Another tasty summertime treat from the French countryside here: a somewhat miraculously-preserved Diesel Passat of the first kind. I’ve been running into classic VWs pretty often back in Tokyo, but never big water-cooled ones like this. Plus, it’s in great nick and in a lovely colour. Yep, this Passat (or should that be Dasher?) needs to get up on the web!
Don’t you hate it when the same car has different names in other markets? Sure, there are genuine reasons why that should be (see Mitsubishi Pajero, for example), and sometimes local marques will dictate changes in terminology (see ‘70s/’80s GM or Nissan products), but why in the world did VW have this notion that the Golf and the Passat had to be rechristened as the Rabbit and Dasher in the US?
For what it’s worth, I happen to prefer the dynamic name “Dasher” over the odd-sounding “Passat.” But VW opted to keep the latter, having toyed around with Santana and Quantum for the B2. Ah well. Dash it.
OK, so the name is one thing, but the facelift is another. Of course, the original Passat design, back in 1973, had a finely chiselled front end, with delicate chrome accents and the Audi 80’s awesome dash. Giugiaro had outdone himself, though there was definitely something in the air about that fastback shape.
Both the Passat and the Lancia Beta (bottom right) debuted in 1973, while the Renault 20/30 (bottom left) and the Simca 1307/1308/1309 (top right) got their start in 1975. All seem to have come from the same mould, more or less.
Every long-running car had to get facelifted at some point. The Passat B1’s rejuvenation was unveiled for MY 1977 in Europe, and it was pretty extensive. It did not, however, go quite as far as the poor Dasher, which had those unfortunate federally-mandated railway ties stuck on either end. The polyurethane was there, but not for sitting on.
It really was a facelift. Sure, the rear got new taillamps, but the front was the one that really changed. It seemed a bit more aerodynamic, and the turn signals were stuck on to where they ought to have been in the first place. All in all, not too shabby.
Which is more than can be said about the interior, which was announcing the dark and rectangular years ahead. RHD models were apparently spared this sad dashboard and kept the old one right to the end. The only redeeming (and very odd-looking) feature has to be that tiny black mushroom growing from the centre console that passes for a gear lever.
Under the skin (as well as a lot of the exterior), the Passat was entirely based on the Audi 80, as has been thoroughly recounted by previous CCs on the subject. But one technical innovation the Passat introduced on the B1 platform was a new engine. In July 1978, VW decided to pre-empt the second oil shock that was to hit about a year later by fitting the 50hp 1.5 litre Diesel that was hitherto used in the Golf.
In a place like France, where Diesels were and still are venerated, the extreme lethargy displayed by this pre-turbo motor was not the deal-breaker it might have been elsewhere. And the word “lethargy” is not too strong here. The Diesel Passat took over twenty seconds to reach the 100kph (60mph) when new. Who knows how long it would take four decades on, with a few ponies lost in the interim. Top speed was recorded at 141kph (87.5mph), favourable winds permitting.
Nobody bought these to go racing. Fuel economy, especially in places where Diesel was sold at a cheaper price per litre, was the number one concern. We had a comparable oil-burner in those days (a Peugeot 504 LD), so this Passat speaks to me on that level. The guy who bought it would have been a bit like my old man. I can just hear the “Quiet back there!” of my youth…
Just kidding. Us kids could never hope to be louder than the engine. And there were four of us. I haven’t heard the VW’s ehaust note, but I bet it belts out more decibels than it provides forward momentum. More a thrasher than a Dasher, this Passat.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1974-1981 VW Dasher (Passat B1) VW Finally Enters The FWD Era, by PN
Curbside Classic: 1976 VW Passat TS (B1) – First Sight Memories, by Rich Baron
Car Show Outtakes: Five Classic Water Cooled Volkswagens, by Johannes Dutch
Curbside Classic: Audi Fox/80 (B1) – The Foxy Mother Of The Modern VW/Audi Era, by Robert Kim
I really liked the refreshed Dasher: new instrument panel, interior a bit plusher, new front clip, and the fastback body had the hatch it had been crying for since inception. iirc, the gas engine went to EFI in 76 to solve chronic driveability problems.
A few Dashers show up on The Samba, all diesels.
Wow, is it the last ever, I wonder?
These floated here, albeit in amounts that made them hard to distinguish from the bubbles in the water upon which they sailed hence. (A side-note. VW was a full manufacturer here by ’66, by which I mean from engine castings to the entire rest: stuff-all was imported. Yet by just ’67 – seriously – Germany had a look, and said “Mein Gott, nein, nein!”, and doubtless, economically, they were right. Thereafter, assembly of CKD’s only, and after ’76, full imports only, and with huge tariffs on imports, a wholly catastrophic fall in sales as prices practically doubled. This meant a top-selling brand in, say, 1972, was a niche nothing by ’79).
I’ve a great love for the first Passats, having co-owned one, and my best mate had exactly this ’79, albeit petrol. Reliable they sure were not, but to drive, they were so superior to Japanese cars of the time that it was as if from another universe. Sure, a contemporary Mazdadatoyoyta Whatevs could do 100mph, but a Passat could SIT at that speed, and felt no different than at 50. Seats, steering, handling, ride, roominess, all felt decades in front of the eastern competition. When functioning.
As a car, just superb.
As a consumer product, fragile rubbish, so I’m awfully glad one has survived to make the argument for itself, even if speaking in diesel.
When I first saw the lead photo, I assumed it was a brochure or ad image from back in the day – just has that 1970s “car in a random field” quality to it. I’m amazed that you actually found one of these intact!
Regarding the name, I think VW was concerned that Americans would have trouble pronouncing Passat, so Dasher was a safer alternative. I agree with you though, Dasher is a better name.
In the late 1970s, my father seriously considered a Dasher. He owned a 1975 Scirocco that our family was outgrowing, so he saw a lot of appeal in the Dasher. However, the Scirocco wasn’t exactly the most reliable vehicle in the world, and his hassles with that car’s build quality eventually steered him away from another VW. He ended up buying a Subaru instead.
Incidentally, these European VW bumpers from the late ’70s seem functional, and are a whole lot less unsightly than the US-market version. It’s a decent design for a functional bumper of the day.
Back in the day, I wanted a Dasher. Something about the simple look that I liked.
As a kid, the Passat’s steeply-raked hatchback bodystyle, helped make the GM Aeoback Olds and Buick more normalized, and palatable, for me. To a degree. As the incongruity of the American faux-luxury styling elements, combined with a European-associated bodystyle, made the Aerobacks appear that much more weird.
Like on the Rabbit, Tercel, Omni/Horizon, ’81 US Escort, etc., the exceptionally cheap-looking clearly-mass produced stamped steel wheels very common at the time, downgraded their looks significantly for me. A decent set of attractive alloys, improves their styling immensely. Looks newer as well. A Quantum improvement.
A great looking car. The first year they came out, a friend of my father bought one. It was as lemony and the beautiful yellow paint. Unreliable. A mess. So while I could admire the beautiful styling and the elegant simplicity of it all – the fact that it was seemingly in the VW garage in perpetuity was a real damper.
As to name – VW was going from Beetle to Rabbit in the US, which was a good idea, why would someone want to drive a Golf cart? As to Dasher, what the hell is a Passat? Isn’t that what you mutter under your breath at someone who is a boolicking groveler wanting supervisor approval?
From what I understand, “Passat” is a German term for an Atlantic trade wind. “Golf” was intended to represent the Gulf Stream (golf being German for gulf)… so the two names went together.
I’ve read that VW of America preferred a whimsical name for the Beetle replacement (since Beetle itself was pretty quirky nickname) and I bet they figured that folks would associate Golf with the game, rather than an atmospheric phenomenon. Like I mentioned above, I think they were also concerned that folks wouldn’t pronounce Passat correctly, and hardly anyone would recognize the name anyway, so both names ended up being changed for the US market.
Reading period reviews of the early Dashers in the US paints them as being very advanced cars for the day. They had strong performance relative to other small cars combined with excellent fuel economy. Unfortunately, I don’t know of anyone who owned a VW Dasher or Audi Fox new or used who had an experience radically different from your friend’s father’s trials.
It is striking what a difference in perspective being in Tokyo gives to the size of cars relative to the US market of 2023. This ‘big’ VW is twelve inches shorter overall with a wheelbase six inches shorter than the Nissan Versa that is the smallest car I can think of to survive footprint CAFE so far.
What I don’t get is that the original offering of VW watercooled models had their names changed for the US market except for Scirocco…which did later migrate to Corrado but that was almost after a 15 year span.
I really like the dashboards of watercooled VWs up to the car I own now, guess maybe the “dislike” started with the ’98 Passat. Up to then the cars had “high mounted” controls for things like heaters and radios, in fact the seating position itself seemed more upright than the ’98 and after models, giving a roomier cabin. I call it the “sell out” for more reasons than one…they started going with the center stack with low mounted radio and heater, also abandoned the “one lamp” turn signal indicator in favor of dual arrows. It was as if they took to heart all the consumer reports criticism which I never thought was any issue to my purchasing of them, to go to more “mainstream” packaging. I really liked the Quantum dash even more than the Dasher (never got around to buying one though, they weren’t inexpensive).
Maybe I’m being hard on VW, the Passats seem to have sold way better than the Dasher or the Quantum ever did, but I miss the original watercooled packaging, I thought it was better before they tried to appeal to the “generic” market.
Like the Ford Fairmont, the slender greenhouse pillars, and thin-looking bodywork, lent an unsubstantial-quality to their styling, that I found unappealing then and now. Further, with too many creases and sharp-lines, it can undermine the overall form. Almost creates a made-from-tin appearance.
I was watching SCCA this weekend and there was a Sirocco in a class. Now those were a good looking VW