Volkswagen Archives | German Cars For Sale Blog

1984 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI

Published October 20, 2024 by Carter

While not the fastest or the prettiest car Volkswagen ever made, the GTI represents the ethos of VW’s 1980s philosophy of cheap, fun-to-drive, and eminently practical cars for consumers. As they did when new, the first generation GTI also represented a car which gave much faster cars a run for their money. True, the 90 horsepower under the hood won’t scare a supercar. But what this car lacks in straight-line performance it more than makes up for in value.

Over the past few years we’ve watched the fan-favorites and driver’s cars from the 1980s increasingly price themselves out of the range of most enthusiasts. The esoterics are also forged in unobtanium today, and while there was a period where you could snap up cheap 80s products in Europe and import them, they’re going away, too. Sure, the M3 and 911 led the charge, but today a clean 190E 2.3-16 or Quattro will set you back some serious bucks. And then when you do get one, you need to worry about collector insurance, expensive and hard-to-source parts and whether you bought in a bubble.

The solution is still the giant-killer GTI. Find a clean one, and you’ll have a car that can be driven at 10/10ths still today and generate plenty of smiles, yet is relatively cheap to buy and very cheap to run. You’ll get thumbs up just like the 911 driver will. Maybe even more, honestly, because when was the last time you saw an A1 cruising around?

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2003 Volkswagen GTI 1.8T

Published June 9, 2024 by Carter

Will anyone pine over the Mk.4 GTI? I think there’s actually a chance the answer is yes. Yes, the Mk.4 GTI ushered in a more bloated body, subdued styling, increased safety, and a lot more weight. But, it also brought with it a lot more choice. While the VR6 continued over into early models largely unchanged, though a more potent 24-valve version emerged later. But the big news was the entrance of the turbocharged 1.8T into the lineup for me. More in keeping with the character of the original model, the peaky and punchy 1.8Ts grew in power over the production run, and they also offered the basis for a few special models; the European-market 25th Anniversary model, the 2002 337 Edition, and the 2003 20th Anniversary Edition.

Today’s car isn’t any of those special models, but it does have low mileage and appears to be pretty much as it left the factory. Collector status?

2003 Volkswagen GTI 1.8T on eBay:

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1984 Volkswagen Atlantic GLS Coupe

Published March 31, 2024 by Carter

The…what? Clearly that’s a Jetta, right? Well, you’re both right and wrong at the same time. The Jetta was marketed as several different names across the globe, including Bora and Vento in Europe. In Mexico, though, the first generation was known as the Atlantic, and here today we have one of those that has relocated to the US. While it looks pretty racey on the BBS wheels with the lowered stance, you’ll not find many other go-faster bits on it. Still, if you want to cause some head scratches at the next VW meet…

1984 Volkswagen Atlantic GLS Coupe on eBay:

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1975 Volkswagen SP2

Published December 23, 2023 by Carter

As Volkswagen in Germany switched to water-cooled designs, Volkswagen do Brasil attempted to extend the life of the basic Beetle platform in two ways; the Brasília created a new hatchback rival to the Golf, and the SP models were a leap forward for the Karmann Ghia coupes (of which Brazil already had their own special version – the TC).

‘SP’ referenced São Paulo where the SP and SP2 were produced. The early model had a 1.6 liter flat-4, while the SP2 moved up to a 75 horsepower 1.7 air-cooled flat-4 mounted in the rear. The proportions of the body styling seemed to suggest the opposite though, with the long, low hood and hatchback GT profile looking more like a traditional sports car than any VW had before. Other period designs were borrowed – the Volkswagen 411, the Porsche 924 and Audi’s 100 Coupe S all had similar angles.

Only about 11,300 of these ultra-rare, Brazil-only SP2s were produced. They’re about as legendary as air-cooled VWs get in the U.S., so when one pops up for sale it’s worth a look: