Posts Tagged ‘vw’

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

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Dressed-down Audi – 1976 VW Dasher Wagon

May 18, 2016

VW’s B1 Passat was certainly a revolutionary step forward for the company – water-cooled, front-engine, front-wheel-drive, midsize – and their success (as well as the longevity of the model, even if it’s grown tremendously) speaks to how right they got it. More sporty than the Americans, and made with nicer-looking materials than the Japanese (though the Japanese ultimately built the more durable product), they didn’t find a tremendous amount of success in North America in the 1970s and 1980s, since VW was pigeonholed as the maker of Beetles. Forty (yes, forty) years on, that means it’s hard to find an early pre-facelift B1 Dasher in North America, but every so often, one pops up. Check out this 1976 VW Dasher wagon for sale for $750.

1976 VW Dasher left front

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Original Owner – 1976 VW Beetle

May 7, 2016

It’s interesting that VW was able to concurrently sell their iconic legacy product – the Beetle – at the same time as the more modern and better Rabbit. Imagine Honda selling their 1986 Civic alongside the 2016 model; though even this is not an accurate comparison, since VW had completely changed the fundamental concept of their entire product lineup between the senior and junior cars. And sure, by 1976 people were not exactly buying Beetles as fast as VW could make them, but you could still walk into a showroom and get something truly aged – perhaps the closest we are to this today are some of the American manufacturers’ products, like the Panther-platform cars (Crown Victoria / Town Car) or the Chevrolet/GMC vans, but these are only half as old and not facing more modern competition in the same class from their own manufacturers. Check out this 1976 VW Beetle for sale for $3300 in Daly City, CA.

1976 VW Beetle left side

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