My dad had one of these in the early 90's. I drove it a few times and it sucked! That mileage means it's been driven constantly since new (it's SLOW).
Still gonna be someone who'll pay $4,000 for it which IMO is $3,900 too much.
My dad had one of these in the early 90's. I drove it a few times and it sucked! That mileage means it's been driven constantly since new (it's SLOW).
Still gonna be someone who'll pay $4,000 for it which IMO is $3,900 too much.
KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:My dad had one of these in the early 90's. I drove it a few times and it sucked! That mileage means it's been driven constantly since new (it's SLOW).
Still gonna be someone who'll pay $4,000 for it which IMO is $3,900 too much.
A friend had a diesel Rabbit. Flat out was 67 mph, that was me driving while taking him to the ER after he chopped off a finger. With some downhill action and the ac off, maybe 70. And you damn sure didn't want to merge into traffic with it. Pretty sure my lawnmower is faster, and it's a push mower.
I'll just add my two cents...
You couldn't pay me to drive that thing. I had a diesel Rabbit of that era. Worst car I've ever owned... by a lot... and I've owned a lot of junk
Oh, the memories. A rabbit truck was one of the fleet of cars that we had for drivers Ed. Way back in 1982. IIRC, it was one of a couple of manual cars that they made us learn to drive in.
I have ZERO interest in a diesel rabitruck thing. But I know there is a rabbid (or rabbit?) following for these.
Don't get me wrong, I'd drive it. I'd even own it for $1500. I'd revel in it's slowness and enjoy every minute of it. But slow they are.
Damn, that's a deal... I still have a dream build to stuff an ALH into one of these with a Mk3.5 Cabrio interior.
I had a diesel Rabbit.
It was a horrible car. But it did get 55 mpg consistently.
Is this for sale? (No link, etc)
I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I had a friend in the late 80's who went through a diesel VW phase. I can't recall if it was before or after his slant 6 Duster/Valiant phase. He went though a bunch of them. The cars themselves were okay, but I never understood the attraction to the diesel engines. I guess the best thing about them was that he could drive them pretty much all day with his foot on the floor (which is how he drove). Pretty much everything else he found a way to wreck.
He's still with us today. I should reach out to him and find out what he's driving.
That particular car? I could see someone paying maybe $2500. Any more than that is insane.
I "test" drove one of introduction versions.
My comment was "Slower than a Beetle (ac vw)."
They're increasingly rare, and worth sticking better running gear in. I prefer hatches, but I love A1 VWs. Some folks just want one with a bed instead of a hatch. The overlap in the Venn diagram of a Ranchero and a GTI (at least once the running gear is updated).
I'll bet it ends up with a modern TDi swap, which would be fun. A pickup that size could be useful, although my wife would mock it.
My 1987 Subaru wagon was about the same speed as one of these, from the sound of things. I'd merge on to the interstate and just put my foot on the floor and leave it there. Climbing the big passes on I-70, I had to watch my mirrors for semis.
I'd think a Turbo swap into a Rampage would probably be cheaper.
I found a Diesel Caddy locally with no rust (same color) and 130,000 miles for $4250.
This discussion of slowness made me realize I've never had to put any decent number of miles on anything with less than 150hp. Ive been spoiled as a youngling coming up in this century.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Believe it or not the Rabbit Diesel was even slower than your Subaru.
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel 0-60 mph 21.2, Quarter Mile 21.9
1987 Subaru Hatchback 0-60 mph 13.0, Quarter mile 18.7
You know it's slow when the 1/4 mile time and 0-60 times are equal. A Rabbit Diesel is the only car I've driven that was dangerously slow.
In reply to dculberson :
Who is so sporty that they have a hatchback? Mine was the DL wagon, with one of the last carburetors to be sold new in the US. 84 hp. And, of course, a couple of hundred thousand miles PLUS 20% power loss from altitude.
As for dangerously slow, I own a Land Rover that puts down 38 hp at the wheels, corrected for altitude. I've never found it dangerously slow, you just have to realize that you cannot accelerate out of trouble.
I'm calling fake on this one. That looks like a Michigan plate, in which case, there's no way this thing didn't return to the earth 2 decades ago. Even "barn finds" rust in Michigan out of sympathy for their road-going brethren. 
kazoospec said:I'm calling fake on this one. That looks like a Michigan plate, in which case, there's no way this thing didn't return to the earth 2 decades ago. Even "barn finds" rust in Michigan out of sympathy for their road-going brethren.
This was found up north. It was in a guys basement!! So, it sat in a climate-controlled building for many years.
Keith Tanner said:In reply to dculberson :
Who is so sporty that they have a hatchback? Mine was the DL wagon, with one of the last carburetors to be sold new in the US. 84 hp. And, of course, a couple of hundred thousand miles PLUS 20% power loss from altitude.
As for dangerously slow, I own a Land Rover that puts down 38 hp at the wheels, corrected for altitude. I've never found it dangerously slow, you just have to realize that you cannot accelerate out of trouble.
1980 Rabbit Diesel: 49hp at sea level, before of course any mileage based wear on it. It would be terrifying at altitude. You can not accelerate out of trouble, but you certainly can accelerate into it! There's no way to know who's going to be sharing space with you when it takes 30 seconds to get up to freeway speeds on any sort of incline. I suspect it's similar to your Land Rover, but with added diesel suckage, and without the visibility that comes from a tall SUV body.
Guy I got my 914 from has one of those. Can't imagine anyone paying more than a few grand
dculberson said:Keith Tanner said:In reply to dculberson :
Who is so sporty that they have a hatchback? Mine was the DL wagon, with one of the last carburetors to be sold new in the US. 84 hp. And, of course, a couple of hundred thousand miles PLUS 20% power loss from altitude.
As for dangerously slow, I own a Land Rover that puts down 38 hp at the wheels, corrected for altitude. I've never found it dangerously slow, you just have to realize that you cannot accelerate out of trouble.
1980 Rabbit Diesel: 49hp at sea level, before of course any mileage based wear on it. It would be terrifying at altitude. You can not accelerate out of trouble, but you certainly can accelerate into it! There's no way to know who's going to be sharing space with you when it takes 30 seconds to get up to freeway speeds on any sort of incline. I suspect it's similar to your Land Rover, but with added diesel suckage, and without the visibility that comes from a tall SUV body.
The Land Rover looks slow, so there's that. I've never had a spooky moment with it related to other people's speed, but I also rarely use it for cross-country commuting. I have driven it across the US, though, so I've done a few freeway merges. The Rover outweighs the Rabbit and has the aero of the barn it was found in, so I suspect the Rabbit would start to pull away
Still, we're comparing what is essentially a 50 year old British roadgoing tractor to a "car". Point taken, she's slow.
86 the diesel, everything GTi bolts right in.
Got to be faster than the 4CV I had as a first car.
So VW has all those newer illegal diesels just sitting around. They would be cleaner and more powerful than an 80s version. How well guarded are those storage lots.
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