OK, at the risk of sounding rediculous, yeah, I did this...  No, I'm no teen-age speed racer type.  But yesterday when I visited my local vanagon parts joint they had these things.  Not sure what came over me.

I have to confess though that this has been one of the best things I've done to the van.  Nothing like the feel of leather...

Here's a link to the thing (again, no business incentives on my part).

http://www.volkscafe.com/vanagonparts.jsp?pa=p&p=1044938225&pct=1456550857&ct=1435197293

Installation tips:  I had to trim off a bit of the plastic skin that covers the shifter shaft so that the knob would slide all the way down.  The instructions came in 15 languages, so there's no excuses.  It adds no overall length even though the thing looks long.

Peace,
Ry
'89 Westfalia 2wd, 5spd, inline4, big brakes, sway bars, and tons of other pimpy junk.