Posted by William Oliver
Remember when diesels were a thing? For millennials like me, diesels represented quirky, niche vehicles owned by people who wanted to own an environmentally vehicle. Those individuals were often quirky too. Hybrids supplanted diesels as the fuel efficient powertrain of choice for many after VW’s emissions cheating debacle. That being said, they’re still intriguing due to their relative scarcity. Speaking of scarcity, this MK1 Rabbit is probably one of the last of its kind. Seems like it’s in pretty good condition too.
The Rabbit/Golf was a pivotal vehicle for Volkswagen. It successfully transitioned the company away from the rear-engine, rear-wheel drive vehicles of the past. Given the relative explosion of front-wheel drive cars in the late 70s and 80s, it was a smart move.
The EPA only provides fuel economy estimates for the 1984 Rabbit, which Volkswagen offered with a 1.6 liter diesel. Models with a four speed manual were rated at 43 mpg highway. That’s the EPA adjusted number (the original unadjusted one was 50-60 mpg highway, depending on year and model). To put things into perspective, a 2020 Nissan Versa gets 35 mpg highway with its manual transmission. Those diesels were very fuel efficient in their day, although gas engines have come a long way since then.
It appears this Rabbit originated from a VW/Audi dealership in Ontario. Unlike VW’s diesel engines, it seems this dealership is still around. At some point it changed its name Humberview Volkswagen. Perhaps a change of ownership took place in the intervening years? Who knows. Only the Audi dealership maintains something close to the real name. They’re now called Audi Queensway. Maybe in another fifty years they’ll revert to the original name. In any event, it’s nice to see something like this still exists.
Heath McClure’s experiences with the MK1 and MK2 Rabbit diesel are essentially required reading. Head here to check out the details on the 1979 and here for the 1983 model.
I don’t know much, but I know I love the color! Honda sold a Fit in a similar color, and I’d love to find one.
I was pressed for time so I didn’t expand on the Rabbit’s color, but the tradition of painting smaller cars in bright green lived on through 2019. Ford still has a page dedicated to the 2019 Fiesta, and the lead image is a hatchback model clad in “Outrageous Green”
It’s not all that different from the Hyundai Kona’s Lime Twist color:
Very true. I do like the Kona in that color.
My Saab…
I love seeing the vintage license plates and how has this car not turned into a pile of rust by now!? This is a great find you have here and I love the color.
The plates are a nice detail. The ‘Yours to Discover’ tagline was first used on Ontario plates in 1982. The very successful advertising campaign targeted border states.
My girlfriend had this one (german version) in red in the early 90s. I remember very low consumption and anemic power, but once it ran it was unbelievably economical. We could go from Frankfurt to Paris (~370mls) for mere buttons. Nontheless I didn’t like this car . I could not stand this Diesel smell everywhere. I always had the feeling that I had to shower for hours to get rid of Diesel scent.
Till this day I back off from anything Diesel.
When you said alternative energy oil burner I expected to see a “Biodiesel” bumper sticker. That was very much a thing around here for awhile.
It appears Humberview Volkswagen is right next door to Audi Queensway. These are situated on the north side of a street in the west end of Toronto called ‘the Queensway’. Just across the street used to be a dealership called Courtesy Chev-Olds. Some other dealer is there now. A large shopping mall, “Sherway Gardens”, is not far away.
I am familiar with a dealer that used to be located a bit further north in town, that was called, “Humberview Chev-Olds-Cadillac.” That place is now closed, so perhaps the owners of that business name transferred it to the VW dealer. Perhaps they now own that VW dealer, I couldn’t say.
Updated – the Audi dealer is on the location of what used to be Courtesy Chev-Olds. Google has all the answers.
My parents had one – Dad bought it as a hedge against the possibility of a gas crisis – right when I got my license. With 48 hp on tap, I learned that quick reflexes can beat greater power in stoplight drags.
It was a great car. Fun to drive, solidly built. Loved it.
My sister and BIL bought a used 81 early in their marriage. It got a legit 50 mpg but was really slow, and strong headwinds on a highway gave it problems. They replaced it with a new Golf diesel in 86, which was more powerful but “only” got 45 mpg for them.
Mrs JPC had an uncle who bought one of the first ones and drove it until he died a few years ago. He was an engineer who had a daily commute from the suburban east side of Indianapolis to the suburban west side, a good solid 50-75 miles per day. Both car and man treated each other well.
In many parts of the world, it would mean that one had a disturbing cognitive deficit if one did not remember when diesels were a thing, as it was in all likelihood the motive power behind not just one’s own conveyance that very day but also the first, second and third best-sellers in one’s entire country.
The whole alt-energy craze pretty much blew past Oz, a few earnest VW van spaceys smoking the neighborhood with fish-and-chip pongs before breaking down with another clogging notwithstanding. Ancient Golfs did have a mild price spike, before the remorseful buyers realized the whole life-is-the-journey thing was real, that is, that most journeys might indeed take their lifetimes.
I had a number of first generation Rabbit Diesel cars. I never thought they were excessively slow. The motor may have had 48 hp, but the torque came on early. While it was slow, it had no problem keeping up with traffic.
Driving one today would probably be a different experience. Cars have become a lot better and the fuel consumption of my 2018 Golf (gasoline) isn’t much worse than the 48 hp diesel.
I worked@VW Westmoreland & built the Rabbit&Truck…i bought one of the first Alpha project diesel trucks we made & drove it till it died@200K…working on restoring an 82 truck now& looking forward to inexpensive transport…Great story!
Great story about our vehicles
I think this Rabbit is yellow, not lime green, because I had a 75 Rabbit (first year) in that same color. It was a 2-door gas-powered one, built in Germany before the Westmoreland, PA started cranking out Rabbits in the 79 model year. IIRC the first diesels from the PA plant were introduced in the 80 model year.
Those rusted and discolored steel wheels, especially in front, look very familiar!
Probably about 10 years ago, while, searching for parts for my F100, I met a guy who had several of these. There was at least one in running condition because it was his driver, and a few organ donors around the yard in various states of disassembly.
Part of his garage was full of vessels and chemicals used to synthesize biodiesel from waste vegetable oil. He claimed that he got 40 to 50 mph and that the engines lasted a long time. Here in CT, though, oxidation is an implacable foe.
This was toward the end of the home-brewed fuel trend, which seems to be over as far as I can tell. I meant to ask him what he did with all the glycerol because his skin wasn’t very smooth.