Posts Tagged ‘rabbit’

Muscle Bunny – 1979 VW Rabbit

November 4, 2016

The VW Rabbit was a significant car, both for VW and for the industry. While it wasn’t a groundbreaking car – others lead the charge in the market, like the Autobianchi Primula or the Mini – it did throw more momentum behind the front-wheel-drive compact hatch market than ever before. And at this point, most major manufacturers, including some like Mercedes, from whom you’d never have expected it, all have a compact hatch in their lineup. They also put momentum into the hot hatch field. So let’s take a look back at a neat interpretation of this influential car, this 1979 VW Rabbit for sale for $3400 in Oregon City, OR.

1979-vw-rabbit-right-front

(more…)

Advertisement

Don’t Waist His Time – 1976 VW Rabbit (and bonus ’77)

May 4, 2016

While it’s a classic design that did a lot to popularize the concept of the family hatchback, the Mark 1 VW Rabbit doesn’t seem to get much love outside of vintage watercooled VW circles. And sure, in stock form it’s a bit of a shopping cart, but upgrade an early car a little and you can get GTI-like performance with the cleaner, early Mark 1 design cues like round headlights, small tail lights, and even a “swallow tail” rear panel if you’re lucky. So we’ve got a sampling of a couple of early Rabbits, starting with this 1976 VW Rabbit for sale for $3900 in Silverton, OR.

1976 VW Rabbit right side

(more…)

2 Waters Please – 1982 VW Quantum and 1978 VW Rabbit

January 27, 2016

Until recently, VW was on pretty solid ground as a growing presence on the North American market, but let’s take a look back at a time when VW’s existence here was very much in question. The North American Quantum definitely epitomized that time, with a pokey 1-7-liter 4-cylinder, awkward styling, and a marketing strategy that didn’t know where it wanted to be – frugal and well-made like a Beetle, or spartan-lux like most of its European contemporaries. Indeed, there’s little except maybe the goodwill and better service network from the Beetle days to differentiate this from a contemporary Renault, and we all know where Renault went in the late 1980s. So let’s check out a remnant from those early water-cooled days, this 1982 VW Quantum for sale for $1299 in Portland, OR.

1982 VW Quantum right front

(more…)