I recall it was just over $3,000. The van had like 120,000 miles on it and was in very nice shape.

Some of the antics we had at the rented garage:

This Vanagon isn't mine sadly, it belongs to a friend in St. Louis. He saw it on eBay and put in a low bid, expecting not to win it; however a few days later it was his! The van was in NJ, which wasn't a long trip from DC.

The Vanagon had a leaky headgasket when we got it, but some extra torque on the head bolts and this run fixed it... amazingly! You can see how well the little diesel ran, it never smokes.

Wow never thought I would be on Jalponik! I'm driving the Vanagon in this video. It was *very* slow. Top speed was just over 60 mph. I was giving the guy riding the scooter a ride in the Vanagon, he commented that he thought it drove nice. He didn't realize I was flooring it to get to 30. The throttle pedal only moved…

This front end styling reminds me a lot of the original Audi 100.

The computer / telephone on everyone's desk at the office is modeled after the Apple Lisa too. I love all the references in this show to real products. I remember spotting the Fintail taxis early on and thought "no way!". 

My 88 Audi 5000 Quattro. Yes, the camo paint worked and people often tried to merge into me. Never mistook the gas for the brake though!

Like you said, I'd rather smack the airbag than the dashboard or steering wheel. Remember seatbelts stretch in a crash!

I can't speak to the danger of old airbags inflating improperly, but it is easy to see that the systems are still inflating the bag in a crash: Check out insurance auction sites for crashed cars. Looking at models that got them first (Mercedes comes to mind) and you'll see they did inflate in the crash.

Yup. Going there with a group of people from TDIClub after Auto Show Saturday!

If your not as mean you can hoon without damaging the car. I miss Michigan winters and my camo 5000Q...