>I have an idea,
>Since I drive a 1986 vanagon with and auto transmission, what do you
>think of fastening a cupholder to each side of the box that covers the
>shifter?
>Has anyone tried this? It feels pretty strong and stable.

That's what I did. I put in a couple of those VW OEM look-alike folding cup
holders from busdepot, one on each side. The plastic is pretty brittle, so
you really should remove the cover, predrill the holes, and use nuts and
bolts rather than sheet metal screws. If you're careful and you pre-drill
properly, you could get away with the sheet metal ones I bet. I'd still
take the cover off so you're sure you don't hit the reverse light switch
assembly. I keep the driver's side one fclosed usually because it gets in
my way, but that's only because my right leg is pretty messed up (old war
wounds!) and I tend to move it a lot to keep the blood circulating; but my
wife uses it and says it doesn't get in her way.

John Bange
'90 Vanagon "Geldsauger"