CC Outtake: Diesel Rabbit – Hippity-Hop, Clackity-Clack

rabbit diesel

 

Out for a beer last Friday night on Main St, in Nyack, NY, the honky-tonk of Rockland County. I headed for my car at about 9:15 pm; the temp was probably in the high 20s F and I was hurrying against a chill wind. Just before I reached the intersection of Broadway, I heard the unmistakable “clickity-clack” of a small diesel engine starting up just behind me on the opposite side of the street.

“Look at that!”, I exclaimed to no one. “A Rabbit Diesel!”

From what I’ve read on CC, these little nippers show up in the Northwest with some small degree of regularity, but you never see one in the Northeast. I stepped out into the center of the street to shoot this pic, and the driver, a  true hipster (who else would be in such a genuinely hip vehicle?) turned my way. I gave him the thumbs up, and he gave me a quick wave. I didn’t pursue… you can tell someone in a hurry, and he was hunched up against the cold, waiting for for his engine to warm sufficiently to drive off … so I didn’t get to check out the license plate or hear his story. Still, it warmed my heart to see an elderly, yet viable car on the road…it even had a bit of chloride around the wheel wells, showing it’s been in some continuous use this winter. Just don’t forget to take it to the car wash next month and rinse that stuff off, Benjamin…

Here are some CC articles on VW Rabbit Diesels:

YOHAI71 posted this reprint of an Road and Track Extended Use Report last year here

Len Peters posted this COAL of a nearly identical yellow bunny in 2012 here

… and Blogmaster Paul saw this one at a Hot Springs in 2014