In the Volkswagen world, there’s a wide variety of factions reflecting each members’ preferences for different eras and models. It’s really no different than any other marque, but the VW crowd really does splinter off into some interesting subcategories. For instance, you can certainly be a part of the large contingent that prefers cars like this 1977 Volkswagen Rabbit, known as a Mark 1 – or MK1. But even within that niche, there’s another group that loves the so-called Westmoreland-built models, which represent the short era of U.S. manufacturing conducted by VW in Westmoreland, PA. This is one of those cars, and it’s a honey; check it out here on eBay.
By “honey”, I mean it is absolutely pristine and shows just over 63,000 original miles on the clock. The brown paint is just about as era-perfect as you can get and it appears to be in pristine condition. The four-door setup ensures no one will mistake this for a MK1 GTI, and that’s OK – the person buying this Rabbit when it was new was looking for the opposite of the GTI, which is to say a fuel-sipping commuter car. The good news is it has a manual gearbox, which isn’t always a guarantee when someone is shopping for a vehicle solely on the basis of it being an unexciting as possible. We should note, however, that first owner did swing for the fences as it relates to options.
That’s because it seemingly has every special feature you could order from your VW dealer, save for the automatic transmission. The woodgrain trim on the dash, the roof rack, air conditioning, and a clock in the cluster all point to this Rabbit being fully loaded when sold new. The Westmoreland connection is a significant chapter in VW’s history, even if it didn’t lead to the company finding much success with its Pennsylvania factory. As the seller notes, this is a very early U.S.-market Rabbit, manufactured during the first year of production in Westmoreland.
Those cars are coveted by certain members of the VW faithful, and you’ll still see them in Facebook groups noting if it a car that was spotted in a junkyard is a genuine Westmoreland model. Back in my junkyard hunting days, I found a next-generation Golf which had the coveted “Westmoreland front end,” as those later cars built in Pennsylvania received a distinctive nose treatment featuring rectangular headlights. These small details are what make being part of a specific marque clique highly entertaining, even if no one outside of your circle of gearhead friends understands your obsession. No matter what your VW preferences are, this Rabbit is pristine and deserves a close look by anyone hunting for an MK1.
This car always reminds me of the singer Harry Chapin, who was driving one when he died on the Long Island Expressway all those years ago. He worked himself to death raising money for world hunger causes. He also wrote some memorable songs.
Thanks for saying that, Harry Chapin was one of my favorite singers. I read up on that, apparently, it was determined, he had a heart attack while driving on the way to a concert in Albany, and a truck rear ended him, but they think he was already dead when the truck hit him.
He was hit by a tractor-trailer. They weren’t sure if the heart attack occurred before or after, but his injuries were too severe in either case.
It was said that he was a great musician but a terrible driver. He’d had previous altercations apparently.
Boy howdy, here’s a post bound to garner a few responses. The Rabbit, we in Beer City had a field day with that, and “Golf” was hardly mentioned, for fear of equal scrutiny. I realize AMC had some corny names too, but a Rabbit? Got to be kidding, get me another Pabst, boy,,,
The Rabbit had some mighty big shoes to fill. VW purists were horrified this is what would replace their cherished Bug. ( think TR6 to TR7) The Bug had gotten extremely out of date, and someone at VW had their heads on right, the Rabbit literally saved VW in the US. While Rabbit and Bug were sold side by side for a couple years, they sold almost 250,000 Rabbits in 1977, compared to less than 10,000 Bugs.
Just like the Bug of the 60s, the Rabbit revolutionized how we travel. Nobody can argue with that. An outstanding find, for sure.
I always say I learn something new on Barnfinds. But I wasnt expecting this…. I had always mistakenly though it was a Beetle. I didn’t know it was a Rabbit. Cats in the Cradle always makes me think of me with my kids. Always working to support them, time just races by. And of course Taxi……. Harry…… Keep the change…..
I wish he was around just to see what more he would have written and sang.
As for this Rabbit. I can’t get over the condition of this thing. I’m always amazed that cars like this, ones that were everyday cars, got squirreled away somewhere and pop up in places like here. Thank you Jeff. I enjoyed it.
Had a Rabbit in the 80s. Decent car and fun to drive but I preferred my LeCar. Much better ride and the 12 inch ground clearance really helped in the deep snow.
I feel the same way and that’s why I am still driving my 1977 LeCar today.
This must be a super early production Westmoreland because it has the German lights and grille. But I don’t know why anybody should care because everyone thought the PA-built Rabbits were too Americanized anyway.
I bet it’s been at least two decades since I’ve seen a Rabbit on the road. As others have mentioned, it’s amazing that someone has preserved in excellent condition what was basic transportation when they were new and basically worn out by the second or third owner.
My dad’s second wife’s sister, say that three times fast, had a MK1 that was robins egg blue. Even as a kid it felt very cheap and tinny.
There was a fairly strong VW dealer here in my hometown in the ’70s and ’80s, Walker Motor Co., and it wasn’t uncommon to see Jettas but the Rabbit was far more uncommon around here.
Interesting that people covet the PA built VW’s. They sure had a horrible rep. Nice
But people collect LeCars, anything’s possible.
Nice car, but not 11.8k nice
Kudos to the owner for taking a lot of quality photos. This is a nice copy of that first generation and the round headlights look waaay better than the later rectangular ones.
There is no such place as “Westmoreland, PA.” The plant is located in a rural area of Westmoreland *County*, PA, with a Mount Pleasant, PA address.
I played golf with Harry in Austin. The golf course was across the street from the airport so he came over when he had a long layover. I drove a Rabbit. Somehow felt you needed to hear this.
I don’t think this is a Westmoreland-built Rabbit. The first car to roll off the line at the PA plant was built in April of 1978. It was a white car and was sent to the VW museum in Wolfsburg straight away. Based on the VIN this bunny is a 1978 model year car built in December of 1977. VW sold Golfs as Rabbits in the US from 1975, so this is probably a German-built Rabbit for the US market. The “178” VIN prefix does not necessarily make it a Westmoreland built car, as German-built cars also had 178 VINs. It’s a year indicator (a 1976 Golf has a VIN that starts with 176).
The car does look clean, though I wouldn’t say it’s pristine…mostly due to the horribly cracked dashboard. The dashes on these early Rabbits are extremely hard to find in good condition, making the asking price for this one a bit extreme. It MIGHT be worth the ask if it were a diesel but not a gasser.
It does appear to have aftermarket (dealer installed?) air conditioning, which is a bonus.
The round headlights were up to ’79. My ’78 diesel bunny had roundies but it was a German-built Rabbit.
Gas ’79s were PA-built and had square headlights. Diesels were imported that year and kept the round ones, like the later convertibles.
Clean and nice to see it’s not another miserable diesel. Don’t really understand any of the mention of Westmoreland. This looks to be a German built Rabbit. The door jamb sticker says West Germany. I had an ‘80 Pennsylvania built Rabbit Diesel with the ‘79-‘80 only front end. Never felt there was much love for that era.
I had three Rabbit Diesels I liked them I still have a 1.5 diesel short block laying around somewhere.
All later US-built Rabbits had rectangular headlights. German built units stuck to round ones. I remember when the Rabbit first came out, one of the tag lines was “step on it”, to promote its quick acceleration(for an economy car).
Definitely a German Rabbit…
79 was the last year for German Rabbits
Ain’t nothing wrong with the PA built Rabbits, especially GTIs… (BAT) as a reference.
Owned quite a few PA Rabbits… Currently a 81 Rabbit S (PA built) and a 79 Rabbit with a turbo diesel swap(German built) reside in my garage!!
VW currently has my old 84 Rabbit GTI with 57,xxx miles on it. (More now)
PA built Rabbits have quite a few special editions also.
They built the GTI in Germany too, after. It had round headlights.
1976 First year for the GTI in Germany.
1983 First year for the GTI in the U.S.
Worked at a VW dealer back in the ‘70s.
When Westmoreland first opened and we got our first allocation of rabbits, they had a very distinctive colour.
They were all white with a dark maroon mask that went all around the rear hatch window.
The story went that these cars were shipped unassembled to Pa, and then assembled at the new factory for the workers to ‘practice’ assembling cars.
I’ll take ‘her’ brother – the diesel pick up. Not many ‘mini’s’ w/FWD.
Rampage/Scamp I like alot 2, no diesel tho. Hafta go Luv of Courier 4 dat.
My own sis had a used early model (standard transmis) of this for several decades (I didnt maintain it) and was really happy with it. (course her husband hada fully outfited new Pacer for some of that time).
The door sticker reads “manufactured by Volkwagen AG West Germany” I don’t see anything else that says its US made.
The listing has ended with no buyers.
Definitely a 1978… 1978 was the only year for the black rear filler piece between the tail lamps and for the drivers side remote flag mirror option.
This is the cleanest Rabbit I have ever seen inside and out. They were pretty simple cars to work on and its a manual.
Loved Rabbits back in the day… Had one… diesel. Girl friend (now wife) had a later PA built one… …and yes, as a road worthy ’70s vintage, it’s somewhat rare. But $11.8k!?… One’s gotta really want an old Rabbit. GLWS.