I'm not sure if I ever posted the story of my friend who found the
creampuff '84 westy automatic, with *12,000* original miles !!!!!!!!!!
For only $6,000 !!!!
anyway, horribly, he, his wife, and her parents were driving down the
highway, when their super-friendly huge rottweiler climbed into the
passenger seat. The dog knocked the van into reverse, which locked up
the rear end completely, and rolled the bus 3 times.
  Thank God, no one was hurt at all. He was the only one wearing a seat
belt even. Luckily as well, no other vehicles were involved.
So, on the bright side, score another super-safety point for vanagons...
:(
And of course the other moral is-don't drive an automatic!
:)

Richard