[net.auto] Successor to the Rabbit?

warren@ihnss.UUCP (Warren Montgomery) (06/04/84)

We have a rabbit and have been quite happy with it, and were
strongly considering a second one as a replacement for our other
car.  A dealer recently told us that this was the last model year
for the rabbit (so why not order now!), which we already knew, but
did supply some hints as to what she had heard about the
replacement.  She said it was going to be the Golf
something-or-other, and be a little larger than the rabbit (4"
longer and 6" wider, or some such), and more rounded.  (She also
claimed it got much better gas mileage).  I have seen
recent golf models (I was in europe 2 weeks ago), and couldn't
honestly tell the difference from an american rabbit without side by
side comparison, but I don't know if the new rabbit is just an
import of the current Golf.  Does anybody else have more information
about this car?  Is it essentially the same innards with a different
body?

Just curious to know if I should be holding out.  If anybody
supplies any information of general interest, I will post a summary
to the net.

-- 

	Warren Montgomery
	ihnss!warren
	IH x2494

ags@pucc-i (Seaman) (06/05/84)

I was amused by the reports that the Rabbit is being discontinued, to
be replaced by the "Golf".

When I bought my Rabbit in 1979, the brochure I got from the dealer pointed
out that the same car was called a "Golf" in the rest of the world (except
in South America, where is was called a "Caribe").

What's in a name?  What is Volkswagen trying to pull?
-- 

Dave Seaman
..!pur-ee!pucc-i:ags

"Against people who give vent to their loquacity 
by extraneous bombastic circumlocution."

emma@uw-june (Joe Pfeiffer) (06/06/84)

There is a new Golf in Europe, which has been out for a year or so.
This is a replacement for the old Golf, which is still sold over here as the
Rabbit.  Next year (I think), we will get the new one, and apparently
they will scrap the Rabbit name and call it a Golf here too.

The pictures I've seen of it show it looking pretty much the same, but
more rounded.

-Joe P.

guy@rlgvax.UUCP (Guy Harris) (06/07/84)

> I was amused by the reports that the Rabbit is being discontinued, to
> be replaced by the "Golf".

> When I bought my Rabbit in 1979, the brochure I got from the dealer pointed
> out that the same car was called a "Golf" in the rest of the world (except
> in South America, where is was called a "Caribe").

> What's in a name?  What is Volkswagen trying to pull?

What Volkswagen is trying to pull is the wool, over peoples' eyes.  The
Rabbit, supposedly, no longer is considered a top name, so they're trying
to convince people that the new car is totally new and the Rabbit is kaput.
The fact that in Europe, both the old car and the new car are called "Golf"
tends to indicate that the new car isn't quite as radically different as
VW might like people to think...

	Guy Harris
	{seismo,ihnp4,allegra}!rlgvax!guy

berry@zinfandel.UUCP (06/08/84)

#R:pucc-i:-30700:zinfandel:3200065:000:159
zinfandel!berry    Jun  6 12:55:00 1984

Interesting note:  The gearshift knob of Rabbit GTI's is a 'golf' ball.

yuk yuk.

Berry Kercheval		Zehntel Inc.	(ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!berry)
(415)932-6900

wunder@wdl1.UUCP (wunder ) (06/13/84)

An additional note on the old style Rabbit/Golf:

A friend of mine has a Rabbit GTI (US version), and the shift knob
is shaped like a golf ball.  This is a somewhat of a mystery unless
you know about the European name for the car.

w underwood