Your Vanagon idea sounds good. They even came in Synchro, which might be a plus for cult resale but maybe a minus for maintenence/repair. I'd suggest a chat with Terry Griffin at Griffin Motorwerke right there in Beserkley
www.g-werke.com .
I don't think you can donate low value cars for high value deductions anymore, in case you wanted to do that. The Ford should have good value, I'd list it on
www.craigslist.org with pictures. (Anonymize your e-mail so it doesn't get onto some spam list). I don't know how well it works out selling cars on eBay. Buggy Bank is a popular consignment lot, it might work well...
www.buggybank.com