Living in Bismarck, ND, as I do, we see an occasional hail
storm come through.  My Chevy Malibu was pretty much totaled
last Saturday night but the Vanagon escaped with only a few
roof dents, which you can't see unless ou are 7'6" tall.

So, one more advantage to the Vanagon is that the "straight
up-and-down" angle of it's sides, windows, etc. make it much
more hail resistant than other vehicles.  Call it a
"box-on-wheel" but it sure beats hail dents!

BTW, several weeks ago, someone asked about the northern
route of east-west travel and someone else said that the
northern route is boring and that "North Dakota sucks".  It
doesn't suck, it just hails.  Other than the hail, I
wouldn't live anywhere else in the country.

Steve Wisthoff
'88 GL