I did exactly this with a splitty back in the 70's. It looked surprisingly good, to my eye, though I'm sure no one today would appreciate that being done to a split. Access to the engine area in a vanagon would be hurt, though it changed nothing with the splitty.

Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM> wrote: Re the cone on the rear idea, to fill in that low pressure area,
And thus reduce drag,
I've always noticed that if you just open the rear hatch about 50
degrees.....
You've got most of that 'rear cone' already.
Plus it's got a window right where you want it !
Plus it increases interior useful volume .
What's not to like ?!
Just a matter of finishing it off cleanly, having not look dorky,
And Keeping engine access reasonable....
Perhaps the whole rear hatch re-made in fiberglass.............but in the
form of a bubble....about like you opened the stock rear hatch halfway and
then filled in all the gaps.

And retain the stock rear window and rubber window seal.
Hinges at the top so it's out of the way when opened....
Rounded off some so no sharp edges.....
Done right it could look and work quite nicely, with increases in interior
volume, reduced drag at speed, no particular weight penalty if done well
enough,
.

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