So...
Since I've owned my 84 low top semi-westie, I have come to recognize three
major types of Vanagon as I travel around or  do my daily thing.
  The most numerous of 'My' 3 types, at  least in my home area of eastern
Wa. and Or. is the "POS, but it does the job".  This type van (and owner)
usually has dents in the back corners, rust on the surface, faded paint,
etc.  The owners usually are distracted and never wave, though they
sometimes look around when I wave, perhaps wondering what that other nut is
referring to with his headlight blink or hand in the air.  I think they
probably don't even realize that they are driving the same vehicle as the
one I am in...These owners and drivers would probably much rather be in some
other vehicle...a new minivan, a bigger SUV, a Cadillac...but they "got the
van already" so they just drive it and don't think much about it, except to
rail against how slow it is, or how "old" is it.....
  Second type is the Collector...These are the Lifted, buffed, alloy
wheeled,  subie powered Syncros and the totally restored Westphalia's that
gleam with ten recent coats of wax and usually have all kinds of Zoot,
Bling-Bling gear and toys on racks hanging  on top.  I see lots of these in
Hood River, Oregon on weekends, festooned with bicycles and
sailboards..These types often don't wave at me  Perhaps they think I am a
"POS but does the job" guy and I won't wave back, or that my old turd-brown
is 'beneath them" or something.  This type, the few owners I have talked to,
seem to be more into how exclusive their vans are than what they are good
for...  Some of these ones I very much covet.
  Then the third type are those I see being used as I travel about.  I see
plenty here in the Columbia River Gorge during summer.  This type van, they
usually aren't totally buffed out.  But you see many that have been improved
with bigger wheels and SA light kits..This type,  the owners  know they have
a pretty special vehicle, but one that should be used.  Most  look like the
may get washed now and again, but they also look capable of going down a
forest road without the owners worrying about a scratch, or perhaps a rock
chip to one of the displayed toys hung on the outside..I put myself into the
third type, I guess. These 'guys' usually wave at other vanagons..
   If I had extra cash and fewer other hobbies, I would love to have a fancy
tricked-out Syncro to drive only on Sundays to Starbucks, too. Or a
collector's edition Westie, maybe.  But I would probably "trash out" that
type vehicle by using it and it'd soon no longer be a collectors item...And
I seem to be always out in my semi-crummy turd brown camper van doing
something else,...
  Don Hanson