In the realm of desirable German cars, the Volkswagen Passat scores remarkably low – undermining what a great car it truly is. There have been a few generations now, some based upon Audis and some based upon modified Golf platforms. Each platform has it’s own stars; the B2 saw the Audi Quattro-based GL5 Synro. For B3 fans, the 16V G60 Syncro Variant turned things up a notch, even if it wasn’t available in the U.S.. And the B5.5 saw the development version of the “W” engine platform, with one of the most highly sought after Passats in the form of the W8 4Motion Variant 6-speed manual. But while the B4 had no such enthusiast notables, there were two very competent versions of the mid-90s Passats available. First was the sporty VR6 model, especially desirable in Variant form since we didn’t receive the 4-door GTi or Golf Variant on these shores. But for the budget-minded mega-milers, one of the true hidden gems of the water-cooled community was produced – the TDi Variant. Available only for a short time and in limited numbers, these cars are easily capable of a Prius-crushing 50 m.p.g. and have room for the family. Like many of the Audi/Volkswagen products, they have a loyal community that follows them and enthusiastically cares for them, no matter how many miles pop up. Recently we saw one of these TDi Variants top $13,000 in similar condition – about as strong as money gets for any of the pre-2000 watercooled Volkswagen products outside of the camper vans:
