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Ratty Rescue: Green Work Machine

If you haven’t noticed, we’ve been pairing each week’s Find Of The Day with a matching Ratty Rescue. We try to find a lousy version of the nicer car that an enthusiast can fix up. But what do you couple with a Japanese faux Microbus? How about a European faux pickup truck? Well, it’s not a “real” pickup by American standards.

Volkswagen has sold work trucks since just about day one. A parts-delivery vehicle cobbled together from a Beetle chassis inspired the original Microbus. Myriad models spun off of the Type 2 platform including passenger vans, pickups, delivery vans, and even fire trucks. Volkswagen now has an entire commercial truck line offering buyers an array of models and body styles.

For a work truck, this 1992 DOKA (“doppelkabines”) is in decent condition. Like the old Rabbit-based Caddy pickups, it is front-wheel-drive. This DOKA has a 2.4 liter 5-cylinder diesel engine with 95,000 miles. While that might seem high, diesel engines of this era are incredibly reliable. A number of key elements have been replaced on the engine, so there’s plenty of life left on the motor. The diesel engine is paired with a 5-speed manual transmission.

[See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com]

Outside the truck has some typical wear; dents, dings, and light rust on the frame and rocker panels. For a knock-around commercial truck, it’s not bad. There’s one larger dent on the top of the cab. It has all three flip-down bed panels (note the integrated step in the tailgate) and while worn, they all work properly. Have we mentioned that this DOKA is very, very green?

The interior is also in good shape. Check out the killer seat fabric; it’s straight out of the 90s. It’s not perfect, but work crews are probably tough on vinyl seats. Even jauntily striped ones. It has a Clarion head unit that “works when it wants to.

It’s interesting to note that commercial trucks like this are just now catching on in America. Ford, Dodge (sorry, RAM), and Nissan are now offering front-wheel-drive work vehicles. But by American standards, this German truck will never be a “real” pickup. Front-wheel-drive? Five-cylinder engine? Flip-down bed panels? It’s all too strange by our standards.

So if you’re confident to rock a faux pickup, check out the eBay listing. Current bid: $9,084 and the reserve has not been met. Or you can buy it now for $11,995. This green machine is in Northampton, PA.

The post Ratty Rescue: Green Work Machine appeared first on VWVortex.



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