They used to say that Coke is the pause that refreshes. You might pause over today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe VW Cabrio due to its odd Coca Cola themed appearance, but will its price make you keep on going?
Some of you may have at one time or another attended a Poetry Slam. But for at least 68% of you, that didn't mean slamming yesterday's Sonnet, as its Nice Price win showed it wouldn't end up being just another Saab story.
The Rabbit Convertible was introduced in 1980 in replacement of the drop top Beetle. Engineered specifically as a soft top, the Karmann-built Typ 155, during its conversion, also traded an ample under-hatch load area for what amounts to an externally-accessible glovebox. A unique feature of the topless Rabbit was the basket handle B-pillar hoop which multi-tasked as strengthening agent, shoulder belt mount, and a place for sorority girls to display their cleavage when standing on the back seats.
For the 1988 model year, VW updated the long in the bucktooth Rabbit Convertible by anointing it the Cabrio and giving it some new duds below the belt. The Clipper Kit added rocker sill extensions along with body-colored fender flares and bumper caps. Gone forever was the option of pulling out unwanted tree stumps by tying a rope to a free-standing bumper.
This particular 1988 Cabrio is curious in that it appears to be shilling for the Coca Cola Company. The ad says the the Caddy's original owner was an executive at a Tennessee-located manufacturing plant for the sugar water company, and makes the claim that its having initially been titled in Memphis supports this allegation. Now, I'd be the first to advocate that most American of refreshing caramel colored beverages - especially when joined by a healthy splash of demon rum - but driving around in a red over white Rabbit with the company's brand emblazoned on each flank? That's a little weird regardless of the provenance.
But then maybe you happen to be a raging Coke-aholic, and would appreciate the connection with your favorite dental delaminator of choice. If so, you might also like the fact that this VW's original paint - and Coke logo - seems perfectly acceptable, and that the white top still can protect from both rain and Pepsi cans hurled in jealousy. There's also a litany of maintenance and repair work that is said to have been accomplished, including the replacement of both fuel pumps, which if memory serves, are really freakin' expensive.
Inside, the white upholstery, while somewhat gag-inducing should you not be from Cleveland, is also serviceable, suffering only from a tear in the driver's seat cushion and a missing recliner lever or something. That's okay though if, as the seller explains, you have ‘the touch.' Also, there is the possibility that this one smells like Coke. Considering the alternatives, that may not be such a bad thing.
At about 2,330-lbs the Rabbit Cabrio's additional structure makes itself known in taxing the 90-bhp its 1.8-litre produces. Thankfully this 142,000-miler has the five speed stick, albeit most likely with a linkage as rubbery as a boned chicken, a feature it seems of all VWs of that era. Not only does the top go down on this Rabbit, but the ad says the A/C will blow your skirt up as well; cooling you with breezes from above and freezes from below.
The question is, should anyone pay $4,200 for the privilege of cracking open this cold one? Yeah, the seller says he has a butt-load of receipts for the work done to date but we all know that nobody's going to pay for work that's already been done. More importantly however is the fact that this Cabrio looks like a rolling Coke machine. That will either add to or subtract from its perceived value, depending on your affinity for the sweet brown burp-maker.
So what do you think, is $4,200 a price that would have you singing I'd like to buy the world a Volks, and keep it company. . . ? Or, does that price make this a Cabrio that's no deposit, no return?
You decide!
Little Rock Craigslist or go here if the ad disappears.
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