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Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:25 am

friend of mine just got a definately US spec 1982 here in switzerland and the story is these were actually manufactured in the states (detroit?).

any information?

Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:53 am

They were made in Westmorland PA. Water cooled guys call them Westys so be pepared (freaked me out the first time some one wanted "westy" parts).

Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:02 am

They are also universally called the 'caddy' here and in Europe. They were produced in the US from 1980-84. They were based on an elongated rabbit platform and came with either gas or diesel engines. I've had three in my life, they're pretty neat and useful. Check out www.vwcaddyforum.com for more info.
They were produced in other places in the world for many years. South Africa stopped production of them in 2002.

Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:24 am

wow that looks like a really nice truck... all the ones round here are rusted out and beat up... and come to think of it i don't recall ever seeing one that wasn't white... anyway nice find, wish i could find one like that... is it diesel or gas? someday when i have time and extra money (yeah right, not with 2 beetles) i'd like to pick up a diesel one.

Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:33 am

WM971252 wrote: They were made in Westmorland PA. Water cooled guys call them Westys so be pepared (freaked me out the first time some one wanted "westy" parts).

Any watercooled VW that has the number 1 for the first digit of the VIN was made in PA; Mexican-built cars have a 3, and German ones have a W

Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:04 am

The Caddy/Rabbit pickup is also the only VW designed ever in the USA.

Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:21 am

thanks for that info. i see plenty caddys here but never one like this. it's a 1715cc fuel injection engine and came equipped new with catalytic converter which wasn't required by law here till 1986.
apparently the swiss post office imported 4 of them(there's a lot of rhd autotranny ex post caddys still around) .
allegedly(so i've been told) vw were going to ship all the US plant to jugoslavia to produce the caddy there.then came the jugo war so no deal.

Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:51 pm

Here is my 81 Rabbit.
I own it since 13 Years,the Truck came from Texas.
It has a 1.6 GTI Engine with 142HP. and it is in a very good condition.
I`m pretty sure it`s one of a kind here in Germany.

I`m restoring it in the moment,the headliner is out that`s the reason for the missing windshield...

Sat Dec 30, 2006 3:14 pm

for whatever reason there were lots of them on the east coast of the US. however a lot of the examples that are in my area have the infamous shock tower rust out syndrome!!! i dig them though...and a rhd automatic sounds pretty cool!!!

those are 2 nice examples you guys posted here...

Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:18 am

Had an '80 model with gas engine & 4 speed trans - cool little truck, but elctrical problems out the wazoo... The old Westmoreland, PA facility is supposedly a Sony facility now; buddy of mine works there.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3165/is_n12_v23/ai_6247455

bnc