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Tue Nov 29, 2016 6:46 pm

My wife's first car was a '78 with gas engine & automatic tranny. It eventually tried to rust in half at the A pillar & we sold it to a guy who was into rabbits (20 years ago). She still has a soft spot for these cars but I've never been able to find another one with an automatic (she hates a clutch). Did she own the only one ever made, or did they all just rust away?

Tue Nov 29, 2016 7:24 pm

They could possibly be slower than the diesels. I have a friend that just sold one (1980), it was completely stock, down to the radio. It had been parked in a garage for sometime. I doubt there were that many out there to begin with. But any that made it past the people that would've swapped out the auto tranny for a manual have prolly rusted away. My 80 Rabbit made it to about 2013 when it was rearended and killed. Was not an auto tranny car either. And when I was scrapping it, I found out where the cold air was coming from in the winters. Good thing it was hit in the rear.

Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:38 am

If you aren't averse to convertibles, I'd suggest adding Cabriolets to your search. Lots of them still out there with automatics in them. Plus they were built up until 1993.

Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:52 am

dub01 wrote: If you aren't averse to convertibles, I'd suggest adding Cabriolets to your search. Lots of them still out there with automatics in them. Plus they were built up until 1993.
Or you use a clapped out cabriolet to re-power an older rabbit.

Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:54 am

ps2375 wrote: They could possibly be slower than the diesels. I have a friend that just sold one (1980), it was completely stock, down to the radio. It had been parked in a garage for sometime. I doubt there were that many out there to begin with. But any that made it past the people that would've swapped out the auto tranny for a manual have prolly rusted away. My 80 Rabbit made it to about 2013 when it was rearended and killed. Was not an auto tranny car either. And when I was scrapping it, I found out where the cold air was coming from in the winters. Good thing it was hit in the rear.
The worst was the rare automatic diesel.

Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:38 am

ps2375 wrote: They could possibly be slower than the diesels.

There is nothing on the planet that is slower than a VW Rabbit diesel except for a VW Vanagon diesel [where the 1/4 mile time was faster than the 0-60mph time].

In my area, there are Rabbits out there with autos and not rusted. Look in a rust free area.

Wed Nov 30, 2016 11:17 am

when we met I had just sold my '71 chevelle SS454 w/ 4speed cowl induction. Sonya's tiny little rabbit with that tiny little gas motor sure seemed to take a long time to get out of it's own way.

I'll continue to keep my eyes open for one. I'd have to find room for it if we did find one.....6 Studebakers, a Kaiser, a model t, & a reproduction Kubelwagen have got all the building full at the moment....

Sat Dec 03, 2016 8:43 pm

I cannot imagine wanting an automatic Rabbit but that's just me.

I bought a new Rabbit in '76 with a 1.6 liter gas engine and my buddy had purchased the very first '75 Rabbit diesel to come to Edmonton. It was the demo car for about 6 months before he bought it. He was always telling me that it was actually pretty good for power so one day we lined them up for a contest and sure enough my gas one could not keep up to him! He told me after that he had never lost a race with a gas Rabbit.
The real interesting thing was that years later when his diesel blew a rad hose and cooked the engine I bought it for parts and found out that it was actually a 1.4 liter engine!

I often have wondered since if there was something special they did to those first few demo diesels.

Sun Dec 18, 2016 10:41 pm

My sister had a '77 Rabbit with an auto. In Kali, in the summer, the starter would overheat; it was mounted behind the bellhousing and the exhaust pipe ran right over it. She would park it, come back 10 minutes later and no crank. Had to sit there for half an hour until it cooled off enough to work. I put some aluminum flashing over it to deflect some of the heat until she sold it. Why they didn't use the same setup as the manual, with the starter at the front of the bellhousing, I don't know.

VW did some weird stuff....

Sat Jan 21, 2017 8:01 pm

and they used that wonderful setup till the 90's....they kept adding more elaborate heat shields but problem persisted....usual fix was make sure all shields present, genuine bosch rebuilt starter ONLY , and a starter booster relay....thats what i love about vw....when they find something that doesn't work they stick with it

Wed Mar 29, 2017 11:06 am

A new one to this forum, wife s wheels 80 2 door rabbit Auto trans, still running just fixit steering clunk oil change and tune up next. What information on electronic ignition thanks for letting me post. Old wrench.