WHAT IS IT?
The transition from the Beetle to the Golf as the only VW that really mattered wasn’t complete until an open car was added to the Golf lineup in 1978. Built by Karmann in Osnabruck, the Golf made a smart open car indeed, even with the prominent rollover hoop. The only car with its own handle. Ask automotive personality Jason Cammisa about his clever epithet for his car. We won’t repeat it here. Suffice to say, even though this was a European-delivered car, it would have looked just right parked in front of any American sorority house in the early MTV-era.
WHY THIS CAR HAS BEST ONE ON THE PLANET CHOPS
Like our featured Scirocco, this one looks good enough to be displayed at VW’s impressive Zeithaus Museum at its sprawling Autostadt complex in Wolfsburg. White/white cars wore terribly, but this one is beautifully preserved inside and out. The underside and engine compartment are nearly concours-ready. After the first two owners were through with them, these cars just seemed to disappear. The fact that it cost more than the cars were worth to replace the top may have had something to do with it. In any case, with under 30,000 miles, this car has years of sunny, happy fun to give its new owner who will hopefully be blasting his or her favorite GoGos songs from its tinny speakers.
it would have looked just right parked in front of any sorority house in the early MTV-era.
Oooooo, didn’t everyone who grew up wearing neon and Scrunchies* want one of these? And what better spec than the white over white was to be had? This is the ultimate Bitch Basket down to those wheels. All I need is some White Snake blasting through that stereo and I’m in my happy place. *(Sorry, Aqua Net not included).
I always think of the popular girls in the movie “Can’t Buy Me Love” and their white VW Rabbit like this one. If they only knew what Patrick Dempsey would become later.. Maybe it was the cool car that got him into racing?
Sorry, nowhere near BOTP. Look closely and it has plenty of edge to it. Now don’t get me wrong, it speaks to my “every girl who was out of my league owned one of these” younger self, but occasionally a truly low mileage, unbelievably preserved one does pop up. I would keep waiting.
I knew someone in college with this exact spec. The white upholstery starts looking like the bottom of a sneaker sole in no time. This one is nearly spotless. There’s one that makes the rounds at RADwood that is really nice, but not quite as nice as this one.
Full confession: I owned one of these. Not in triple-white, mind you. I have a shred of dignity. Still, I loved getting behind the wheel of my ’84 for an evening drive in the summer, or a daytime trip in the fall. This one looks far better than most these days, especially the white cloth sport seats with intact driver’s bolsters! The monochrome treatment is full-on’80s magic, down to the Snowflake alloys. And it doesn’t have a single modification.
Super-low odometer reading is a plus and it has the right pedal count. The killer for me is what appears to be the 1.6L carbureted engine. Not exactly GTI-spec, but these were really never about fast. And this one is so clean it might be totally forgivable. Best use case: a sun-runner in the Hamptons. Just keep that clean bodywork far from the ocean mist.