I was rolling around the idea in my head about buying an older Vanagon Camper
for just a fun car to take off in for weekends or road trips.  

Now I've heard a lot about this head gasket problem that afflicts
water-cooled Vanagons.  I owned my '89 Wolfsburg for 3 & 1/2 years without
experiencing this but others  on the list seem to have dealt with this a lot.
 Would it then be better to get an air-cooled model that was more reliable?
 What type of an acceleration loss would I experience in an air-cooled?
 Would I be able to find one with an automatic?  

Did the Diesel Vanagons also have the head gasket problem?  Were their ANY
water-cooled models that didn't have this problem?  For you current Camper
owners, what are some good years where camper features were improved upon,
and what should I look for in the interior or engine compartment?

Thanks a lot guys,

Chris
'93 EuroVan GL