This is going to start with a story and progress to pictures when they're available.
Once upon a time, an aircooled VW owner named James wanted a rabbit pickup. James had previously owned a few type 2's, a bug, and a karmann ghia project he, to date, has not even really started.
Then one day, a friend of his had a 2-door rabbit for sale. A '78, automatic, gasoline-powered rabbit. Although it wasn't exactly what he wanted, James bought the car and fell in love.
As soon as the honeymoon was over, James started to notice things about the Rabbit that he didn't like; the most obvious thing was the automatic transmission. After 5 months of driving this car, James bought another '78 Rabbit. This wasn't a replacement though. The second rabbit was a parts car to swap in a manual gear-box (and better seats, a new fuse box, and some rims).
*no picture of Rabbit #2 found*
James drove the rabbit everywhere. He drove it down to Oregon a few times, and countless trips up and down the island. Despite this, the rabbit was pushed aside. James's other love, who was quite a bit more vocal than the rabbit, decided that they should own a more "practical vehicle" with 4 doors and room to haul stuff. The couple eventually compromised and bought a '79 Volvo 245.
The rabbit was left out in a field to face the cold west-coast rain alone. Nearly a year passed, and James had grown tired of the Volvo. The rabbit was brought back to the road with a tune-up and some new tires. It was quickly apparent that the winter alone had not been kind to the Rabbit. Electrical problems kept popping up, and by the end of the summer, the rabbit was off the road again. James bought himself a clean 4-door '90 golf and drove that around for a while.
He moved out to Montreal for a year, and the golf went with him. When he returned from Montreal, broke and hungover, James sold the reliable Golf and turned his attention for the old Rabbit. He fixed the electrical problems with a CE2 conversion and a lot of love.
The Rabbit was happy, and back on the road.
But once again, the happiness didn't last long. James was seduced by the dark side. He bought a '93 TD golf. While this made his wife happy, James hated the car.
*Picture Not Yet Found*
The engine was fine, but the merits of the engine alone couldn't overcome James' hatred of the MK3s. Fortunately, James' wife drove the car most of the time, which may or may-not have contributed to a reverse gear failure. He tried changing the transmission, but the replacement transmission leaked like a sieve. In 50km, the clutch disc was contaminated and slipping badly. James didn't feel like removing the transmission again, so the car sat, and the Rabbit shone again.
James missed the diesel sounds and smells and fuel-economy. He bought a cheap '77 diesel that was rotten practically in half. James and a friend parted the car out in a single day and boxed it all up. The diesel engine, 4-speed transmission, seats, JOM coilovers, and other goodies found their way into James' blue '78.
The Rabbit's days were numbered. James finally found a solid Rabbit Pickup project he could afford. A bare shell of an '82 with no front end on it, but boxes of parts in the back.
Rust and brake failure had sealed the fate of the Rabbit. James took the engine and some interior parts out of the rabbit, and got the truck running and on the road. He gave the thing a quick rattle-can paint-job and hit the road.
*Caddy Pics to Come*
But after less than a week of driving that, James wanted more power. He now has an AAZ swap planned for the coming weeks. More to come.
Topic: JamesT's mk1 collection. (Read 5111 times)
