Have you never wondered what the engine was doing... in the rear?! Isn't it there, where one is supposed to load the cargo?!
I had a 1963 VW Variant (one year before it became the Squareback, from what I understand -- VW heads correct me if I'm wrong) when I was 18, cost me $350. Drove it from Seattle to Snoqualmie Pass to go snowboarding a bunch (anyone who snowboards -- I had a G&S Slicker!), and I would load some firewood in the back. When I bought it it had big al terrain tires, and I think out of ten times or so I had to put chains on once. I usually just chugged up the mountain while others slipped and slid around. This helped me understand the logic. Broke down near Palm Springs on a road trip (to skate Del Mar and other spots) the next year -- learned my lesson about air-cooled vehicles in the California desert during summer -- and sold it to some guy name Jimmy the Greek for $300. As a first-year car, from what I understand, it would be worth something today if I held on to it.
My family had a van, imported from Germany, and it took me and my 5 siblings and parents down to Oregon once a year for a few years to go camping. Fond memories.
*** Should add that the Variant was the first car I bought. My parents bought me and my twin a '67 Cougar with a 289 V8 for $500 when we turned 16 because they didn't want us driving their cars, including my mom's VW bug.
