This is even weirder:

Wscript.Echo Date 'Shows 14/06/2008
Wscript.Echo Date & " " & Cstr(Date()) 'Now shows 06/14/2008 06/14/2008 !!!
todayStr = Cstr(date())
Wscript.Echo todayStr 'Says 06/14/2008
strValue = InputBox("Enter Start Date:","Test", todayStr)
Wscript.Echo todayStr 'Says 06/14/2008

All very, very odd!