Archive for 1982

1982 VW Rabbit Truck for sale

This Rabbitamino is just about exactly what I would have liked to have done with my first car, a white 1981 VW Rabbit Truck.  The light pickup body and communicative steering made me first enjoy “driving slow cars fast,” as I once heard it aptly put.  And slow they usually are, fitted with anemic but efficient gas and diesel engines.  This seller solved that with plenty of go-quick bits from GTIs and Sciroccos that conveniently follow the VW tradition of LEGO-like parts interchangeability.

1982 VW GTI Truck for sale on Madison, WI Craiglist

A detailed but concise description from the seller:

Up for sale is my 1982 VW Rabbit Sport Truck. This is a super rare truck that is in awesome shape. The original 1.7 motor has been replaced with a single ohc 1.8 gti motor with a g-grind cam. Also has the gti trans, scirocco brakes with stainless steel brake lines, corrado recaro seats. The interior of the truck is in really nice shape with the exception of the headliner which I removed because it was falling down. The paint, as typical with this gen vw, is fading but there is hardly any body rust, no bed rust, no strut tower rust. Almost new winter tires on 15″ wheels to fit the scirocco brakes. I just had brand new 2 inch exhaust installed from the header pipe back. I have a matching tailgate but the handles does not work, I also have a bumper with hitch ball mounts. I love this truck I just need something with more seats so the kids can cruise with me.

Despite Wisconsin roots, notorious for devouring all things metal, this GTIchero has minimal rust and none in the most common problem areas.  The pictures show a pretty beat tailgate because the original has a broken latch, but that’s an easy fix.  For $3600 this would a fun, efficient, and useful little truck.  I love the style, the big steelies, the great interior, the OEM+ upgrades.  Well done to the seller, and cheers to whoever buys and appreciates this funky take on the GTI.

-NR

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Posted by Nate in Volkswagen | July 20, 2010 | 1 Comment »

1982 Volkswagen Scirocco project needs saving

This poor VW looks like someone ran out of time, money, or interest on it. It needs an engine and needs to have the interior reinstalled. It comes with some extra Euro and 16v parts for the reassembly. 82,000 miles on the body. Anyone want to finish this one? The ask is $1200, I suspect that it could be had for an even grand.

~Evan

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Posted by Evan in Volkswagen | May 6, 2010 | 2 Comments »

One-of-a-Kind 1982 BMW 345i Dietel/Alpina

Before I get into the wonderful details of this rare and custom Bimmer, here’s a brief history synopsis on how this car came to be.  In the 1980’s a man by the name of Mike Dietel was spending most of his time importing Euro Spec BMWs which never made their way to our shores. Once across the pond, he and his crew at Dietel Enterprises in Laguna Hills California would bring the cars (typically e21 3-Series) up to legal standards and fully customize them with Alpina goodies. At this time Dietel was the sole Alpina distributor and built many custom vehicles for his clients. Dietel’s final work, which happens to also be one of his most well-known and striking pieces of work is this 1982 E21 BMW 345i.   

What do the Hulk, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde and the Dietel/Alpina 345i have in common?  They each have split personalities and each have the ability to be extremely dangerous and terrifying!  The body of the 345 belongs to a Euro-spec 323 while the heart was sourced from the 3.2-liter engine from the 745i with a turbocharger.  Boost was upped to 7.5 Psi which produced a staggering 300+ horsepower.  An Alpina five-speed and LSD were added to transfer this hulkish grunt to the rear wheels.  All of the suspension was updated to Bilstein/Alpina components, the chassis was reinforced and to slow this Bavarian rocket down brakes from the M1 were installed.

Before all of the above you notice the e30-M3 like wide-body.  This very distinctive kit was designed by Dietel and built by Wayne Hartman Fiberglass.  This whole package is said to have cost over $70,000 to create (and that’s back in 1980’s dollars!)

I’ve always been a diehard E30 fan but lately I’ve gone head over heels for maintained and unique E21s. This one really caught my eye and it was really interesting to learn more about Dietel and the transformation that this Bimmer went through.  I’m really shocked that the bid on this one-of-a-kind Dietel Special is only at $11K, especially seeing that it comes with all the documents, low miles and a monster engine.  Hopefully it finds a nice home.

-Ben

More info on the 345i Dietel/Alpina

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Posted by Ben in Alpina, BMW | May 5, 2010 | 5 Comments »

1982 Alpina E21 BMW Coupe on eBay

Over on eBay there is a 1982 Alpina E21 coupe available.  At this time there is a touch over four days remaining and the reserve price has been met, meaning this car will sell.  The history on this particular vehicle seems to be a bit of a puzzle as the seller goes into great detail about it in the auction post.  Long story short, this particular E21 was equipped with a 320i motor to help the buyer, a Air Force Colonel stationed in Germany,  import into California while passing emissions.  Evidently the seller has been inundated with a slew of complaints as to the validity of the car.  This is the downside to the anonymous nature of selling a vehicle in a very public forum, everyone is an expert and nobody has to worry about getting smacked for voicing their misguided and/or uneducated assertions.  Anyhow…

1982 BMW 3-Series Alpina on eBay

“Beautiful Alpina E21 BMW coupe.  One of the rarest and most desirable 3-series BMWs produced during this time, the Alpina has the handling capabilities of the later M3 cars.  These cars were particularly popular in Europe during the 80′s.  This particular Alpina is bone solid with perfect gaps.  It has never been wrecked and it has zero rust.  It runs and drives very well. The engine was rebuilt approximately 60k miles ago, and the compression and oil pressure are good; it runs smoothly and does not smoke at all.  While BMWs don’t generally tend to appreciate like Porsches, these Alpina models have the potential to gain value as collector cars.  This car spent its life in Northern California, one of the best places in the world to get collector cars from because the cars here remain solid.  The undercarriage of this car is perfect.  If you would like to see more pictures, please click on the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/dustycars/1982Alpina.”

If the auction were to end today this would be a steal, I have to think this is a $10k car at minimum.  That being said this car has been driven with over 200k on the ticker.  The buyer should be prepared to remedy any number of mechanical and electrical gremlins that may occur.  However, having the motor rebuilt 60k ago should provide some peace of mind.  I will keep an eye on the auction and update you all on what takes place.

~Aaron.

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Posted by Aaron in Alpina, BMW | February 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »