{"id":13082,"date":"2021-11-08T00:05:58","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T05:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/auto\/?p=13082"},"modified":"2021-11-08T00:05:58","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T05:05:58","slug":"junkyard-gem-1981-volkswagen-dasher-wagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=13082","title":{"rendered":"Junkyard Gem: 1981 VW Dasher Diesel Wagon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The very first water-cooled Volkswagen<\/a> sold in the United States, after a quarter-century<\/a> of exclusively air-cooled vehicles shipped over from Wolfsburg, was the 1974 Dasher (the Rabbit aka Golf<\/a> didn’t show up here until the 1975 model year). Known as the Passat<\/a> elsewhere in the world and sibling to the Audi Fox aka 80<\/a> (not to be confused with the later Volkswagen Fox aka Gol<\/a>), Dasher sales continued in North America through the 1981 model year. Here’s one of those final-year Dashers, featuring five doors and an oil-burning engine, found in a northeastern Colorado self-service yard<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Passat sales continued here for 1982, of course, but the B2 Passat<\/a> received Quantum badging on our shores<\/a>. I’m not sure what the add-on switches bolted above the dash nameplate do, but this car features plenty of Red Green<\/a>-style keep-it-going-for-another-day kludges.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For example, the clever glue-and-tape-and-rope repair<\/a> of the radiator hose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The gasoline-powered Dasher had a 1.6-liter four-cylinder rated at 76 horsepower, which was about adequate for a 2,181-pound car of this era. This car has the 52-horsepower diesel<\/a>, however, and I can tell you from bitter personal experience that the VW diesels<\/a> of this period were pure misery on the road<\/a>. Still, fuel economy<\/a> for the Dasher Diesel was spectacularly good for the time, pushing 50 miles per gallon on the slow-motion highways<\/a> of the Late Malaise Era<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The gold old four-on-the-floor manual transmission<\/a> kept things simple. If you wanted a\u00a0really<\/em> simple floor-shifted manual in 1981, GM<\/a> had you covered; Camaros and Malibus could still be purchased new that year with a three-on-the-floor manual tranmission<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This car made it to 156,184 final miles, which was a long life for a car of its time. Check out that big MotoMeter dash clock<\/a>, a nice standard feature for such an affordable wagon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Dasher was available here as a two-<\/a> or four-door hatchback<\/a> and as a station wagon. List price on the 1981 Dasher Diesel Wagon started at $8,740 (about $27,555 today). Meanwhile, a new ’81 Honda Civic<\/a> wagon cost $5,749, while an ’81 Datsun<\/a> 510 wagon had a $6,689 price tag. If you wanted a sturdy Volvo<\/a> 245 wagon that year, the cheapest one cost $10,210. The all-new 1981 Dodge Aries wagon<\/a> started at a mere $6,471, but it lacked German engineering and styling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That AM\/FM radio probably cost big bucks back in 1981.<\/p>\n