Volkswagen: 96 jetta gl, auto transmissions, transmission shop

Question
have 160k miles on the jetta.  tranny will not engage in drive, can hear the engine running as if in neutral.  can back up, however after warming engine up for 10 minutes, the car will slowly engage and after crawling for about 2 blocks, the tranny will engage and i can drive the car the remainder of the day.  have to go through the same routine every morning of warming up the engine, crawling forward for about 2 blocks, before the tranny engages and i can drive the car.

Answer
Tranny problems are not that simple to diagnose via email.  But I would suggest that you have the transmission flushed or at least drained and refilled first.  The throttle body should be cleaned after doing so and the idle adaptation reset.  Honestly, your mileage doesn't scare me, but how someone drove this car does.  These earlier auto transmissions are not real heavy duty.  Hovever, if the above doesn't help, take the car to a transmission shop and ask for them to diagnose.  I feel the fluid in your transmission may be burt/low or the bands are worn out.  
thanks
shad