5k: Not Collectible: 1978 Volkswagen Dasher
Raise your hand if someone has ever asked you if ordinary passenger cars being sold today will be valuable in 40 years. Yep, all of us. Here, in all its brown glory, is the end-all counterpoint to all the six-figure muscle cars that your friends will bring up. Despite its rarity and minty clean condition, it’s been on the market for months. And it’s finally priced right for us. Find this 49,000-mile 1978 Volkswagen Dasher in Palmdale, CA for just $3,900 via craigslist.
Looking quite vintage in 1972 Cleveland Browns brown with a salted caramel interior, you might think $4,000 is a fair price for this show-quality (but not quite museum-ready) VW. It probably is, although let’s not get carried away and call it a future collectible. The seller says it’s “currently non-opp status and garaged,” which doesn’t inspire confidence. Neither do a slightly damaged lower front trim and ill-fitting hood. To the seller’s benefit, the original documentation, extra parts, and decent supply of pictures are noble efforts to help the sale.
The Giugiaro-designed car was sold as the Dasher in the U.S. for a few years until it was dubbed Passat like in the rest of the world. Its 76-horsepower water-cooled 1.6L, rear drum brakes, and skinny tires subjected owners to extremely low g-force levels. This one is equipped with air conditioning, although an automatic sucks the fun out of what would otherwise be a terrific commuter.
The seller says its value will only increase over time, and cites a few YouTube videos consisting of photo slideshows set to bad hip hop. He made his own slideshow that doesn’t include any additional details, so here’s an ad from 1979 touting the Dasher’s luxurious qualities.
See another classic that’s best enjoyed as a cheap daily driver? Email us at tips@dailyturismo.com.
PhiLOL recommends a slow car as a daily driver. Manuals preferred.
I would like to see this car be bought by someone at stance works.
Only memories of a Dasher from my youth: finding an '80 Dasher Diesel derelict in a barn behind a friend's house… and also finding a flare gun that accepted 12 gauge shotgun shells in a seatback pocket. We tied the flare gun to a post in the barn, aimed it at the Dasher, loaded 00 buck, hid behind a pool table, tied a string to the trigger and pulled.
The Dasher was unscathed, but the flare gun and post to which it was tied had vanished entirely. That winter the portion of the roof supported by the now missing post collapsed and we forgot about the car. According to Google maps, the barn is still there, but I think my friends family had the Dasher removed a few years back and scrapped it.
I love it, but that thing's been for sale for MONTHS. One has to wonder if CL has a time limit…
It does. This has just been reposted a few times – with a lower price each time!
it's been all over thesamba to. With a diesel and the wagon body, it'd be in my garage already. Not a lot of love for the B1 out there.
This car, with the same pictures, is listed on Craigslist again as of June 18, 2015. Asking $3,900 still.