RE: Vanagon Syndrome
I can't answer the question on why you were able to restart the automatic
while moving (without putting it in neutral and using the starter) but I can
provide this.  When I encountered exactly what you describe last January on
the way to BBTB I put in a VW factory 'pig tail' and the problem went away,
drove about 2,000 miles on the rest of the trip.  Just as a test, while down
in Oregon a couple of months later, I pulled the pig tail before heading
home, a couple of hundred miles.  No problems.  And none since, another
several thousand miles.  My best guess:  I might have gotten the same
results just unplugging the connector at the AFM and plugging it back in,
thus cleaning the contacts a little.
YMMV