Posts Tagged ‘german’

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Schwalbenschwanz – 1975 VW Rabbit “Swallowtail”

September 6, 2013

Well, in a strange coincidence, two of the most enduring cars of my childhood are showing up here. We already had a pair of Saab 99s, and now there’s a great VW Rabbit just itching to be featured. Introduced to North America not long after it came out in Europe, it was revolutionary as the first modern front-wheel-drive economy hatchback to be tremendously successful. And the first Rabbits in North America had a unique, if unremarkable design feature the later cars didn’t, known as the swallow tail (Schwalbenschwanz is the literal German translation). You can see it below on this Phoenix red Rabbit on VW Vortex for $2000 in Washington state.

1975 Volkswagen Rabbit rear

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First AWD – 1987 Audi 4000 CS Quattro

August 12, 2013

We generally lean towards posting cars up through the 70s here, but on occasion, there’s an interesting car or a great deal that merits our attention. In this case, we found a car that evokes the 1980s, not in the way an E30 3-series BMW does, but as the smart alternative for snow or rally drivers. This is the last year of the 4000 before the transition to the very modern 80/90 series, and included the 2.2 liter 5-cylinder and a close ratio manual transmission. Finished in tornado red over quartz grey velour, this is also the most sporty-looking iteration of this car. You can find today’s 4000 listed on craigslist in South Tacoma, WA (near Seattle) for $2300.

1987 Audi 4000 left front

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Rare Column-Shift 1981 Mercedes 280E plus bonus 1977 280E

July 18, 2013

Okay, after all that Italian nonsense it’s time to get back to being more serious and look at something that’s not just a toy, but a solidly built tank of a car. All those words pretty accurately describe the W123 Mercedes built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and RustyButTrusty has managed to find one of the rarest iterations of the body-style. First off, it’s a grey-market (more on that later) 280E, which the owner says adds about 40 extra horsepower on the M110 engine. Further, this car has the unusual column-shift option. For some reason, Mercedes offered two different ways of shifting the *exact same* transmission – apparently the only difference is in the linkage. As a plus, you get this great little space to store your Scorpions cassettes where the shifter would have been. You can find this W123 280E for $3400 in North Oakland, CA.

1981 Mercedes 280E left front

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