Looking for mid 80's vans, and finding some with automatic transmissions.
What is the lifespan of these things?  I was looking at a van with 175k
miles, with an automatic.  Is the trans likely to be a problem in the near
future?  Can a run of the mill tranny shop work on them?  I generally don't
like automatics.  Will I be more or less annoyed by the vanagon with
automatic than the average car with automatic?  Does the gas mileage suffer
much with the automatic?

Thanks for any input,
Edward