Posted to the Cohort by William Rubano
Convertibles don’t get much love in America these days. They’re a dying breed. Ford and Chevy probably sell a decent number of Mustang and Camaro convertibles each year, but when is the last time a non-luxury German or Japanese drop top not named Miata resonated with the American public? The only other model that comes to mind is the Toyota MR2 Spyder. And before that, the Cabriolet.
What’s it like owning a 1988 Cabriolet in modern times? Parts might be hard to come by. But I think the convertible’s acceleration might the most stressful aspect of ownership. Based on my limited research, the Cabriolet came equipped with a 1.8 liter four cylinder good for 90 horsepower. At around 2300 pounds, a four speed would probably make the car move at an acceptable clip. But these were also available with a three speed automatic. Probably a bit zippy but is it up to the demands of impatient NYC area drivers?
I especially would not want to drive one in Long Island. Yes, that’s right: I did some online sleuthing based solely on the fact that this little VW was parked in front of a Panera Bread. It was surprisingly easy to find, as I’ve suspected that Mr. Rubano has been photographing vehicles in Long Island for quite some time. Now I know for sure. Mineola, New York is a village not far from Hempstead, which itself is located in Nassau County. NYC is generally not a fun place to drive a car. And Long Island isn’t much better.
But you know what? Jones Beach is only about twenty minutes away from this parking lot. In the summer, it’s got to be a helluva lot of fun to drop the top and go for a scenic drive along the Long Island sound. Water, warm weather, and convertibles kind of go together pretty nicely, right? I can smell the ocean air right now, even though it’s late January and the high for today was about 28 degrees, both here and in Mineola. Who cares if the Ram 1500 that’s right behind you could easily run you over, as demonstrated by this picture. A Cabriolet is an extremely rare sight these days, especially in this condition. The owner either took meticulous care of it or recently had it repainted. That’s a good indicator they care about the car. In any event, here’s to hoping this little VW is plying the streets of Long Island many years from now.
I briefly owned one, perhaps an ’88 that was gifted to me by my (ex-)father-in-law in a roundabout way. Too brief to even bother with a COAL entry.
I drove it for one summer, discovered my (ex-)wife was too cold-blooded to enjoy top-down driving even in the heart of summer, and sold it in Fall. Gave the cash back to my father-in-law. To my recollection, it wasn’t significantly slower that a steel-top Rabbit.
I still have the 17mm Allen wrench required to check the transaxle fluid in my toolbox. I don’t think I’ve used it since.
I can’t tell if it’s snark or not but there is no reason that 2300 pounds with 90hp and a decent 3-speed can’t significantly exceed any speed limit in this country, The number of gears in a transmission has nothing to do with its top speed, gearing does. The 3-speed in a VW of this vintage coupled with this engine actually made for a surprisingly torquey combination that drove decently, especially somewhere like Long Island and its traffic. But the close-ratio standard 5-speed manual would be better, admittedly.
Nice find, Mr. Rubano, these were all over my high school and college parking lots, usually with a scrunchie or two dangling wrapped around the rear-view mirror.
We’re obviously in the same age bracket. I can’t look at one of these without thinking “Sorority Staff Car”. I actually owned a 1980 Rabbit Convertible for a year or so in the early 90’s as a second car. IIRC it only had a 1.6, with maybe 76-80HP, but with the 5 speed it was a sprightly little runner. Probably one of the more fun driving cars I’ve owned. And a very solid-feeling little car for a convertible.
The Cabriolet was the car of choice to signify the “popular upper-middle class girl” in any number of films from that era…
…which likely contributed to their very non-2020 appropriate alliterative nickname rhyming with “witch casket.”
We replaced the word casket with the simpler “box” 😀
“Basket” is the the best part, though, with the rollbar being the basket handle.
Yes you are correct I neglected to replace that letter on that word when I was reading your comment, just the first one… 🙂
That 90hp 1.8 was the exact same engine as used in the US market GTI. I drove one, and it was a ball. Anything but slow, especially with its gearing.
I was unnecessarily insulting to the Cabriolet and I’ve changed the wording as a result.
I didn’t really take it that way, I just assumed you weren’t particularly familiar with ’80’s VW’s. They did use the 3-speed for an inordinately long time, I believe for the entire Mk2 Golf/Jetta run through the early ’90’s.
If you ever get a chance to drive one (any Mk1/Mk2 with the 1.8), especially with a stick, they can be quite fun.
As I remarked to Paul when I drove his Xb last summer, it absolutely reminded me of an ’84 GTI in many respects.
MK 1 Golf/ Rabbit is very interesting car, it is popular in Canada then. My school principal drove this cabriolet as his daily commute car for years in mid 80s. I guessed it fit his academic character well — he is now the governor of Canada, a head of state.
I briefly rode on this, and found it was very comfortable. My coworker got an early 80s model in the junk yardor $500 and used for few years in late 90s – the engine has a minor problem, common to that vintage VW.
Suprising to hear to know that xB, a Toyota product, felt like MK1 GTI in the term of driving dynamic?
Oh yes, these cars, especially in white, were considered the ultimate “chick cars” in some circles in the 1990s or thereabouts.
I also agree that these were not all that slow, but maybe I have lower standards. I’ve also only driven one once.
A woman across the street from me had a white one that she kept in pristine condition, until she was fairly far along in her pregnancy. I think I’ve shared this story here once before, so I’ll try to keep it brief.
She was sitting on her front stoop watching my wash my T-Birds one day looking longingly. She then spoke up and said that she wished she could wash her car as it had been quite some time. I washed it for her when I was done with the ‘birds.
She asked if there was anything she could do in return, and I said yes… Let me take it for a short drive with the top down as I’d never driven a convertible.
It was a nice experience. To this day, it’s the only German car I’ve ever driven… wait… a friend when I was a teenager had a ’74 Beetle and he traded that in on a ’78 or ’79 Rabbit. I got to drive each of those at least once.
These cars are sufficiently powerful to keep up with traffic.
The early ones had a 1588cc fuel-injected engine with 75 hp. Around 1985 or 1986, they were upgraded to the 1781cc fuel-injected 90 hp engine featured in the 83-84 Rabbit GTI.
No sure if they had the Rabbit GTI’s close ratio 5-speed.
In any case, the noise level at highway speeds (above 60-65mph) will be a bigger challenge than lack of engine power.
Even though I grew up in Central New York I never got to Long Island. My Grandma grew up on Long Island in 1930s and 1940s going whole summers without wearing shoes and enjoying the country life. She never was happy with the increased suburbia in the latter half of the 20th century and lamented the changes during her last visit in 2006.
In the 1970s my mother was kicked off the Long Island Expressway because her pickup truck had commercial plates which apparently are not allowed.
About 15 years ago my dad was down on Long Island on a work assignment driving his rusty Subaru when he got pulled over around midnight. Turns out that driving a dirty old car through residential neighborhoods (I think he was using them as a short cut) is frowned upon.
I think a VW cabriolet is practically extinct everywhere, I can’t remember the last time I saw one. Thank you for sharing these photos.
Teddy,
Your mother was probably kicked off one of the parkways, the Northern State or Southern State.
They run parallel to the LI Expwy.
Trucks are not allowed on the parkways. When I was a kid in the 70s, I thought it was because they were “park” ways, so we could have a nice drive.
That may have been. But many of the bridges above the parkways are low–too low for 18-wheeler tractor-trailers and buses. Hence the restriction.
Also, back then, one could get “commercial” plates on pick-trucks. Presumably there was some kind of incentive, but I think they were prohibited from the parkways.
In today’s world, where so many pick-ups are purchased as family vehicles, I cannot imagine a pick-up truck with regular plates on LI being prohibited from the parkways. If so, that would be a huge disincentive to get a truck.
You are correct tomLU86, it was a parkway.
Even in 2020 there are still restrictions on vehicles. Thing is, states like Washington, their commercial plates are low key and allowed on passenger cars, I doubt a police officer would know what they are.
http://www.nycroads.com/roads/pkwy_LI/
BTW, from the pictures, that is a nice looking Cabriolet.
It probably led a garaged life, and is a nice weather only car. The mechanicals are pretty robust on these cars.
Long Island was pretty congested 40 years ago. It can only be worse now. So no need to worry about high crusing speed ability…because unless you drive between 10pm and 5am on the LIE or parkways, you’ll be lucky if the traffic permits 70-75.
I wonder if they ever raised the speed limit from 55 after 1995. I last visited my old home in 2006, but don’t remember the speed limit (not that I pay much attention to them, I tend to go with the prevailing traffic)
This 89 is currently on offer at a Dodge dealer about 2 miles from Casa del Steve. Fortunately, I have neither the skills to get it sorted, nor a place to put it.
As described here
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1979-mustang-turbo-the-old-all-new-mustang/
my first new car was a 1979 Mustang. But when the 1983 GTi was introduced I fell hard. The Mustang had had more than its share of issues, I was ready for something new and different and the concept behind the then-termed “pocket rocket” (now referred to as a “hot hatch”) appealed to me as someone who has always admired the “sleeper” vehicles that stealthily punch above their weight.
Eventually I would go through three liquid cooled VWs (two 1983 GTis and one Jetta) and while I look back at all three with great fondness the one that got away was the Cabrio. Just a year or two later the Cab was upgraded with the (American) GTi motor, transaxle and suspension upgrades. They were good, solid cars, especially for convertibles. (A magazine review of convertibles at the time subjected each model to a test; parking each car with one wheel one a surface twelve inches above the rest. The VW was the only car whose doors could be opened.)
They were fun, reliable and well-built (All were imported from Germany, as was my Jetta, and the difference in craftsmanship between the products of Wolfsburg vs Westmorland PA was pretty substantial.)
I’ve looked at a few in the last few years, but most were treated like disposable lighters.
My 85 GTI had ten more horsepower but may have weighed more than this (or maybe not) and it was plenty quick. In fact, I there are rumors (that I will neither admit nor deny) that my car could hit and sustain 114 mph on flat pavement. Although the aerodynamics of the Cabriolet likely were not as good. But still, . . . .
This would never make my top ten list, but I can think of a lot of cars that I would have less interest in owning if a clean one came my way.
Yeah, I shouldn’t have wrote that snark. It was in poor taste. That’s why I changed the wording.
No worries, it is easy for those of us with too much gray hair to remember how happy we once were with anywhere close to 100 hp in a small car where now anything under 150 or 200 is poverty spec.
..or no hair, lol. 100 hp, 30 mpg, very happy.
And ICE cold A/C too!
+1 for no hair. And old enough to remember when any car that did 0-60 mph in under 10 seconds was considered fast; and 10-12 seconds was considered fast for an “economy” car. Examples include the first BMW 2002 and the first 1600 cc Corolla, respectively. That said, a 3 speed auto can make any 4 cylinder car feel slow, unless you’re coming from a Hondamatic.
The 85 Golf GTI was a tad bigger than the 84 Rabbit GTI. The 85 weighed about 170 lbs more than a comparable 1984, but had a lower Cd. The 85 also had 10 hp more (make that 12 for the 102hp 86).
And this convertible is not as aerodynamic as the hatchback.
Still, even with a 150-200 lb weight penalty, if the convertible had the lower final drive of the 84 Rabbit, it has plenty of acceleration. The big speed limiter is noise at speed…though the VW EA827 engine (I learned that here!) is smooth and sound good, never rough, all the way to 6k rpm
As to the Golf GTI top speed, early one Saturday morning a long time ago, I managed to hit 104 mph in my 86 GTI, on a mostly empty I-275? (beltway) near Richmond VA. It was just my car and a newish Mercedes 420SEL. He just wouldn’t let me pass him, but at 85mph, he stopped accelerating and let me go ahead (we had FOUR Lanes between the two of us, the road looked pretty new..)
I was hoping to double the 55mph limit, but acceleration above 92 mph was very slow, and my exposure time to getting a ticket was more than I could bear, so I stopped at 104. Until then, that was the fastest I had ever driven, AND the fasted car I had ever been in.
Coincidentally, the fastest car I have ever been in was a rented German 1990 VW Golf, the following summer. A buddy and I took a vacation, I was a passenger, on the autobahn, 192kph down a grade. When it was my turn, the highest I could get was 188kph, also downhill. The car did not have a tach…it had a clock, so I have no idea how many rpm the poor little engine was spinning. I suspect we had euro 1.6 liter, but might have been a 1.8. On level ground, it was good for about 165kph. Good times!
I’m a big fan of Mk1 and Mk2 VW Rabbit/Golfs–possible the best all-around car (fun, utility, efficiency, cost, dependability/reliability) ever made!
I got my ’87 GLI with the 4-cyl. up to 105…I don’t know if it had any more after that. It was turning more than 5,000 rpm in 5th gear…screaming pretty good!
I think the ’86 GTi also had a few hp more than the ’85…something to do with the timing (knock sensor?). I had an ’86, which I sold in ’00, there were quite a few people interested in it, despite a fender bender which left it with one fender and the hood a different color than the silver the rest of the car was painted. I think it was due to it being one of the last CIS injection models before Digifant kicked in…also I think the 16v became available the next year. Anyhow the car was a bit heavier than the A1 GTi, but I think a bit more comfortable. Also had the close-ratio transaxle with the infamous “self-machining” issue where a circlip could cause the case to be unusable…mine never had that issue, though I never had it taken apart and corrected (probably should have attended to it when I replaced the oil fouled clutch).
Right before the GTi, I had an A1 Scirocco (’78) which was lots of fun…it seemed faster than the GTi, but I think it was mostly perception, as the Scirocco sat lower than the GTi, never verified. I never had the Convertible, but I knew someone who was given an ’84 as a gift from a rich Aunt, got to ride in it (but never drove). Currently have a ’00 Golf (sold the GTi when I bought the Golf) a lot tamer with the 2.0 (but a lot heavier than the A2 GTi).
It is even more luxury than the A2 GTi was to the A1 GTi, with power steering standard (my ’86 had unassisted steering) and power sunroof (my ’86 had a crank sunroof) plus power locks and windows (which have failed and I wish were manual, but they didn’t offer them).
My mother and sister had an 82 Rabbit Convertible in the early 90s that cam from Long Island. Fortunately this was not the stereotypical triple white with automatic California girl edition but a more sober metallic red with black top and interior and a 5 speed. It was quick enough for the time and was both rust free and leak free. A couple of years ago a neighbor’s teenager had a similar mid 80s Cabriolet and while rust free (oregon high desert) the top was looking very sad. I’d still get one as a summer fun car as long as it was a manual since they were cheapish, and easy to work on, plus I still have the Bentley manual and some service tools.
I fell in love with these back in 1988 when 7 of us piled in a friend’s white ’82 Rabbit convertible to cruise the beach after high school graduation (gotta get one of these!). Fast forward a few years and my sister dated a guy that drove a triple white 1990 Cabriolet which was a new car at the time. (loved it!). Then my sister bought an “88 model in 1998. My chance came in 1999 with a triple white semi derelict 1987 Wolfsburg Edition 5 spd. It was pretty cheap as a friend was trying to get rid of while winding down his used car lot. I drove and enjoyed that car for 8 years fixing it up along the way as I could. After my sister totaled her car, I got its later model body kit, top and various bits. It never let me down, was mostly weather tight, reasonably peppy and brought a smile to the face of most who saw it and ALL who drove it. I lived in Florida and had a garage so its well padded and lined top stayed down most of the time. With a baby and a 6 year old, It was getting a little small, plus I’d gotten the convertible bug out of my system. It was traded with very little regret on a VR6 Jetta and that for a 1.8T Passat which I still drive 10 years later. Oh, I guess I couldn’t fully let go of the Cabriolet. I kept the little Wolfsburg roundels which adorn my Passat right below the turn signal repeaters
I liked these back in the day and I like them now. The red one above looks very nice.
They tended not to be used much, and hung around long past their era. Sort of like first and second gen Miatas. I used to see them with 2-3k miles per year on the clock.
During 1980’s we had a VW dealer as customer, we put radios alarms and phones in them. The way I remember it, all of them new or used needed muffler sealant at the joint between front and rear exhaust pipe, right under the seat backs. All emitted exhaust noise from there.
I have my tube of Walker Acoustiseal in the garage for my more modern cars where it is also helpful.
I owned a 77 two door Rabbit, it was some sort of upscale version with a 4 speed manual, mechanical sunroof, port installed AC and green velour seats. Once I yanked the useless air conditioning it had more pep and handled better. As a new driver it felt zippier than my mom’s 1.8 liter 1984 Subaru GL. I was shock at how poorly my sister’s 1978 rabbit handled. Boy VW hit the suspension of the Pennsylvania manufactured Rabbits with the Brougham stick. My sister’s car would lean and bounce. They were poorly built, leaky, rust bombs, filled with electrical gremlins, but they drove like a dream to this 18 year old.