At $8,800, Does This 1983 VW Convertible Mean It’s Rabbit Season?
With Easter around the corner, it seems appropriate that today’s Nice Price or No Dice Rabbit’s ad promotes it as a “Bunny.” Let’s decide if this classic convertible’s price also makes it a sweet deal.
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A few of you commented that yesterday’s 2003 Lexus GS300, with its all-too-common gold over beige color scheme, was just too dull to meet its $10,000 asking price. I would counter that, by Lexus standards, it’s likely a hoot and a half. It was obviously not fun enough for the majority of you. though, as it fell in a 57 percent No Dice loss.
Speaking of fun, is there anything quite as joyful as cruising around on a nice day in a peppy little convertible? That’s just the scenario painted by the seller of today’s 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit drop top. Once implied as the solely the ride of choice for sorority sisters—imagine it as a White Claw on wheels—the Rabbit convertible is now old enough to have reached classic status and broader appeal.
Giorgetto Giugiaro did the basic bodywork on the Rabbit, while Karmann was responsible for both the engineering and the construction of the convertible version. First introduced for the 1979 model year, the convertible went on to outlive all other MK I models in the U.S., earning a name change to Cabriolet upon the introduction of the Rabbit-replacing Golf in 1985. There was no Mk II convertible Golf ever offered, and the MK I car was eventually supplanted by the MK III drop top—also a Karmann jam.
This one, in white and black both inside and out, sports 167,000 miles on the clock but only a few notable war wounds from those miles and the years. The ad points out the most obvious of those: a failure of the top on one corner of the rear window and a sizable, but not paint-puncturing, scrape along the passenger door.
The U.S. Rabbit convertible wore chrome bumpers this model year, and those look to be in decent condition, with the rubber endcaps and nerf bars all in place. A common conversion for these cars is the switch to the lighter and more compact plastic bumper caps used in Europe, and the mounting holes for those are present on the car, covered by little caps on the fenders.
The car’s interior appears to be in perfectly serviceable shape with front seats that look like they may have been reupholstered at some point. It also shares its fat four-spoke steering wheel with the GTI.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t share the GTI’s engine. The convertible’s drivetrain is comprised of a 1.7-liter SOHC fuel-injected four that makes 75 horsepower paired with a five-speed manual that turns the front wheels.
Per the ad, the car has a clean title and current smog-certified registration. According to the seller, one of these recently sold for $17,000 on Bring a Trailer. This one asks just under half that amount, with the seller claiming that, at $8,800, the VW is “Priced to Sell Fast!” Seeing as the ad has been up for over two weeks, that assertion may be proving invalid.
What do you think? Would this seemingly tidy classic VW convertible make for an affordable Easter basket at that $8,800 asking? Or does that price simply lay an egg?
You decide!
San Diego, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Whatsupdohc for the hookup!
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