualities made it a cult object, to this day.
I remember these as eye-popping expensive for the size, power and features you were (or were not) getting.
I drove these and all other available vans working for Avis in the naughts. I love them and prefer them to their successor. In fact this may be my favorite VW along with the original beetle.
It’s fun to read about it in an American context. We mostly got diesels, but the VR6 was seen as something of a hot rod engine to put in a van/bus.
According to my source, a base EuroVan for ’99 cost 50% more than a base Toyota Sienna, and a whopping 70% more than a base Plymouth Voyager!
And since Plymouth was on its last legs, I bet with some negotiating skills, you could have bought a PAIR of Voyagers for what this EuroVan cost.