1981 saw the Volkswagen Rabbit get a facelift, receiving rectangular headlamps, except for the Rabbit Convertible, which was assembled in Germany by Karmann. Other than the Convertible, '81 VW Rabbits for sale in the US were made at the company's Westmoreland plant in Pennsylvania.
For the '81 model year the Rabbit got a bump in displacement to 1.7L. The SOHC 8V inline four had an 8.2:1 compression ratio and was rated at 74 SAE net horsepower. Buyers could opt for a four-speed manual with an overdrive 4th gear or a three-speed automatic.
When Car and Driver put a non-convertible '81 Rabbit with the 1.7L and four-speed manual combo through its paces, they got a zero-to-sixty time of 11.6 seconds and an 18.3 second quarter mile at 71mph. The hardtop ran out of steam at 91 miles per hour and presumably the heavier and less aerodynamic convertible, like this super-clean Mars Red example, would be slightly slower than those numbers across the board.
Base price for a 1981 Rabbit Convertible was $10,100, which is about $36k in current dollars.
This one was photographed in September of 2025 using an Olympus E-3 and a Zuiko Digital 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.
Nice. 36k for a little convertible like this would be a draw for me today.
ReplyDeleteWhen rectangular headlights became a thing, nearly every car that didn't have them suddenly looked dated. Nearly. The Rabbit just looked more generic with them. The round headlights were key to the aesthetic.
They look just right on the little VWs and on Bimmers, too.
DeleteI notice that it has the same 3 spoke wheel as a first generation Scirocco. I didn't think any Rabbit had one. My mother had an 82 convertible, but I don't recall the steering wheel. My 84 Jetta had a 4 spoke wheel with the 4 round horn buttons. Once you get past the Valley Girl image of the later ones a Rabbit Convertible with a 5 speed is a fun car to drive.
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