Everyone knows that distinctive smell of "old Volkswagen". I remember asking
about it as a kid, riding in my father's 76 Beetle, and him explaining that
it's the horsehair padding in the seats. Later he showed me it, visible on
the back of the rear seat backrest. When I first bought my '90 Vanagon, it
had the same smell, which I found surprising given the foam padding in the
seats. Where does the smell come from? Today I had to remove the rear heater
and cap off the hoses (the usual leaking rear core). The carpet and
underpadding were soaked with coolant, so I tossed the carpet (it was
trashed anyway) and pulled up the mulched and formed foam pad to hose it
off. Upon closer inspection in the sunlight, I saw this:

<http://i.imgur.com/cchmh.jpg>

Is that what it looks like? Is that our old friend Horsehair mixed in with
the crumbled recycled foam? Is THAT where the classic VW Smell is coming
from?