I see an ebay at for a pretty trashed looking westy in Escondido, CA
(it's 220454932586 if you just have to). Here's what the description
says:

"This car was impounded by the police,  paperwork applied  to the DMV
and is ready to be sold .  Clear title on hand. PLEASE SERIOUS BUYERS
ONLY.  The title is clean and there are no storage fees of any kind
for the new owner.
  You are looking at a 1982 DIESEL van. please look at the pictures
and feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I will call this
van a project van. This van was impounded from a house along with 3
other vans just like it and 4 other volkswagens. They were running an
illegal mechanic shop out of the house. All the paper work is straight
and has a clean title. The van has a dead battery but starts and
sounds good when you jump start it. there is a few minor dents here
and there (nothing major) I didn't drive it on the road because the
brake fluid container is broken so there's no brakes. I drove it in
first gear around the yard and it moved forward and in reverse. all
tires have really good thread but don't know how old they are. all the
glass is there and all the doors open. The sliding door only opens
from the inside. ZERO rust visible.
 This van will make an excellent project for any volkswagen lover or
will be an excelent part donor."

OK, they were running an illegal mechanic shop out of the house. So
that gives the town/state the right to confiscate all the Vanagons and
other VWs and sell them on ebay?

Not around here.

Jim