agony, the car is community property, he can't take it away. Get a lawyer. Yesterday!

Legal separation has a lot in common with divorce. You have to go through division of your property, etc. Here is a brief description:
What is the difference between a legal separation and divorce?

So if your H wants a legal separation with no fuss, I say go for it! It is not much effort to convert to a divorce once you get the legal separation. Check with your lawyer for sure on the difference between the two. Once you two are living apart, you will get used to it and he will probably come around to the idea of divorce. But it sounds like if you do legal separation first, it will be less stressful since he is on board with that.

Hang in there and don't let him push you around with threats about the car and such. Your lawyer will help educate you about your legal rights and that should provide some reassurance. Go ahead and sign up for insurance coverage for yourself at your own job. That way you will be covered when the divorce does happen. Good to set a precedent of coverage.

I told my H eleven months ago that I wanted a divorce and we are still plugging away at it. We are separated now (not living together) but not legally separated. We are just going straight to divorce.

Good luck.