1982 VW Quantum Wagon

While the Vanagon camper did serve me quite well as a daily driver, its inadequacy in the cold months began to wear on me after a couple seasons. I eventually decide to get myself a conventional car to get me through the harsh North Country Winters.

One day I chanced upon a VW Quantum station wagon at a nearby used car lot. It appeared to be in very good condition, and they only wanted $1600 for it. I took it out for a drive and found that the heater worked well. Being much more experienced by this time, however, I checked out a whole slew of other things that I knew could be wrong. I eventually told the dealer that I would give him his asking price if he would address the laundry list of little problems that I had uncovered. He agreed. I picked up the car on a Friday evening in early December and proceeded to drive it all the way to my fraternity house to attend the Christmas formal. Although I don't usually make a shake-down cruise of this distance, it performed perfectly well.

The Quantum proved to be a pretty good car over the few years that I owned it. It wasn't the most comfortable car I ever owned, and although the heater continued working the heater controls eventually self-destructed. It started rusting pretty badly. It eventually got to the point where I could barely get the tailgate unlatched. One day, just 48 hours after I'd had it inspected, the brakes totally failed on it. Eventually it sprung a fuel leak. I took it to my regular VW mechanic. He said he could fix it, but that fuel leaks were problematic. While it's not rocket science, the repair could reveal weaknesses elsewhere in the system, and I could ultimately wind up replacing the entire fuel system from tank to carburetor. That was enough for me. I parked it out in my automotive graveyard, where it remains to this day.

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