Once upon a time, I owned a 1986 Vanagon GL 2.1l Digifant automatic. It was white with a grey stripe, had blue interior, and came with a wheelchair lift installed. I got it at a charity auction, for $1800 after taxes. It would have been less, but the guy bidding against me wanted it for the lift, for his daughter who was wheelchair bound. So I gave him the lift.

It was in pretty good shape, and served me well over the years. I drove it from Seattle to Texas more than a few times, and once to Tennessee. My dad and I took a big ol' road trip in it, once, from Texas through the Rockies and up into Yellowstone. Going over Beartooth Pass, one of the CV joints started clicking, so we never made it to Glacier. We limped in to Seattle and the waiting repair shop.

It finally died a horrible death that really wasn't all that horrible. It suffered from the cylinder head leak syndrome. I could have had it rebuilt, but at that point in my life it was time to get a more fuel-efficient and sensible vehicle. Off it went to the same auction as before, with the proceeds benefitting the local PBS station.

Lately, though, I've had a yearning to go out on the road in a big boxy underpowered van. So I got one.