Light-duty pickups have become a thing again! We have a Ford Maverick, Honda Ridgeline, and Hyundai Santa Cruz. It’s been awhile since we’ve had that many utes in the American market, which brings us to our Pick of the Day, a 1981 Volkswagen Pickup Truck. It’s listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Christiansburg, Virginia. (Click the link to view the listing)
Did you forget Volkswagen built a Rabbit-based pickup for the American market from the 1979 model year through 1984? It could carry 1,100 pounds of just about anything. VW liked to brag that it handled like a sports car – certainly that was a stretch, but the crop of cars in VW’s portfolio was known to have handling chops, so why not the Pickup Truck? Did you say it was FWD? Compared to a lot of American cars at the time, it probably felt like a sports car considering the cabin for two.
Standard power was a fuel-injected 1.7-liter OHC four with a four-speed manual that was claimed to hit 50 in 9.7 seconds, with an optional 1.6-liter Diesel “close behind,” though that sounds optimistic as well if you’ve ever ridden in a Rabbit Diesel. A five-speed manual was optional, though I believe it was standard with the Diesel.
There were several trim levels for the Volkswagen Pickup Truck. The LX added chrome-plated bumperettes and a more luxurious interior. There also was the Sportruck, a flashy model that came with a five-speed standard. Other features included fancy paint job with special striping, protective side molding, map pockets, center console, special instrumentation, wider radial tires on special rims with trim rings, special color-coordinated interior, front spoiler, and more.
Chances are you have not seen one in decades, but here we have a Royal Red 1981 Volkswagen Pickup Truck with an Autumn Tan leatherette interior, which suggests this one is the LX trim level. Unfortunately, we don’t know much more than this because the dealer hasn’t included any other information, but the pictures in the gallery show an odometer that reads 121,709, a tailgate with a Diesel badge, an interior with air conditioning and an upgraded cassette stereo, and a five-speed manual.
Why buy a new light-duty pickup when you can have a German-engineered ute that has the torque to carry the load and can achieve 39/48 mpg? Skip the lease and buy this VW for $21,777.
Click here for the ClassicCars.com Pick of the Day.
$21K for a 1981 Rabbit truck ? They didn’t cost that much new !
Neither did 1955 Chevys.
lol…like P T barnum said
is price negotiable and what service has been done to the pick-up?
You need to reach out to the seller, who can be found in the links in the story.