In the September 7, 1995 issue of the San Diego Reader (a weekly, 
'alternative news' type of paper) there appeared an article titled,

"Do you ever get called Filthy Hippie Swine, driving around in that death 
trap?"  by Patrick Daugherty.

Its a pretty interesting and entertaining look at VW vans and those who 
drive 'em. The highlight of the piece is a 'trip report' (in list lingo) of 
the author's, about obtaining a new tranny for his '71 Westy in a small 
border town in Texas, including three days spent with a drunken ex-Nazi 
(really) ex-VW mechanic, trying to get the guy to stay focused long enough 
to complete a transmission swap. This is truly great stuff. I'll try to 
contact the paper to see if they'll agree to posting the article on this 
list. 

Steve R.