Volkswagen-based kit cars are a dime a dozen…Volkswagen Beetle-based kit cars, that is. But when famed ex-GM engineer and racer Herb Adams attempted to update the kit car formula for the 1990s, he also updated the VW underpinnings to the more modern—and far more powerful—front-drive Rabbit; hence the Jackrabbit! Despite those solid bones and neat mini-supercar looks, only 25 Jackrabbits hopped into the world, so if you’re intrigued by this one, you’d better hop on it! It’s here on eBay out of Easthampton, Massachusetts, and nobody’s hopped on the $3,500 opening bid yet.

Our own Scotty G. shared another Jackrabbit with us last year, and found several great links relating the history of this sadly stillborn little speedster. That one was a little more put together; the seller of this one avers that the “kit seems complete” although they estimate it is only about 80% assembled. The taillights are recognizably Rabbit, although the bobbed tail itself calls to mind a Honda CRX or the contemporaneous M100 Lotus Elan. Not installed, but hopefully not missing, are the hood with its distinctively centered headlights and the unbelievably-cool-for-a-kit-car billionaire doors.

The nice thing about older VW Golfs and Rabbits is the high degree of interchangeability, and the builder of this kit seems to have taken advantage by upgrading to the 1.8-liter, 16 valve four from a later Mk. 2 GTI. Good for 137 horsepower when new, this claimed 20,000-mile mill should be plenty potent in this super lightweight car.

Other obvious VW parts bin pieces include the 13 inch Audi 80/4000 alloy wheels and the neat Mk. 1 GTI steering wheel. All of these parts hang off of a custom designed tubular steel backbone frame, which looks perfectly sound—as befits a car that has likely never seen the road and which is claimed to have always been in indoor storage.

There’s plenty to do to finish this kit—a process that the included original instruction manual estimates will take 100 hours, including paint—assuming that all of the required bits and pieces are present or can be sourced. The molded-in seats look none too comfy without their pads, and the exposed wiring in the big holes in the dash is a bit daunting, but by all accounts, these were well-designed kits with some neat, original design touches and sprightly VW mechanicals. If it’s as complete as advertised, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if an enterprising new owner couldn’t pull this Jackrabbit out of his or her hat!