Volkwagen Van

Model years: 19501992,The VW van, which creates instant counterculture nostalgia for baby boomers, keeps finding new generations of fans. Just look at the comic strip Zits, whose 16yearold protagonist drives one. A combination of sheer devotion from its fans and a deep reserve of used parts (thanks in part to its sharing many components with VW Beetles) keeps many of these going and going. Many are sunfaded and seem to rely on bumper stickers for structural integrity, but some VW Vans actually attract serious collector money: The 23window models of the 1950s can fetch more than $50,000. Another pricey niche: the handful of latermodel Vans that were equipped with allwheeldrive. There is perhaps no vehicle more worshipped in the ski towns of Colorado. But teenagers (or their parents) looking to grab one of these on the cheap can still do so with a little hunting. A lot of people kept them around, even when they moved on to something else, says Everett Barnes, creator of the Web site The Samba, a key resource for owners of older VWs. Very often, a backyard find just needs a fresh battery to start up, Barnes says, and getting it roadworthy may cost a relatively modest $500 to $2,000.