A super low mileage first generation Volkswagen Rabbit might be the perfect collectible car of the future and a really nice example is for up for auction here on eBay in Wilmington, North Carolina where the bidding is a little over $300.00, with an unmet reserve and six days to go.
By the time this car was built, the world had staggered under several oil shortages brought on by war, politics or both. Small cars were the refuge for commuters facing fuel bills that were double or triple what they were less than ten years earlier. To meet this demand for fuel-efficient cars, Volkswagen opened the first US plant operated by a European car maker in over fifty years. Ironically, VW chose an unfinished Chrysler assembly plant in New Stanton, Pennsylvania to crank out their econoboxes.
The seller of this 54,000-mile example reports that it is “largely original” although he does not state what is unoriginal about the car, other than maybe the headliner and sun visors. Speaking of the interior, it is classic seventies-eighties beige velour and it doesn’t look bad at all. The interior plastics have faded to differing shades beige or internal organ purple over the years, like many other cars of this era.
Exterior photos of the car support the claim of top-notch condition with no obvious signs of crash damage or rust to be seen. The anodized bumpers could use a good polishing but the black rubber or plastic on them looks really nice. The black wheel arch trims aren’t faded, surprisingly but the raised white letter tires look a little out of place on the car, in my opinion. As a bonus, the hubcaps look pristine.
Here is the 1.7 liter four cylinder gasoline engine that drives the front wheels through – in this instance –an automatic transmission. Power output was a not terrible for the time 74 horsepower. There was an optional diesel engine available for hypermilers. The engine bay looks presentable and it would benefit nicely from a weekend’s worth of detailing work. Depending on the reserve, the buyer of this VW could get into the old car hobby with a minimum outlay and get a decent driver to boot.
Ugh. Another automatic to crush your hopes and dreams…
I don’t know if they’ll ever really be collectible but there’s no question that the Rabbit changed VW’s trajectory in the auto game. They went from being bench warmers to 1st line players
This one looks like a great little find.
My girlfriend at the time always called these cars Bunnies. She bought one, I drove it in San Francisco traffic and it was a lot of fun. She never had any trouble with it.
This has to be the first running gasoline Rabbit I’ve seen in at least 15 years. I come from a long-time VW family, but I sold my ’82 Rabbit in ’91 and never looked back.
Depending on your age, the Rabbit is more iconic then the Beetle… with the Rabbit GTI shoring up the impact VW had on the affordable sport car market. I grew up seeing plenty of both, but personally would take the Rabbit over a Beetle without thinking twice. Interesting, but what I recall of both is they normally had older owners (60+) and folks owned them for many years.
Good little cars, the automatics were reliable, but made them rev on the highway, 5 speed was the best.had a diesel too, what a slug, but it got 45 MPG! if you were behind me tailgating, all I had to do is floor it and smoke you out! Didn’t matter what speed I was going, lol! Good times………
Good little cars, the automatics were reliable, but made them rev on the highway, 5 speed was the best.had a diesel too, what a sluggish, but it got 45 MPG! if you were behind me tailgating, all I had to do is floor it and smoke you out! Didn’t matter what speed I was going, lol! Good times………
Both of my Rabbits had auto transmissions. Would of preferred manual. But when it comes to VW. I really don’t care.
I asked on the Cabriolet thread about switching an automatic to a stick.
This is the car I asked about. It looks too good to leave it an automatic.
It has the Recaro seats in it from the factory.