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Ratty Rescue: Easter Rabbit

It’s officially spring, so what better way to celebrate nice weather than with a new project car? This week’s Ratty Rescue is a well-worn Rabbit is ready to hop on down the bunny trail to your hutch.

The Volkswagen Rabbit is easy to look past when searching for an older car. Rabbits are a little plain, a little basic, and not very exciting when put up against GTIs and Sciroccos. The little hatchback was created to be Volkswagen’s new Beetle: a car for every man and woman. A car that’s honest, affordable, with an acceptable amount of power with lots of practicality. The thing with everyday cars like this little bunny is they disappear from the landscape as the years pass. When was the last time you saw a run-of-the-mill Rabbit at a local car show?

Just like most Rabbits, this one is easy to overlook. It’s rough, it’s rusty, and it’s a diesel (and not a turbo diesel; this is an old-school, can’t-get-out-of-its-own-way diesel). But look a little closer and you’ll see some interesting things. To start, this is a 1978 Rabbit. This means it was built in Germany, not Westmoreland PA. German models have the single-round headlights set up along with the small rear taillights. The design stays true to what Giorgetto Giugiaro originally created.

[See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com]

The interior looks like it’s very good condition. Keep in mind, this is now a 40-year-old car with 271,000 miles. The seats and carpet look better than some 10-year-old cars. The dash has some minor cracking at the top. The door panels are all intact and in good condition. Some steam cleaning and Armor-All could bring the interior back in shape in one afternoon.

If you’re looking for a car with lots of patina, this could be the perfect one. Put this bunny on bags and some bigger chrome wheels, and you’ll get instant scene points. Check out the “BUSH” bumper sticker and the “Fahrvergnugen” sticker in the rear window.

Mechanically, well, it’s tough to say what is going on. These diesel engines are known for going for hundreds of thousands of miles. The seller states the car ran when parked; that was 12 years ago. Prior to going into storage, the Rabbit also received new brake calipers, water pump, and vacuum pump.

You can see this 1978 Rabbit in Texas, somewhere “between Houston and Austin” as the classified ad on TheSamba.com states. Current asking price: $2200.

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