On our recent trip to Baja with 10 vans something happened that makes me
wonder. Everywhere we went people waved, gave thumbs up, or flashed
peace signs. I understand that seeing 10 vans in a row is unusual and
would provoke some responses but this also happened repeatedly when
there was only my van or a couple around. Why or how did Vanagons get to
be considered so cool? Even to Mexicans?

People of all ages responded to our vans. Maybe more teenage girls than
any other demographic but all demographics were involved. In one town a
Mexican man came up to me and started asking questions. Soon he pointed
to his teenage son waiting in their vehicle and said the son had been
asking about finding one for a while.

At one long stretch of desert a car went speeding past our caravan as we
drove at a more cautious rate. The car pulled off way ahead and the guy
got out with a camera to take photos or video as we all passed. This
happened again on a different day and that guy went far enough ahead
that he had time to set up a tripod in a curved section before we got there.

All this makes me chuckle but it also makes me slightly nervous. I need
to park my vans unattended, sometimes for long periods. Are they now
cool enough to steal?

Mark