Posts Tagged ‘hatchback’

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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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PNW Special – Is This One Better? 1978 Saab 99 Turbo

September 3, 2013

After the 1980 Saab 99 GLi featured yesterday, we did another search and found the same seller (not by admission, but really, how many Saab 99 owners could there be in Bow, WA?) selling his 1978 Saab 99 Turbo. Now, if you think an oddball transitional model like the 1980 99 GLi or the 1979 900 GLE 5-door hatch gets us all wobbly in the knees, the 900 Turbo can make us fall flat on the floor. While these probably have a greater survival rate than the other models, the spoilers, turbo badges, and red interior add up to a combination of Swedish avant-garde and their interpretation of what the North American market would find appealing. You can find today’s 99 Turbo listed at $3800 in Bow, WA, about an hour’s drive north of Seattle.

1978 Saab 99 Turbo right front

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Second Place – 1979 Renault LeCar

May 23, 2013

Since I had a ride in a friend’s mom’s LeCar back in the eighties in Montreal, I’ve been fascinated by these cars. They squeeze in a significant amount of space for their footprint, and if they have a ragtop as hers did, they feel even more spacious. Heck, you could probably haul a bunch of lumber in there just by having it sticking out the roof. Funny enough, this car only got second place in the European Car of the Year awards. The Audi 80 won out, although the Renault 5 absolutely won out in sales and production lifespan – the Audi only ran from 1972-1978, while the Renault lasted until 1996 in Europe, went on to license production in various developing countries, and is still in production in Iran! Since we Americans are not allowed to import anything from Iran, we’ll have to settle for this bright yellow LeCar, listed for $2300 in Vallejo, CA as part of a combination “Ebay parts business” and car package.

1979 Renault LeCar front left

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