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1985 Volkswagen Passat (Quantum) Estate

The B2 Passat, also known as the Volkswagen Quantum stateside, was introduced in 1981 as a revision to the original Passat, introduced in 1973. The second generation Passat could be described as a prolific model range. In the early ’80s, the Passat was renamed the Corsar for the Mexican market and was produced in Brazil under the Santana moniker until 2006. The B2 chassis is still in production in China as the Santana, proving popular with taxi and police fleets. It has been announced that the Santana will end production in China in 2012. That’s staying power.

Here’s a clean, low mileage 1985 Passat wagon in Berlin that is being exported to the U.S., given this car just turned 25 years old and falls under classic status with the EPA and DOT.

1985 Volkswagen Passat on eBay

The seller states:

This diesel VW is from 1985. (It’s the ebay system that has problems taking the correct VIN WVWZZZ33ZGE037982 and the correct year.)

The VW is currently located in Berlin, Germany and we include shipping to Long Beach port, CA, where it will arrive in a few weeks. As the year is 1985, this vehicle is classic in the US since January 2010 and therefore exempt of DOT/EPA. Tax and insurance for classic vehicles are low, so it’s not only the 40+mpg that will make this one a perfect money-saver. You probably know you can easily prepare these kind of VWs for biodiesel.

Being in love with the cars of the 80ies for their quality, we have always been looking for german classics with lowest miles, but frankly, we haven’t once seen a station wagon in this condition. With only 38,000 original kilometers (=24,000 miles) this one is as close to new as you can possibly get. Factory paint is still shiny, walking around the car you will think it was one or two years old. There are maybe two or three chips, which were taken care of. The inside shows hardly any use. We took off the cover of the driver seat for the pictures, there is no use worth to mention.

Driving this VW, it feels like a new car, I must say. No noise, no play anywhere. No liquids dripping of course and there is the valid german roadworthiness certificate TÃœV coming with it. The biannual test was passed at km 31,300 in June 2009. Whatever you touch in this car tells you that its life is still totally ahead. Turning the key the engine purrs as if saying: “Thanks man! And now where do we go?”

Bidding is already at $7,300 so even with the hassle of shipping it over, it seems there are several interested parties. With each passing year, it’s great to see interesting rides like this make their way over to what could best be described as a police state for car enthusiasts. When I was young kid, my grandparents had retired back home to Portugal. Right around when I got my license, they decided to sell their 1982 Peugeot 505 turbo diesel for a car with an automatic transmission, a Honda Civic 5-door hatchback. The Peugeot was in fantastic shape and my grandfather owned it from new, taking delivery of it at the factory in France. Sadly, this was the mid ’90s and there was no way of importing it legally.

With the budget crisis in the country, it would be reasonable for the DOT and EPA to get together and charge a flat rate to enthusiasts who would want to go to the trouble of shipping over a rare or unique piece. At the same time, maybe we could relax the year restriction to any vehicle 5 or 10 years or older. With current European safety standards and (at least for cars of German origin) the ever stringent TÃœV (Technical Inspection Association) inspection, the cars coming from that continent would be just as safe, if not safer, than the ones Uncle Sam deems acceptable for us.

-Paul

One Comment

  1. Rick
    Rick March 4, 2011

    Well said. If you have ever seen the motoring show Top Gear, they did a piece recently that took three cars that were road legal in the UK and put them through the TUV. they all failed miserably. So that goes to show you how good German-built, German-owned cars really are. I’d do that if I was in the US. In fact I’d consider shipping a German Scirocco over to London anyway!

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