Was There a Volkswagen Rabbit Truck?
Most of us don’t know, but there was a Volkswagen rabbit truck in the 80s. And surprisingly, they were quite popular too.
1980s Volkswagen Rabbit Truck
1979 saw the introduction of Volkswagen’s Rabbit small pickup based on the company’s Rabbit automobile model. They needed to compete with all the compact pickups that were entering the market then, and they found that the Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup met all of their requirements.
The wheelbase of the Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup was roughly 9 inches longer than the sedan version of the vehicle since it was constructed on a car chassis. It had a bed that was six feet long and could haul up to one hundred and ten pounds.
Why was the Volkswagen Rabbit Truck Famous Back Then?
1979 was a difficult year for Americans who drove large, gas-guzzling cars, and Volkswagen of America had the perfect solution. The company designed a compact truck that drank petrol like a cocktail straw: the Caddy, which was marketed as the Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup in these parts of the world.
The Volkswagen Rabbit Truck with a gasoline engine was rated at 32 miles per gallon on the highway, although its actual mileage was always lower. The Rabbit Pickup with a diesel engine was rated at 39 miles per gallon.
Naturally, the gas engine generated 62 horsepower, whilst the oil burner could only muster up 48 horsepower.
Volkswagen Rabbit Trucks in the U.S.
Trucks were also popular among American purchasers. Compact pickup trucks introduced the usefulness of small trucks to America long before every hausfrau and middle manager drove a 3/4-ton diesel, and the Japanese dominated the market.
This catalyst got people in America to try out Toyotas and Datsuns. Moreover, in the middle of the 1970s, Mazda, Isuzu, and Mitsubishi were often substituted for the compact pickup trucks of Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge.
Manufacturing the Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup
The Volkswagen Rabbit Truck will be produced in the company’s new facility in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. Like the Jetta, it was designed with the American market in mind, which is amusing given that the Volkswagen Pickup (known as the Caddy in other markets) sold more vehicles in other countries than in the United States.
What Made this Pickup Different?
The Volkswagen Rabbit Truck was indistinguishable from any other Rabbit version from the front door. Including the woodgrain dashboard seen in LX trim levels, the doors and inside were similar to the five-door hatchbacks.
In addition to the standard 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel, the vehicle also offered a 1.6-litre four-cylinder gas engine with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection and an upper cam. There were also three gearboxes to choose from: a four-speed handbook, a five-speed handbook, and an automatic with three gears.
Design of the Volkswagen Pickup Truck
However, the Volkswagen Rabbit Truck stood apart from the crowd after you reached the rear doors. The springs and taillights, in particular, were made specifically for the Rabbit Pickup.
The Pickup’s weight was increased to a respectable 1,103 pounds by replacing the hatchback’s rubber bushings with leaf springs supporting a sturdy tubular axle.
The wheelbase had also been lengthened by ten inches. The company raised the gasoline capacity to 16 gallons to improve the range.
As with most other four-cylinder trucks, the Volkswagen Rabbit Truck could tow a respectable amount. While many small trucks of the time had both a single-walled bed and a few bolt-in inner walls that enabled mud to seep down into the lower bumpers, the Rabbit Pickup’s bed was made with a simple double-walled structure.
This protected the external bedsides from damage caused by rolled objects.
Why Wasn’t the Volkswagen Pickup Successful?
Despite the Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup’s cutting-edge design and forward-thinking, it was not as successful as Volkswagen of America had planned. Volkswagen sold 37,392 in 1981.
The number of units sold the following year was two thousand seven hundred and twenty-two. Seventy-five thousand and nine hundred forty-seven were sold throughout the four years of manufacturing.
It wasn’t a complete disaster, however. Rough and ready, these compact pickups were a hit in other markets.
The Mk1 was manufactured in Bosnia and Herzegovina until 1992, and it was still being manufactured in South Africa in 2006, where the company had transferred the original moulds from Westmoreland.
How Much Do Volkswagen Rabbit Trucks Cost Now?
The Rabbit Pickup is a legendary model of Volkswagen. The manufacturing of the vehicle started in 1979 and ended in 1984. Its demise is mostly attributable to the rising demand for larger pickup trucks.
A 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit pickup may fetch a fair sum on the second-hand market. The price of this vehicle is all over the place, so you won’t have to sell an organ to get your hands on one. The cost of the gimmick often ranges from $1,000 to $15,000.
The asking price will vary according to the truck’s age, mileage, condition, and customizations the current owner has made.
Volkswagen Rabbit Truck 2010 - Amarok
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has been making the Amarok station wagon since 2010. It’s a body-on-frame vehicle that rides on suspension systems in the back and a double setup up front.
The Volkswagen Amarok line-up has single-cab and double-cab configurations with rear-wheel drives or 4motion four-wheel drive and turbocharged gasoline or turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines.
The Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi L200, Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max, and Chevrolet/Holden Colorado/S-10 are some of the big mid-size trucks with which the Volkswagen Amarok competes directly in various international marketplaces.
The first-generation Amarok had 830,000 sales between 2010 and 2022.
Bottom Line
The Volkswagen Rabbit truck was quite successful in the 80s. However, due to certain circumstances, the company stopped manufacturing these trucks. Until recently, Volkswagen designed a pickup truck Amarok which was a little popular in the American market.
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