PCH, Joad Family Redux Edition: 1957 Cadillac Camper or 6-Door Rabbit Limo?

Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Hard times is a-comin', and it's time to prepare for life on the move!

Nice Price Or Crack Pipe: The $12,000 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel Pickup?

What's a really cool used vehicle worth? Yesterday, 60% of you opined that 300 grand was too much for a beautiful Citroën DS21 Chapron Palm Beach, so today we're going with another much-beloved, yet more affordable, machine: a 1982 VW Rabbit Diesel pickup.

Car Buyers Go Berserk For The Volkswagen Rabbit Wolfsburg Edition!

While many mid-80s VW buyers were satisfied with a plain ol' Kleine GTI, others were willing to take extreme measures to get their hands on the Wolfsburg Edition Rabbit. Yes, climbing up on a moving car transporter was totally worth it, considering you'd get such features as a cassette deck and cool emblems.

VW Rabbit TDI To Reach US Shores Fall 2009

Diesel enthusiasts and entry-level VeeDub enthusiasts will once again be able to frolic together when the 2.0-liter TDI debuts in the sixth generation Rabbit next fall. The rollout schedule for new VW models includes the TDI Touareg in the spring of 2009, followed by the new GTI in the summer and the other variants of the Rabbit that fall. And what about the Tiguan? Don't hold your breath for a TDI version anytime soon. More »

Rabbit-Based Jet Car May Be Prototype Homer

We're not really sure what this is, and the anonymous submitter who was kind enough to send it in can't tell us much either. What we do know is this futuristic interpretation of the Homer is part VW Rabbit and was found near Huntsville, Alabama, aka "Rocket City" and home to the Marshall Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal. So is this the result of a frustrated wanna-be missile engineer trying to stick it to the man, or just the product of an actual aerospace engineer overcome by hydrazine fumes once too often? Your guess is as good as ours. (Thanks Truck O-Matic!)

Kleine GTI, Now With 16 Valves For 1987!

VW's "Kleine GTI" series of ads, starting in 1984, was still going strong three years later. Those crazy Wolfsburgers went and doubled the number of valves for that year, giving America's Members Only-clad sorority girls 123 rampaging German horses under the hood.

2009 VW Golf GTI To Get 211 HP, GTI-R To Replace R32

VW insiders have revealed that the company plans to launch a 2009 VW GTI soon after the release of the 2009 VW Golf. The new GTI will use a 211 HP 2.0-liter four-cylinder, gaining 11 HP over the current model, but still far short of rivals like the 2008 MazdaSpeed3 and 2009 Subaru WRX. A more powerful GTI-R model will replace the R32 and rival the Japanese competition with 265 HP and 4WD. But why is the six-cylinder model being dropped? More »

Three Deuces And A 4-Speed? Kleine GTI For 1984!

Yes, it's a German version of the 1964 Ronnie And The Daytonas song "Little GTO," and while the '84 GTI had a throttle body instead of three deuces and an extra gear on the transmission, it was just like the GTO! This ad came out around the time that the Reagan Administration said it was cool to show total hoonage in car ads again (after a moratorium on car-ad jumps and burnouts that lasted through most of the Malaise Era). These things sold like crazy in California, but by now most of them have disappeared. More »

VW Golf Twin Drive Plug-In Hybrid Diesel Makes Prius Look Thirsty

The combination of a fuel-sipping diesel engine with plug-in hybrid technology is something that hasn't really been utilized — until now. This is the Volkswagen Golf Twin Drive Concept, and it looks even more promising than VW's late Golf TDI Hybrid from Geneva. Evidently, the Twin Drive can be run in electric-only mode for a range of up to 30 miles using an 82 HP electric motor. But, there's also a 2.0-liter turbo-diesel that makes 122 HP which can take over once the batteries have been drained. When the two powerplants combine, you become Captain Planet have a parallel hybrid with about 174 HP. The range is aided even further by regenerative braking to charge the batteries, and start-stop technology that shuts the engine off when idling in traffic. But is all of this just a techno' showcase? Or will it actually be made available for normal people to save fuel with? More »

Second Tandem Axle Rabbitamino Discovered, They're Breeding

While woefully lacking in the mid mounted 500 cubic inch Cadillac engine and scissor doors department the first tandem axle VW Caddy we discovered had, this one succeeds in another area - it's an actual Rabbitamino. If you look carefully at the hind end of this one, you can see the telltale signs pointing out this started life as a VW Rabbit and was chopped up into the masterpiece you see today. We're also digging the extra clean super-long wheel well and cool canvas bed cap. Unfortunately, this came from actual photographs in the Hemmings archives so you know all we know, still, this would make a kick-ass motorcycle carrier.

1980 VW Rabbit Limo For Sale, No, We Aren't Kidding

If ever there was a project hellish enough to merit actual purchase consideration based solely on the novelty of the car in question, this Volkswagen Rabbit Limo is right up there. Just reading the description you can almost feel the flames of hell licking at this guy as he tries to convince someone to purchase a stretched Rabbit with rusty floors and a rotten interior that hasn't run since 2002. This one is definitely for the pure of heart, but hey, only $750! Description and more pics below. More »

Volkswagen Rabbitamino On Hydros?

We were expecting some wacky stuff here at the Geneva Motor Show, but a VW pickup on hydros? What the what? Sure why not, the crazy part was the 8 switch Vee Dub was sitting next to a dropped Ferrari F40, which we thought was illegal to begin with, but what do we know. What does that say about us that both Spinelli and I walked right past the F40 like it was invisible? In any case, too bad this example wasn't seen at SEMA or some state fairground where we would have been no doubt treated to a couple of tasteful poses. More »

Wilt Chamberlain: Why I Prefer My 1979 VW Rabbit To My Rolls

The '79 Volkswagen Rabbit (that's a Golf to you shifty-eyed foreign types) probably didn't accelerate very rapidly with Mr. Chamberlain aboard, what with its 71-horsepower engine and all. But it has enough headroom- somehow- to accommodate a 7-footer. Wait, did we say 71 horsepower? Make that 48 horses for the Diesel Rabbit!

1983 Volkswagen Rabbit LS

After all these months of DOTS, we've only seen two water-cooled VWs (a Rabbitamino and a Quantum). The island is buzzing with air-cooled Beetles (so many, in fact, that I could probably show nothing but Type 1s in this series for a solid month), but what happened to all those Rabbits? They used to be everywhere! And let's not even talk about Dashers and Sciroccos. So, I've been keeping a lookout for vintage water-cooled Wolfsburg machinery, and was rewarded with a few more Rabbitaminos and this 4-door '83 Rabbit. More »

Oldest Rabbit Diesel Found in California

Volkswagen has located the oldest living Volkswagen diesel. No surprise it was found in California, near Bakersfield, where it wasn't forced to undergo the perfect storm of corrosive forces: road salt, humidity and Amherst students on a mescaline binge. The winning model is from the Rabbit's first model year in the US, 1977. It sports a 1.5-liter oil burner producing an achingly low 50 horsepower, though its curb weight was around that of a new Touareg's spare tire. The car's owner gets the use of a Touareg V10 TDI for six months, possibly for hoonage in the Mojave. The publicity stunt (ca-ching) hearkens the launch of the 2009 Jetta and Jetta wagon TDI diesels in the US in the first quarter of 2008. [via German Car Scene] More »

The Volkswagen GTI W12 Concept, Now With Engine Music

From up close, the turbocharged W12 engine Volkswagen shoehorned into its GTI W12 concept car is probably a visceral experience, not unlike that millisecond before a jungle cat grinds you into meat by-product. In this video, you won't see the steroidal hare perform any feats of strength, like jumping over buses or dodging 75mm antitank rounds. It's all about the motor in all its whooping, coughing glory. Good morning. – Mike Spinelli More »

Diesel Rabbit Pickup

Once again I've hit the not-so-mean streets of Alameda to find the day's Down On The Street car. Today we're going with another import: an early-80s VW Rabbit Pickup Diesel, or, as we Jaloppers like to call them, a Rabbitamino... More »

Jackrabbit: Hayabusa-Powered Volkswagen Mk1 Golf

It wasn't enough for H.R. Engineering to merely perform one of its signature front-to-rear-drive conversions on this Volkswagen Rabbit (Golf Mk1). Under this hood is bolted a turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa engine producing 350 hp. Apparently, as expected, the one-off is quite a handful — and it yells quite loudly, indeed. Maybe the next step is a call to Mr. Hartley for a V8. – Mike Spinelli More »

Tandem Axle, Caddy Powered Rabbitamino: Need We Say More?

A lot of us gearheads talk a big game a lot of the time, to borrow a phrase from the late, great Vonnegut, "So it goes." When on the topic of stupid sized engines in stupid sized cars (which are usually inversely proportionate), dropping a 500-cubic-inch Cadillac V8 into "X" teeny, tiny car invariably ends the debate. "Yeah, damn, that would be sweet." I put forth the Rabbit Pickup (or Rabbitamino around these parts) as a girly car entry into the Loverman's daily Q a couple of days ago, but was forced to face my folly the same day after seeing the truck/car towing a stonkin' woodchipper down Telegraph Road. One Google search later and here you have it, mini-car-amino nirvana. A tandem-axled, Caddy-powered, German-American hybrid... with scissor doors! Based on the pic after the jump, I have absolutely no idea how the powertrain works, but I'm betting that invisible golden unicorns transmit the power to all six wheels by way of telepathy.–Ben Wojdyla More »

Spy Photos: VW Thunderbunny for Reals?

Volkswagen showed off its "Thunderbunny" concept at the SEMA show last November, tempting crowds of hatchies with promises of post-R32 hareiness (ouch). Of course, now we know V-dub is introducing a new R32 in the US this year. So what of the bunny? According to VW blog UK MkIVs the Golf RS above was on display at a VW corporate event. Insiders say the RS will see a limited production run of 500 to 900, with a debut expected for the Frankfurt or Essen shows later this year, ahead of a market launch in mid-'08. As for what may be under the hood. Could this be the "R36" everyone's been talking about? After all, are those not Passat R36 wheels? – Mike Spinelli More »

Spy Photos: Volkswagen R36

If you thought the story was over when Volkswagen announced its latest R32 hot hatch was coming to the US, you were wrong, dammed wrong. All that loose talk about an R36 model may be accurate. Spies say this prototype is the upcoming, 300-hp Golf R36, sporting VW's 3.6-liter VR6. Haldex four wheel drive and DSG-gearbox will complete the ground action. Of course, the odds that this monster is coming to the US aren't in our favor. But that won't stop the betting. – Mike Spinelli More »

Digging for Oil: Volkswagen Seeks Oldest Running VW Diesel

Our first run-in with a Volkswagen Rabbit diesel, sometime in the late 1970s, began and ended with the phrase, "Mister, I think your car's on fire." In the ensuing decades, the company's oil burners, now designated TDI, grew more prevalent, despite a few hiccups regarding quick-burnout glow plugs, tightened emissions controls and varying sulfur content. Now, the company's looking for the oldest running VW diesel in the US, which as Edmunds Inside Line points out, will likely be a 1977 Rabbit (12,393 were sold that year). The winning owner will get the use of a 2007 VW Touareg V10 TDI for six months. Not that they'll need it. Anyone who could keep a Rabbit Diesel running for 30 years could probably build his own car out of coffee cups and discarded lawn furniture, presumably at will. – Mike Spinelli More »

It's a Major Award! Automobile Names GTI Automobile of the Year

GTI! Redeem thyself! And in its fifth iteration, the heated up Golf/Rabbit/Golf/Rabbit VW hatch seems to have done just that with the world's motoring press, and the lads and lasses at Automobile are apparently not immune to the car's charms. While the Automobiles don't quite lavish the praise on the DSG that Farago does, they do call it "the best automatic-type transmission we've ever driven." For more superlatives and a rundown of what they've thought of GTIs past, ve haff posted ein link below. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Rascally Rabbit: Japan Tuning Shop's MR2-Based Pagani Zonda Clone

Rabbit, a Japan-based Porsche tuning shop, wants to put you in a Pagani Zonda for $50,000. Sound like a scam? Ok, so it's not a real, AMG V12-powered Pagani Zonda, but the Rabbit PG-Z will indeed play one on TV (if that's your thing). Using the Toyota MR2 as a starting point, the Rabbit bunch is creating the PG-Z to be a veritable Zonda doppelganger. They're only in the prototype stages — that's a hand-built wooden prototype in the picture, says AutoWeek — but the're serious about rendering it for real. They're just showing it off to gauge interest. Interested? [Gallery] – Mike Spinelli More »

Buy A Car And Get A Guitar, You're Gonna Go Far: VW To Offer Special Axe With Select Models

We've now seen it all. We thought that VW's attempt to tie the iPod in with the Beetle was the highest into the musical stratosphere the company reprsenting Deutschland would go. We were wrong. VDub's now decided you don't just want to listen to music in your car, you want to create it — and that's why they're starting an ad campaign and first-of-its-kind musical giveaway in coordination with guitar maker First Act, Inc. Beginning today and running through the end of the year, any customer who purchases a Jetta, Jetta GLI, GTI, Rabbit, New Beetle and New Beetle Convertible, as well as select 2006 models — will receive a completely customized First Act GarageMaster electric guitar that will play seamlessly through the car's existing audio system. Each First Act GarageMaster electric guitar will: More »

Makes Friends With Its Fast, Then Carries It Around: Bonneville Rabbit Pickup!

What happens when you put a Weber 44IDF carb on an '81 Rabbit Pickup's stock 1.8L motor, throw in a new cam and put on an underdrive crank pulley? How about a best one-way speed at Bonneville of 135.412 mph, ten national records, and a 15.2 at 96mph in the quarter? Okay, so it's got a sheetmetal cowl-induction scoop, Moon discs and a tonneau cover on the bed, but it's by far our most awesome find of the week. Okay, true, it's only Monday. Still, owner Tom Brusch is our kind of geek. [Thanks to James for the tip.] More »

Crispin Porter + Bogusky's Well-Kitted Gypsy Cab

Wha' happen' when you put four Mac Minis loaded with Vidi video capture software, four lipstick and pinhole spy cameras, four microphones, four Pinnacle video-to-FireWire converters, a grip of external 250-GB FireWire drives, a Lynksys 802.11G wireless router, a high-gain antenna, a WebTech 5000 Locator GPS tracking unit and a 1000-watt power inverter to drive all the hardware into a VW Rabbit, bring some guy named Steve out from Colorado to drive it around New York, offer people free rides and then splice the footage up? More »

Breaking Records! VW Announces August Sales, Up 1.5%

Go, Fast, go! Volkswagen announced August sales this morning, and they're just continuing on the roll they've been on all year, announcing a 1.5% increase over August of last year. That puts the automaker all about representin' Deutscheland with year-on-year sales up 14.7% ahead of 2005. VW's pegging the increase directly onto the less-speedy-than-the-GTI hot-hatch, the newly re-named Rabbit — which snapped up sales of 1,983 units over the 946 for the Golf predecessor. That's probably good — especially considering almost every other model — sales are down — like the SUV Touareg, which saw a 50% decrease from August of last year. More »

The Bunny Makes Us Giggle: Harlequin Volkswagen Rabbit Spotted On Flickr

That Crispin, Porter and Bogusky VW Rabbit ad with two of the newly-renamed hatchbacks frolicking around and reproducing all over the place, resulting in a slew of new rabbits, including a sure-fire cult hit, the "Harlequin" black, white and silver-painted version. Although we'd only seen the soon-to-be limited-edition checkerboard patterned Rabbit on the commercials, some enterprising folks got them and dropped them into Flickr. Here's a gallery of a few of the pictures, and head over to Flickr for the rest. More »

Breaking! Volkswagen Represents Deutschland, Double 2nd Quarter Profits

VW, the "Fast" automaker and maker of all things un-pimped, saw second quarter profit more than double, primarily due to a one-time gain from the sale of its EuropCar rental unit, shed earlier this year. The German automaker earned 859 million ($1.08 billion) in the second quarter of 2006, up from the 333 million euros from the last year-to-year quarter. That blew away estimates of 824 million ($1.04 billion). But all those profits weren't just a one-time thing. VDub also saw a sales jump of 8% during the same period. Not bad for a car company selling a vehicle called a "rabbit." More »

Ad Watch: Even Volkswagen Rabbits Like To "Multiply"

Yet another funny little piece of gold crashing in from the ad agency fast-ly seen as having a Midas touch when it comes to pimping an automakers advertising — Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. CP&B's latest for VW introduces the re-naming of the "Golf" to it's classic "Rabbit" name. The ad turns the little VW hatch into rabbits — complete with sexual references involving tunnels and little rabbit kiddies being born — some with very unique color combinations. At least it's better than re-naming it the "Polo." Then we'd have to see jockeys heading into tunnels hand-in-hand...somehow we don't feel America's ready for that. More »

Yes!: Volkswagen Rabbit R32 Coming to the US

Forget all you've heard about the US not getting the new Golf/Rabbit R32 factory tuner — or that some manner of "R36" was imminent — says AutoWeek. VW reportedly confirmed the R32 will hit these shores in 2007 a 2008 model. As we said of the European model, introduced at the Frankfurt show last year, "The 2006 R32's 3.2-liter V6 gets a 10hp boost, via FSI technology (that's direct injection to the acronymically challenged), to 247hp. A Haldex AWD system doles the power to the four corners like a meth-addicted croupier. A DSG autoshift box is a $1,600 option in the UK, and reduces zero-to-62 mph times to 6.2 seconds from the manual's 6.5 seconds." Hot hatch-o-rific. More »