There are very few race cars that I instantly fall in love with. A vast majority of them I see as very cool or with unique aspects, but often I’m left feeling as though I would do something – or many things – very different than the builder. But the moment I laid my eyes on this Rabbit, I fell instantly in love. Now, truth told I had already been thinking about an early Volkswagen race car – this time around, my thoughts lingered on some of the Scirocco SCCA racers. Hunkered down with all-too-awesome gold BBS magnesium wheels and a deep air dam, they just look spectacular to me. That feeling instantly transferred to this Rabbit. One of the earliest imported to the U.S., it’s the desirable Swallowtail model which looks much closer to the original Giugiaro design than the later U.S. built examples. There’s something that’s so pretty, so delicate about the early Golf/Rabbit design. It was refreshingly different from what Volkswagen had produced up to that point, but it was also purposeful in its design. With light weight and a dose of sport, these early Rabbits paved the way for what would become the performance arm of Volkswagen, centered around the A1 based GTi. But even before the GTi hit these shores there were plenty of racers that saw the opportunity to race the Rabbit on a budget. This early build was competitive right through the 1980s; in fact, I bet with the right driver it would still be close to the front today:
Tag: Rabbit
It’s not often that lightning strikes twice, but today we get to look at another well preserved first generation GTi. Last week I highlighted an example with a bit more patina but well presented; today’s car is another one that we’ve written up that defies belief. There’s a reason that these cars are so well regarded by the automotive press and automotive fans; they’re amazing cars that make you smile. They punch far outside of their weight class – a do-everything automobile, most people that have owned them (this author included) drove them with aplomb – clipping apexes and lifting wheels, nearly daily redline-runs and antagonizing every “sports” car you could find. That likely explains why so few remain in the condition of this car:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1984 Volkswagen GTi on eBay
5 CommentsWhat price would you be willing to pay for perfection? For most people, restoring a car is more a labor of love than a prudent investment. First there’s the massive amount of time that you need to invest to make the car right; presuming it doesn’t have massive body damage or corrosion, even what many would consider only a reasonable paint job will still cost thousands of dollars. Then there are the countless trim items that need to be replaced, seats and carpeting. Do them right and you’re looking at several thousand dollars more. Move to the suspension, brakes and drive line and another few thousand dollars will be gone. At the end, you’ll receive a disproportionately small amount of kudos for the large amount of effort and cash that you’ve infused into your project. But, it’s a labor of love – so it doesn’t matter that no one else appreciates your work, right? That’s why it’s so strange when these projects go up for sale: