The first car I can remember my parents buying new. During the Carter
years, with gas surpassing a dollar a gallon, this was the car to have. I do
remember there being a waiting list and the usual dealer shenanigans, we
had ordered a white one with tobacco interior, but ended up with a silver
4 door with black leatherette. The 1.5 litre 48 hp diesel Rabbit returned
an unheard of (and still respectable) 53mpg highway 40mpg city. It also
boasted "peppy" performance and was capable of sprinting from 0-60mph
and with a good tailwind it could even climb a respectable grade.
It could also impress the ladies, and cemented my reputation with Martha
as a wizard with cars. I was driving this car while we were dating and being
a poor college student routine maintenance took a low priority. Shortly
before our courtship began, the starter solenoid switch went bad, so to start
it, one took a set of jumper cables and bypassed the switch to energize the
starter and fire up the motor. During this process, you appeared to be jump
starting the car without another vehicle attached, which I guess is a pretty
good trick. Go figure.
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