If your DVD collection includes Clueless, Mean Girls, and all seven seasons of the Gilmore Girls, then you will Ell-Oh-Vee-Eee, love today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Rabbit convertible. And even if you don't, you still might like this custom Vee Dub's price.
The term bitch basket is a derogatory label given to Volkswagen's Rabbit drop top owing to its B-pillar hoop and the fact that it seemed, back in the day, to be the present of choice for the privileged teenaged daughters of unimaginative fathers.
This 1983 Custom Rabbit Convertible is presently soooooo much more than just a sorority sister's means to grabbing more vodka and tampons, but the incongruity of its presentation as offered makes its target audience a challenge to identify.
One label the Karmann designed and constructed first generation Rabbit soft top could not be slapped with was overpowered. The 1.7-litre engine pumping out an adequate but not bra-snapping 74 horsepower.
This one however overcomes that limitation with VW hot four-pot of choice from 1991 - the 16V with its extroverted intake runners. These days, pretty much everything four cylinder is sixteen valve, but back in the day that was the exception rather than the rule. Here, the 2.0-litre easy-breather gives it up to the tune of 136-bhp at 5,800 rpm. Not bad, and even better that's backed up by a five speed stick and a bunch of other mechanical updates - including Corrado discs, Raceland coilovers, and a sweet set of BBS rims in once you go black.
So it's a German ricer, right? What would that be, a Strudeller? Well, the fatty wheels and lowered stance under wide flared fenders does provide some of the look to support that contention, as do the Euro bumpers. But then there's the rest of the car. Two tone pepto pink and black may be an awesome combination for the tile in an art deco bathroom, but here it's a little. . . well, scary.
Of course that color scheme is aligned with the interior, which is all Burberry all the time. It's on the door panels, the tonneau cover, the rear seats, but perhaps most egregiously, the iconic pattern of the British house of fashion has been stitched to the squabs, backs and headrests of the otherwise handsome and ass-gipping Recaros that have been fitted for the driver's and front passenger's enjoyment.
The work put into this car appears to be balls-deep thorough and well done, but the result remains a riddle wrapped in an enigma, surrounded by jaunty plaid, and that makes you wonder if its $6,000 price tag is warranted for so individualistic a creation. What do you think, is this Burberry basket worth picking up? Or, for that much is this a Rabbit that should be Burburied?
You decide!
Los Angeles Craigslist in La Verne not le Verne, dude! or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to VeeArrrSix for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a fixed-price tip, and remember to include your commenter handle