Restored and TDI’d 1981 VW Rabbit Pickup

Ah, the first car.  Like the first love, it will always be special, though these cars are pretty special anyways.  Most of the time when you mention “Volkswagen Pickup” to anyone you get a scrunched up face and inquiries as to what the hell you’re talking about.  What I am talking about is an awesome little car.  In addition to its unique nature, my Pickup (known as the Caddy in the rest of the world) had great steering feel, a peppy engine, and an 1800 lb curb weight that made it plenty of fun in curves.  Eventually too many things went wrong and we had to sell it for something more reliable, but it went to a VW nut in Ohio, so I feel okay about it.  This example, for sale on eBay and located in Arkansas, is what I would have loved to do with my little Rabbit.  The ad says it’s been restored and it looks pretty nice inside and out, but the key here is a 1.6l turbodiesel.  Many Rabbit Pickups came with diesels, but those are known as, well… slow.  Real slow.   The turbo on this one sounds like it makes it a lot more fun while still returning Prius-like gas mileage.

I’d want to correspond with the seller a bit to get a better idea of the specifics than the ad provides, and “restored” may be a slight overstatement, but it looks like a clean and solid example of a fun car.  Useful, fun, and most of all unique, a truck like this is absolutely on my “must-own-again” list.

-NR