From: Eric Linnhoff <eric10mm@qni.com>
>How early did VW start making the water pumper cars like Rabbits and
>Sciroccos?
1975. I bought one of the first Rabbit Custom cars in the state. There
were three lines of Rabbit: Basic, Custom, Deluxe. The Deluxe sucked
because it had no lap belt, just a knee pad and a shoulder belt. The valves
in the first cars were lousy, and mine was rebuilt under warranty. I hardly
got it back and it was totaled by a '68 Mercury. Oddly enough, I replaced
it with a new Chevy pickup. The trim line was the most basic, and carried
the name "Custom Deluxe".
How about an old VW Squareback? ;^)
In the early weeks of my Rabbit's incarceration for the valve problem, they
loaned me a Squareback. Drove it to Duluth to go to an ice race. On the
way home, there were some serious cross-winds. White-knuckle trip. I
pounded on the table at the dealer until they gave me a new Rabbit to drive.
>I saw one for sale on
>Ebay today. Air cooled VWs are cool and can make decent power for their
>car's weight.
An Acquired Taste. I always hated them. Noisy and finicky. Some folks
love them.
>How about a Karmen Ghia?
Karmann Ghia or "Common Gear", as Dick O'Kane used to say. More handmade
than the beetle, in the Karmann factory according to a design by Ghia. The
body seams were leaded in. The car was built more solid. As a result, the
car seemed more of a fine car, but acceleration was somewhat more leisurely
than the beetle. Then again, the smaller frontal area, better streamlining
and lower center-of-mass did help performance a bit. I used to go with a
girl who had one called "Froggy". Why, I don't know, since it was not
green, but mustard yellow. When I autocrossed it, it lifted the inside
front wheel. Joanne used to say that I made Froggy think he was a Porsche.
She used to slap my hand if I shifted too soon on the street. Said I had to
keep the revs up to keep the valves from burning. I prefer water-cooling,
even though I had a couple of Corvairs in my time. Jerry Coffin, the
proprietor of JAC auto, in Ramsey Minnesota, has a rare-in-the-USA 1500
Karmann Ghia. The body work is different.
Phil Ethier Saint Paul Minnesota USA
1970 Lotus Europa, 1992 Saturn SL2, 1986 Suburban, 1962 Triumph TR4 CT2846L
LOON, MAC pethier@isd.net http://www.mnautox.com/
"It makes a nice noise when it goes faster"
- 4-year-old Adam, upon seeing a bitmap of Grandma Susie's TR4.
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