Dang, I just can't help but chime in...

The first "freeway" (actually is was a toll-road) was built in Italy in
1924.  Technically, it was a limited-access expressway.  It was 80 miles
long and ran between Milan and Varese.

In 1932, a year before Hitler came to power, the Germans completed a
limited-access expressway (a freeway, not a toll-road) between Bonn and Koln
(a whole 12 miles long).

Between 1933 and 1938, about 1,850 miles of "Autobahn" is built.  Very
little is added after '38 due to the war.

America's first "autobahn" was built in 1940 in Pasadena.  The Pennsylvania
Turnpike was completed a few months before the Pasadena freeway, but it was
a toll-road, not a freeway.

As for driving a diesel Vanagon (VC), or bug for that matter, on the
Autobahn, it wouldn't phase me one bit.  Unlike Americans, the German
drivers understand the rules of the road and tend to have far less problems
(and anger) at slower vehicles on the autobahn... pass only on the left, and
always, I repeat... always move over to the slow lane when faster traffic
approaches from the rear.

Cheers,

Jeff
www.vanagonparts.com