Bagged suspensions are an acquired taste, one that seems to have been favored by the seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Passat. Let’s see if this modded wagon’s price is so sweet that you can almost taste it.
You know, some of you say that you could tidy up any car, slap a three-grand price on it, and it’d seem like a good deal. I would counter that by referencing the mid-eighties American Ford Escort or just about any Daewoo.
Tidy and three-grand does however, apply to yesterday’s 1990 Nissan Maxima SE, a car that still holds some of its original mojo as a 4-door sports car. That legacy, along with its relatively clean presentation and modest miles all proved a winning combination, taking home a 64-percent Nice Price win.
Good for that Nissan, now let’s talk about those ancient Daewoos.
Just kidding. Let’s instead chat up this 1993 Volkswagen Passat wagon. This one comes with that funky grille-less nose and even funkier VR6 engine behind it. Those however, are not even the car’s most notable features.
No, the big deals here are the Vortech V9 supercharger feeding the 2.8-litre six like it’s a pâté producing goose, and the Airlift airbag suspension system that drops the car like the bass.
The supercharger is fitted so that both A/C and power steering are still accommodated, which is a nice touch. On the other side of the house sits a high-flow cat and fatter 2.5-inch exhaust, ending in some Borla mufflers. Good on the builder for keeping a cat and not shit-staining the air.
The VR6's timing chain was refreshed around 40K ago and the seller says the whole set up works without issue. Mated to the blown mill is a stock VW 5-speed stick, however that’s operated through a short-shift kit.
The other fun feature here is the bagged suspension. You all dig those don’t you? No? Well, play along as though you did, okay?
The seller says that the combination of Vmaxx struts with coil-over bags and 444-cc Airlift compressor is a cheap seats setup that works okay, but he still recommends upgrading to Airlift struts. The compressor and pair of 2.5-gallon air tanks take up the space originally occupied by the spare, so don’t have a flat, folks. Of course when it’s dropped like this how would you tell if you did?
Additional updates on the car include a sweet Euro interior supposedly shipped from, of all places, Latvia. That features some pretty aggressive cloth upholstery covering the seats and rolling over the door cards like some crazy TV test pattern.
The interior has also been imbued with a BBS steering wheel, updated gauges, and a retrofit to later B-pillar-mounted seatbelts in place of the U.S. market mousebelts. It’s all really clean and doesn’t look too over the top with the mods.
The body is likewise very tidy, although the seller does note some dings and chips, typical of a car of this age. The ad notes somewhat amusingly a rare ‘rear wiper delete’ which seems counterintuitive. The headlamps, side indicators, and smoked rear lenses are all Euro spec pieces according to the ad, and the car rolls on Formula TR 16-inch wheels wrapped in new Connies.
It’s all said to work with just a few exceptions and the seller is presently working it as his daily driver. The issues include a non-functioning sunroof. That, as luck would have it, is non-functioning in the closed position. The suede headliner is a bit droopy in places, but then again who of us isn’t? The coolant gauge doesn’t work reliably, and there’s apparently a minor leak in the steering rack to round out the noted foibles.
The car rocks a substantial 212,000 miles, but the seller says it’s nonetheless SOLID, and makes an hour and a half to two hour commute daily faithfully and without complaint. The title is clear and the car comes with a bunch of the stock parts—those mousebelts, headlamps, etc.—included.
Look, I know that half of you took one look at this car’s stance and then got pissed off that you couldn’t push the Crack Pipe button more times to punish the seller for the drop. I’d ask however, that you to set your indignation aside for a moment and consider this car for what it is and the car culture it represents. You may not like bagged rides, but there are a bunch of people that do.
With that in mind, and your anger temporarily held at bay, let’s all take a minute to consider this massaged VW’s $5,000 price. Does that seem fair considering all the pieces and thought that has gone into it? Or, is that too much to drop on this dropped Passat?
You decide!
Fredrick, MD Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Fauxshizzle for the hookup!
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