In The Flesh: 1984 Volkswagen Jetta Mk1 Diesel
Back before Volkswagen got in massive trouble for their diesel emissions cheating scheme, they sold diesel powered Golf and Jettas that only cheated their owners out of performance. I’ve never owned a Mk 1 Jetta, but I did have a Rabbit diesel with the same 1.6 liter diesel lump of scrap iron and it was slow. Mind-numbingly slow. But the advantage of having an engine with the BMEP of a balloon animal is that the engine will last forever, or at least past 421k miles like this next thing. Find this 1984 Volkswagen Jetta Diesel offered for $2500 in Salem, MA via craigslist. Tip from ME.
From the seller:
1984 vw jetta
condition: good
cylinders: 4 cylinders
drive: fwd
fuel: diesel
odometer: 421603
title status: clean
transmission: manual
type: sedan
Up for sale, or interesting trade. Is my 84 Jetta 4door. Diesel, 5 speed manual. It’s still in pretty good shape with only 421 thousand miles on it. Starts right up, goes down the road pretty good. Body is decent. Interior is really nice. Has A/C. All there, but I’m sure it needs to be serviced. These mk1 Jetta’s are getting hard to find. Pretty cheap antique, vintage vw
See a better way to drive a car that is the color of the old Crayola “flesh” colored crayon? tips@dailyturismo.com
Surprisingly good shape for over 400K miles. These were built to last (somewhat), but not meant to last like this. After the apocalypse, you’ll find Twinkies, roaches, and this car as the only survivors.
Drive it another 400K and when the diesel lump finally compresses its last stinky toot, do a swap for a gas turbo and never worry about smog testing because of the diesel title. You can’t lose here.
After another 400k, you’ll be able to swap the diesel for a Twinkie-sized fusion reactor / hyperdrive motivator *and* gain a handy frunk. Good opportunity for a respray once the engine is out.
A respray in the lustrous original color, of course.
While it’s wet, roll it over the comics section of your Sunday paper. I’d go with Garfield.
http://wondermark.com/garfield-color/
Had a 85 Golf Diesel same color as this one only car that was slow but fun to try and drive it fast 48-50 mpg.
A nice blue ‘81 was my first car. She was very stout. Would use the turn signals and the horn would go off. On especially cold nights in Maine the fuel would thicken = a cold walk home.