Here's how the Volkswagen Rabbit tried to be a worthy successor to the Beetle
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In this episode I provide the history of the Volkswagen Rabbit, launched in the United States and Canada in 1975 as an import, known as the Golf in everywhere else, to gain back sales lost due to the losing popularity of the Beetle. The Rabbit would then later be built in America and modified in an attempt to appeal to American tastes, which VW fans criticized as being "Malibu-ized" and losing its appeal it had as a German car. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
My Mom worked at VW Westmoreland. In 81 and 82 she was the first person to start the cars at the end of the line. I toured the factory many time and knew my way around the plant. I’d cut away from the tour and go hang with my Mom as she worked the line. Sadly, like many she was laid off in 1986 and the plant closed in 1989. Production moved to Mexico and the robots were sent China. My Mom passed in 2009 and ever time I see a Westmoreland Rabbit, Truck or Jetta I think of her. Thanks for posting this video.
I toured it in 86 with the Vo tech school auto shop. It was cool.
I thought that the Rabbit tooling went to South Africa where it was built as the CitiGolf.
@@gteixeira it might have. When the plant closed they were building the MK2 Golf at that point. I think it is very possible. I think that they might have transferred the Rabbit truck which then became the Caddy. The truck was designed at the Westmoreland plant.
@@robertarmstrong905 I think that the CitiGolf was the Mk1 Golf, transfered there earlier in 1982 or so, so it makes sense if you say the Mk2 tooling went to China, but I don't know about the Mk2 Golf production there. They already had the VW Santana which started in 1985.
@@gteixeira the MK 1 Golf (Rabbit) was built at Westmoreland until 1984. The MK2 production started in 85 and ended in 89.
I remember riding home from church on Sundays with my friend very fondly in the Rabbit. Her Mom’s Rabbit was the one we all begged to go home in. She’d cram 5 of us kids in there and blare the Footloose soundtrack tape while zipping along the rural river road back home. Lot’s of quick drops and turns while jamming to fun music with your friends.
My memory of the Rabbit is that they were impossible to kill. Like a Corolla.
Yep. I had a 77 Rabbit with the Bosch fuel injection. It was a rocket and u couldn’t kill it. The engine was great, the body,not so much. I had to scrap it because it rotted away.
They were everywhere in the early-mid 80’s. A kid on my soccer team Dad had a light blue Rabbit
I was rear ended by a greyhound bus in a 82 GTI. Not impossible to kill!
Or like a Beetle. They actually had a "You can't kill the Beetle" ad back in the 50s or 60s: watch?v=fO570gg2cBs
Just ask Elmer Fudd....
It’s crazy that Chrysler reverse engineered the Rabbit, and VW went on to finish a Chrysler plant to build the Rabbit.
The first Omni/Horizons even had Rabbit engines sourced from VW.
@@AcmeRacing - But never with fuel injection, sadly.
Chrysler did not reverse engineer the Golf, that doesn't even make sense, what exactly is there to reverse engineer?
The Talbot Horizon was designed in the UK to be a competitor to the Golf.
The Horizon was developed by Chrysler Europe under the codename C2. It was designed in the United Kingdom at the Whitley design studio by Roy Axe and engineered in France at Poissy by Simca as a replacement for their ageing 1100 range. It was introduced to market in summer 1978.
They didn't do much to try different styling either. At quick glance, a 4 door Omni/Horizon hatchback could easily be mistaken for a 4 door Rabbit hatchback. I thought that back then and always have. But, it's been ages since I've seen either on the road, and at one time, they were everywhere.
@@whynotagain3639 Published Chrysler history does not agree with you.
I'd love to see a video on the Scirocco... I LOVE those.
I had one. Was just a Scirocco body on a rabbit chassis.
I did like them almost bought one, but it died during the test drive.
LOVED my 1982 Diesel Rabbit!! Slow as mud, belched tons of black smoke, got 53mpg...long before hybrids! 😁
They can easily build a small Rabbit size hybrid that got 100-125 MPGs but refuse to do so...The VW XL-1 that gets over 200 MPGs is proof. Instead we get a 50 MPG Prius as if it's some huge tech advancement in fuel economy.
@@michaelbrinks8089 Yup. Simple German diesel.....smoke and lots of MPG. Loved it totally. 😋👍👍
@@michaelbrinks8089 why? I mean why do they refuse to do the more fuel efficient models? whats your contention?
@@KenanTurkiye That's what I don't understand. The VW XL-1 & XR3 hybrid is proof they can yet they refuse to build small 2 seated 125 MPG hybrid commuter cars.
@@michaelbrinks8089 Could it be like the story of how they de-enginereed light bulbs from lasting 100+ years to a couple?
Big money globalist elite, protecting their drive on wars on natural resources you think?
I had a yellow 1975 like in the commercial. My Dad had 3 diesel Rabbits and took each of them to over 250,000 miles. Wonderful little cars. I also had an early Plymouth Horizon, it was not so wonderful. LoL
They had the same engine as Rabbit
I miss seeing those old Rabbits everywhere back in the 80’s
I loved my 1979 Rabbit Diesel. I never thought I'd have so much fun driving a slow car LOL!
The Fors Festiva and rise of the microcars from the late 80's, please. :)
At 77 years old I remember all the cars in the video, great job. Currently I am driving a 2019 GTI, it’s a crazy, fun car. VW forever 🚙 !
I miss the 2 doors, tho.
@@billolsen4360 yea everything is sedan because I'm guessing coupes are not popular anymore
@@Jac735 Afraid so. Maybe because more people have dogs now than ever before and the dogs want the window down a little bit so they can breath the rushing air right into their noses.
@@billolsen4360 I never knew that bit the 80s and 90s had alot if fun cars though and I'm a 80s baby 89 to be exact 💯 but I was always a car person though I liked going on rides seeing other cars in the road
I would love to hear about the Ford Taurus also throw the SHO in with that.
A 92 SHO was the first car I ever saw do a real “front wheel peel”. A kid we knew from the local arcade drove his Dad’s SHO there one day and was like you guys gotta come outside and watch this lol
My parents had a 92 Taurus bought brand new and they drove it until it finally died in I think 1999. It was a good car!
The Taurus was the fugliest car from Ford since 1961. They also had more oil leaks than you could keep up with and bad transmissions. Now you've heard about Ford Taurus.
@@BethanyB86 Yes. Seven years was about the typical life of a Taurus.
@@efandmk3382 Robocop begs to differ
*I owned a bought brand new 1984 VW Rabbit GTI exactly like the one at 8:58...silver exterior, with midnight blue interior, I loved that car unfortunately it was stolen in 1995. I still miss it to this day.
Hope you're still out there on the road old friend!*
Chrysler/Plymouth/dodge conquest with their Japanese counterpart - Mitsubishi starion. Intriguing sporty car competed with the likes of Supra, Celica and others in the 80s. It would be interesting to see a video on this
Actually, that would make a great video.
Great video Patrick, I'm a huge Golf fan, wearing a GTI shirt right now (it'll always be VW Golf to me, always thought Rabbit was a stupid name)
We dream the same dream!
I have a Mk5 Golf, it was called the "rabbit" too in the US. I refuse to call it that, it's always been a Golf.
@@fuzzball7972 Yep, I remember that one more as I'm younger than his target audience (I'm only 28)
I'm old enough to remember the original VW Jetta, in the mid-'70s, was called "a Rabbit (or a Golf) with a trunk." Which it pretty much was.
My very first car was a 1976 Rabbit two door. Bought it in 1990 for $75. I learned to drive a manual in that car. Drove it a year and sold it for $200.
When Volkswagon came out with the Diesel Rabbit, there was a waiting list. My friend got a loan and flew to Germany and bought a Diesel Rabbit direct from the factory destined for America. She had the car shipped to NY. She had a second fuel tank installed and drove back to California. The loan she took was the price of a Rabbit in America. For the price of an American Rabbit, she got a trip to Germany, a vacation around Germany and a flight back to America. That shows how much the American Dealers gouge consumers.
Not the same energy as regular car reviews, but more informative. And I stuck by the whole way through. 😀
And no dirty jokes
I love Patrick's videos.
@@raverboyloki He showed up in a recommendation on a Big Car video, they make similar content
@@yungsagegaming8577 But I do love the BROWN
Amazing history! In Brazil they have started the WV Golf under the name of Gol in the early 80's. It was an immediate hit of sales..
Good name for it. “Goal” when translated to English, works in Spanish, Italian, Basque (probably more) as well as Portuguese.
@@Bob3519 Gol um portuguese, it means the opposite soccer team scored one point against in its favour...
After consideration from its physical look, I swear this is at least one the cars that Calvin's dad owned (Calvin and Hobbes).
Rabbits, Jettas and Sciroccos dominated our car club autocrosses for years. I own a 1983 Rabbit GL equipped with a 1984 GTI transaxle, the 1.9L engine from a Mk2 GTI, and numerous other performance upgrades. We finished third in the Vintage Imported class of One Lap of America in 1995 with that car. First was a BMW M1, followed by a De Tomaso Pantera, then my Rabbit. Fourth place was a DeLorean, followed by a BMW 3.0si.
Sciroccos were beautiful
I had an 82 diesel that had the engine rebuilt so many times the odometer stopped working. it finally had to join the pasture of dead cars. I decided I was never going to have a truck, so I decided to build a trailer the size of a pickup bed. one day when I was pondering how to come up with an axle for it, I looked under the old VW and realized there was only four bolts and two shocks holding it. so, since '97 I have had that trailer and the vw lives on! best little trailer ever, you look in the mirror on a bumpy road and the suspension is soaking up the bumps and the body of the trailer is smooth as silk and not bouncing
I own a 1982 VW Rabbit Pickup I bought it when I was in high school and I still drive it today I love my little Pickup !
The first brand new car my family purchased was a sky blue with blue plaid interior 1979 VW Rabbit L....I was 5yrs old when I rode shotgun next to my Mom as we drove it thru the showroom doors of San Jose Volkswagen on 1st St, downtown San Jose...3 days later, my Dad took it duck huntin, and got the car so full of mud, the interior never looked close to new again...my Mom was so pissed off, that was her car and he swore he wouldn't get it too dirty....lol
My Dad tried to buy a Beetle in 1958, only to find there was a one year waiting list. He bought a Renault Dauphine instead, but it's engine's main bearings failed in less than one year/10,000 miles. He never bought a foreign car again. I wanted to buy a Beetle when I graduated from college, but the Rabbit had replaced it by then, and a friend bought a Rabbit in 1975 and had a lot of trouble with it. I now own a 2017 Golf Sportwagen and love it. I wish they would build a Golf-based pickup. I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
I was just a kid when these came out. I always wanted my parents to get a diesel VW Rabbit, but they did not, they got a Ford Pinto instead. Even though I wasn't old enough to drive, it just seemed like the Rabbit was so much nimble and fun to drive. I loved the sounds and smells of the diesel Rabbit. I sort of got my wish in the early 2000s when I bought a beater 1986 Jetta diesel (naturally aspirated).
Loved my Rabbit! was a blast to drive but being a diesel had glo plugs that took a minute to warm up and then when done driving over 40 mph had to let it run for 10 min before turning off.
Great episode! I'll never forget the sound of the neighbors' diesel rabbit cranking over for several minutes every morning in the winter. It was my alarm clock in 1987 and 1988. Thanks for the Simpsons clip at the end I'm going to go pee in the kitchen sink
I loved my first VW-- 09 Rabbit. So much so I now drive a newer GTI! Favorite car of all time. My dream car.
Thanks for reviewing the Rabbit! My grandmother had a white ‘78 2-door with a crank sunroof, and we had a tan ‘81 4-door, both diesels. I can still hear that solid door close.
I loved all my rabbits i had , they were a blast but sadly rusted out being in a midwest road salt state . currently sporting a 85 Cabriolet for my summer cruiser :)
Ewan Downey, a very wealthy gold corp owner had a GTI back in highschool with METALLICA ride the lightning on the entire hood....it was perfection
I had an 82 4 door diesel "topay green poly" dove gray interior. I also had an 84 GTI 5 speed royal red and black interior. Loved them both and they never gave me any trouble.
VW's first front-engine, front-wheel-drive, water-cooled car was the K70, which was designed by NSU. VW acquired NSU and Auto Union (including Audi) in 1969, and then rebadged the K70 as a Volkswagen.
I drove the Bejesus out of a 1985 GTI. Practically indestructable little car.
It is 2021 and I can still appreciate the clean lines of the MK1 Golf.
Do Aries K, next
I second that. My 1st car was an 85 Reliant se with the mitsubishi 2.6. It was 15 years old when I got it and It was a great college car. It was also amazing in the snow. Subarus WISH they were as good in the snow as my reliant k.
I think he has held off on the k cars cuz its a story thats been told a million times allready. Same goes for the chrysler minivans (and he had one).
@@Henry_Jones oh really I haven't seen any videos on it
I had an 81. I enjoyed driving it and was very reliable.
My father had a '77 four door Rabbit that was orange with a manual transmission. Before that he had a '69 Mustang convertible with a 302. He told me that he didn't start getting speeding tickets until he got the Rabbit. He kept it until 1985 when he upgraded to the Volkswagen Quantum and gave it to my Uncle. Eventually my Uncle drove it into the ground but it had over 360k miles when he junked it and it still ran. I remember also my Father telling me how to distinguish the American made Rabbits from the German made Rabbits, the round headlights were German and the square ⬜ headlights were American.
I used to own a 1983 Datsun 280zx that we bought from the head of the dealership in Toms River, NJ. My aunt Helens neighbor ran the dealership. It was black with tan interior. The car was all digital and it spoke to you. I’ve never seen another one like it and I’ve been looking for 30 years. It was not a turbo
My first car was a '79 Rabbit L, 1.5L diesel, 5 speed. It had all of 48HP, but, it could hit 65 mph in 5th, and, it got up to 60 mpg, so, it was perfect for a broke 17 year old. Plus, the guy I bought it from had spent a lot of money, and, effort making it look like a GTI. It had a full BBS body kit, it was painted matte black around the rear hatch window, and, it had 14" GTI Teardrop rims.
Loved my 83 GTI
I worked as a filed service tech for a vending/amusement co in NH from 85-00. We had Rabbit diesels as company cars till about 88. Couldn't kill those engines., got over 60MPG. All had over 400k on them by the time we had to get rid of them cause the bodies rotted away from NH winters. Used Golf diesels after the Rabbits.
I remember back when Chrysler built that plant in New Stanton Pa. and then Volkswagen bought it. I lived not too far from therel. Thanks Pat for another great video.
There is never an apostrophe in the word “thanks”.
@@vincedibona4687 you can use thank's as in "thank is"
@@Jehty_ No you can't. That is grammatically improper. There is no such term as "thank is".
@@vincedibona4687 The person to thank's not here right now
@@Jehty_ Improper grammar. But good try.
Had an 86 back in 93. usa built 4 door. 3 speed auto. Durable over all and peppy for what it was. It did lean more than I thought it would while cornering
I'm a big Volkswagen fan. I have a 2009 Jetta and it's been the best highway car I've ever had. Always loved the Rabbit growing up
Remember the Beastie Boy's? We used to nick the shit off them, a VW badge gave you cred back then!
YAY! I am glad you did an homage to the VW Rabbit/VW Golf. It is amazing the amount of cars that were produced off that one platform. I always preferred the round headlamp units to the square. I also pretty sure that the convertible model was referred to as the cabriolet earlier than mentioned. I do remember it remaining as a separate model when VW changed the Rabbit to the Golf. Also - I had the chance to drive a VW Thing at one point - crazy ride man!
Suggestion: Jetta. Or Chevy Malibu (because of its longevity in the name throughout multiple endings to the generations) maybe start with chevelle malibu? Love your channel btw
The Jetta is just the saloon (sedan) Golf, so kind of no point.
Had a friend that had a rabbit back in the 80's he liked it so much that when he finally got rid of It it was over 200k his was a great car can't recall it ever breaking down
Just a sidebar, they did resurrect the Rabbit nameplate in America from 2006 to 2010. I can't imagine why, since they ended up switching back to the golf gameplay in 2011, but I guess they thought it was a spicy idea at the time.
I bought a used Rabbit 4 door. It was brown, so I called it my Chocolate Bunny. I think it was one of the last years as a Rabbit. My previous car was a VW Squareback. The Rabbit was a Quantum Leap ahead in power, handling and comfort (a real heater). The Squareback had over 20 feet of fuel lines with it's fuel injection system. The Rabbit had color coded vacuum lines. My next car was a VW Jetta GLI, another Quantum Leap in power, handling and comfort (sporty cloth seats, A/C and cruise). I bought it new two weeks before they introduced the 4 valves per cylinder engine. all good cars for their time.
I had a 1992 Dodge Grand Caravan LE, very cushy and easy to drive. My mom drove a 92 Plymouth Grand Voyager LE when I was growing up, so it was extremely nostalgic.
Cool 😀, In the 1980's, my friend Alaynas parents had a 1984 VW Rabbit, stick shift with wood grain sides, luggage rack on roof, very slow, but a cool car, she drove me to high school in 1991, be fore I got my DL and drove my White with blue interior Ford Tempo GL sedan 😀
cool! I remember my dad driving me to school in a 1988 VW Fox Wagon. Those 2-door wagons were the good shit.
@@braino64 They were 😀 Good 💩
Come on down to South Africa, we were making a slightly updated version of the MK1 Golf (Citi Golf) till the mid 2000th.
My first car was a 78” Rabbit. I loved that car.
A 1.8i double carb in the GTI . The rabbit version was a special execution of the Golf in Europe. We had at the same time the Dodge Horizon, the Chrysler Horizon, the Vauxhall Horizon, the Simca Horizon and the Talbot horizon....wow. Wonderful car era.
I'd prefer the Rabbit over the Beetle! At least you could get an automatic with it! I want the Rabbit pickup(1980-1983) if possible! That would make a great first car!!!
You could get an automatic stickshift later with the Beetle.
@@erikbunty2016 There was one year when a semiautomatic was offered on the Beetle! I forgot what year that was! I would still prefer the Rabbit and Golf over the Beetle! I would consider the later New Beetle!
80's high school cheerleaders! They all had these and it was fun times.
7:47 Growing up I always thought that GTI steering wheel with the 4 circle buttons was the slickest factory steering wheel ever!
Honorable mention goes to the Turbo Pontiac Trans Am GTA with the millions of cruise control & redundant radio buttons in the middle.
The golf 1 was also built in South Africa, as we're the jetta and caddy pickups. The golf 1 remained in production as the Citi until 2009.
83 GTI was my first car. If i had only known how cool it would be now 25 years later
I appreciate the host's sensibility, focus and style w/r/t these videos. What I don't like is how he seems to hit all the beats that Big Car would want to hit if its proxies were directly producing these vids. The concluding pivot away from the real scandals and problems VW faced seems like one of those moments.
Actually, VW did have other models besides the Bettle in the US before the Thing. You had the Bus, which was actually more synonymous with the Hippie movement than the Bettle. VW also imported the Karmann Ghia, Type III hatchback, and Squareback Type III wagon. What got VW in trouble in the 70s was the styling cues were dated.
A friend of our family drove a Rabbit pickup for several years. She remains the only person I’ve known who had one.
My dad had a VW rabbit. I remember it was baby blue. That's all I could tell you about it. Until after watching this. Thank you
Do the story of the Chevrolet Advance Design trucks, they were very popular in the United States in the 1950s
My earliest memory from babyhood is looking out the curved quarter window in my dad's Advanced Design pickup as we drove to the Piggly Wiggly market.
Great summary - and thanks for including the Canadian market availability
My buddy in school 82’ ish, had a diesel pickup. 50 mpg, we hauled our dirt bikes in the back and filled up maybe twice a month. I’d love to find one, there’s not a better runabout made. And don’t forget the Sirocco
NO WAY! I own the mountain green rabbit shown in the photo 5:41
Thanks for posting this video! Great work.
Thank you for taking the time to put this together! I have been a Mk1 Rabbit owner and enthusiast many years and will happily fight anyone that doesn't think they are one the best and most attractive cars ever made.🤓
I know a quite a lot about Rabbits and I learned number of very interesting things I did not know from this video.👍
Thank you, sir!
3:35 ya most if not all vw's were named after wind patterns and phenomenon from around the world.
The pick up was made also in South Africa until the early 2000s.
I had a 1982 rabbit diesel. It had 250K miles when it finally became one with the force.
My first car was a ‘84 RabbitGTi. Loved that car
Another great video. Listened to it on my way to town in my 12 Mk6 Golf (Jetta) Sportwagen TDI
I find it funny that when vw bought Audi they had the Audi 50 which looked exactly like the golf but was re branded to be the smaller mk1 polo. Same style two companies
I was born in dec 1980, my grandpa had a diesel rabbit it was silver. He owned that car his entire life and by the end there was so many tricks to start and keep it running. I miss that guy…
My first car was a '79 Rabbit 2 door hatch with K-Jetronic fuel injection. It was a lot of fun to drive, handled very well. But with manual steering, torque steer was monstrous---if you accelerated while turning, you'd better have a firm grip, or the steering wheel would try to take your thumbs off
I had a 78 Rabbit as my first car back in 1986 but got rid of a year later for something else. Returned to VW's in the mid 90's when I bought an 87 Jetta coupe back in 1994 and sold it in 2000 and bought a 90 GLI that I kept for 5 years. Bought a 2001 GTI in 2003 and had it 10 years.
Brings back memories from a beach trip with college friends (late '90s). A young lady in the group had a Cabriolet (from after the Rabbit name drop). It became the running joke of the weekend to refer to the "Rabbit". She'd get mad and yell, "It's not a Rabbit!!! It's a CAB-RI-O-LAY!!!!"
I drove a 4 door rabbit mk-III diesel standard transmission... It had the very best milage of any car I've ever operated.
The Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon were based on a Simca design from Chrysler's own European subsidiary.
FIAT also produced vehicles in the United States.
simca 1100 started in 1962, the base for the chrysler talbot horizon
FIAT never built cars in the US.
@@Flies2FLL You should really do your research before you make a incorrect statement.
FIAT produced vehicles in the United States in Poughkeepsie New York in the early part of the twentieth century.
based very lightly on Simca platform, Chrysler turned to VW (behind their backs), the Simca was an outdated design and Chrysler/Peugeot/Talbot needed some ingenuity
@@avtomad722 All automakers take design cues from competitors.
The Simca design just used the front wheel drive layout of the 1100cc. and used what it learned when designed the vehicle that would eventually become the Omni/Horizon.
Several European producers already had front wheel drive vehicles in production for years before VW go around to it.
I'm a little surprised you didn't mention the "rabbit resurgence" of a few years back...maybe it was 10 years ago?) where they added the little rabbit emblem to the Golf...I thought it was a nice touch!
In 1985, I bought an ex-rent-a-car 1984 Rabbit GL four door. Great little car and I loved it. Sadly, in 1988, it was T-boned and totaled by, of all things, a VW van!
Back in '85, I bought a '78 VW Rabbit. It was a good car, had fuel injection, something new at the time. It began to "NICKLE and "DIME" me.....so my mechanic told me you should swap it to a 2BBL carb. WEBBER!. So I did, and no more problems. I got up to 37MPG with this vehicle. Enjoyed it much. Much MORESO than my '67 Beetle, or my '73 Super Beetle. Water cooled : ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
We managed to snag a 78 diesel Rabbit. It ran forever with basic maintenance. Only when it rotted out did it go to pasture.
My folks had a diesel rabbit which they affectionately called "the Turtle." I drove it from Birmingham to Cleveland and back several times. IIRC it eventually developed serious engine problems and they traded it on for a Mazda
I had a red 1982 Rabbit convertible… that was a fun little car!!!
Back in the mid-90s 1990s, I had a friend that had a Volkswagen that was built in Pennsylvania home state of both of us. 👍
Liked the round headlights much more...
I love the VW rabbit. My uncle had one of the trucks in a Diesel. I now have a 2001 golf TDI and I LOVE that car.
Thanks for the post!
First car I drove was my folks' 1979 round-headlight, German-built, diesel Rabbit.
5speed of course (no A/T with diesel) and aftermarket A/C (gonna assume the factory worried it was too much burden on 48hp).
Build & material quality were high but simplistic.
Nothing teaches you to conserve momentum like a low-power car with 4 passengers on a mountainous, curvy road.
I looked at a black GTI with red pinstriped back in the day. It was very expensive due to dealer markup, but what a nice driving car!
I owned a 97 Jetta. My sister owned a Rabbit! ❤️ I loved my car..
I think the Dasher was sold in US a yr before the Rabbit. For several yrs I owned a red 80 Sportruck. It was fun but not very fast. Very unique, however.
My first car...a 79 Westmorland Rabbit. Purchased (very) used in 1988 in Pennsylvania.
Audi - Pronounced "Ow-Dee"
The VW Rabbit was a cool car. Also, the VW Bus was another vehicle by VW that was common in America back then.
I had a '76 Rabbit four-door, blue, four-speed, no AC. Nice car, handled well, a reasonable amount of power, good gas mileage. It performed nearly flawlessly for about five years until it was totaled by an engine compartment fire.