In 2016, if you tell someone you have a water-cooled VW, they’ll look at you funny. After all, it’s been nearly 40 years since the last aircooled cars were made (in German, at least), and quite a few of the early water-cooled cars have virtually disappeared. With the benefits of hindsight and attrition, they’re quite interesting cars that can be fun to drive. Except when they’re lumbered by a 49hp diesel, which is why some marque enthusiasts have had fun replacing the diesel engines on their first-generation water-cooled cars with later powerplants, as seen in this 1980 VW Dasher Turbodiesel coupe for sale for $4400 in North Portland, OR.
Rusty But Trusty 