Good morning! We’re starting this week off with a couple of convertible Volkswagens. Why not? It’s the height of summer, so you still have plenty of time in the year for open-air adventures, and with their little four-cylinder engines and manual transmissions, these two won’t use too much gas getting you there.
On Friday, we looked at two clean survivors that would have been right at home at any car meet worth its salt. The teal Olds Cutlass got lots of love in the comments, but in the end, it lost by a narrow margin to the Audi 5000. From the sounds of it, the Audi’s manual transmission and better road manners gave it the edge, though several of you said it was a tough call.
The manual in the Audi is what puts it over the top for me. If I’m going to go through the hassle of insuring and maintaining another car, and shuffling around cars in my garage to fit it, it has to be something special to drive. And until I can’t push in a clutch anymore, that means a stickshift.
The VW Golf Cabriolet, or “Cabrio” for short, is a weird car. It’s a convertible based on a hatchback, retaining the hatchback’s basic profile and roofline, with a teeny-tiny trunk below the convertible top. It has full B-pillars and a roll bar connecting them, which, combined with its popularity among well-heeled young female drivers, gave it a rather uncharitable nickname I’m sure you all have heard. And although the Golf on which it is based is in its eighth generation, there have only ever been two generations of Golf Cabrio: the first, and the third. Today we’re going to look at one of each, similarly equipped, in similar condition, and with similarly surly sellers.
1985 Volkswagen Cabriolet – $3,400
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: LaPorte, IN
Odometer reading: 140,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
In the beginning, the VW Golf (Rabbit here in the US) was only available as a hatchback, with two or four doors. But in 1979, a convertible version was introduced, designed and built by longtime VW collaborator Karmann. Originally known as the Rabbit Convertible, its name changed to the Cabriolet in 1985, when the Rabbit was replaced by the second-generation Golf here. The Cabriolet stayed in production all the way through 1993 with only minor changes, notably to the bumpers. That doesn’t matter in the case of this 1985 model – its bumpers are missing in action.
The Cabriolet’s drivetrain is the same as the Golf’s, VW’s sturdy EA827 four-cylinder and a good old-fashioned five-speed stick. It makes eighty-something horsepower, which is enough for a small and light car like this. The seller is tight-lipped about its condition, other than to say that it runs and drives well. They just say they’re “not looking to answer a bunch of questions.” Okay, but if you want thirty-four hundred bucks, you’re going to have to give us a little more information.
The early Scirocco steering wheel in this car is giving me all sorts of nostalgia. The steering wheel was the one part of my old Scirocco that I saved before it went to the junkyard, and I installed it on my ’85 Golf. It’s VW’s best steering wheel design, hands-down. Turning this one will take a little more muscle than you might be used to; like a lot of older VWs, this one doesn’t have power steering. The rest of the interior is a little ratty around the edges, but considering the car’s age, it’s not terrible.
Apart from the missing bumpers, there are a couple of minor concerns with the outside. The hood is primer gray, the front valance is bent at a funny angle, and there are a couple of rust spots here and there. The top is in good condition, though, and I like the white wheels on it.
2001 Volkswagen Cabrio GLX – $2,400
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Plainwell, MI
Odometer reading: 182,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The Cabriolet, like genius and madness, skipped a generation. An all-new Cabriolet, with its name shortened to Cabrio, debuted for the 1995 model year, and remained in production until 2002. In 1999, it was facelifted to look more like the new fourth-generation Golf. You may remember the commercial for this car, featuring “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake. I always liked that commercial, and yeah, I think I’d rather keep driving on a night like that than go to some dumb house party too.
The third-generation Golf came with a few different engines depending on the trim level, but the US-market Cabrio was only available with one: the often-derided “two-point-slow” four-cylinder. It may be down on power from the VR6 engine in the GTI, but it’s a lot less complicated and lower maintenance. Besides, watch that commercial again. Fast isn’t the point of this car. The seller says this one is fun to drive regardless of power level, but like the other seller, they are “not going to answer a bunch of questions.” Is there something about these cars that makes people grumpy? Or is it just selling a car online in general that does that?
The Golf got fancier inside as time went on, but the third generation was before it really started putting on airs. This one has leather seats, but I think this is before the soft-touch plastics that disintegrate and get sticky came along. It’s missing a radio, but that’s easy enough to take care of. I like the wooden shift knob. Those always feel good in your hand.
The outside looks good, but the photos aren’t great. An in-person inspection would give you a lot better idea of its condition. Obviously it has been lowered, which may or may not be a problem. If it rides OK, then I guess it’s fine, but my guess is that it rides rougher than it should. Me, I’d probably raise it back up to stock height regardless.
VW stopped making convertible versions of the Golf after these two, focusing instead on the New Beetle drop-top. And even that is gone now. Every year, more fun cars disappear from the market, and that’s a real shame. Everything is so serious these days. But at least cars like these are still available, and not even expensive. Which one of these would you pick for a bit of fun?
I bought a 2001 cabrio for $1000 back in 2015. The owner was emigrating. He’d hit a deer with it resulting in a slightly rearranged nose and it was shabby, but it still drove surprisingly well, despite nasty scuttle shake. I had a fun summer thrashing it around before the realization that rust was getting a grip on it lead me to sell it to a young guy planning a VR6 swap. I remember it fondly, it was way better than it deserved to be.
I went for the 85 since the A1 is the devil I know. I still have the manuals and service tools from the 80s and 90s. Buying would be dependent on seller’s demeanor and rust. I’ve lived in the PNW long enough to be intolerant of tinworm.
These cars make me think the Autopian should do a series about the difference between a car restoration from a well known car guy vs a twenty something modding his hand me down on a budget.
I get the fact it is tedious to answer the same old questions over and over again. The solution is write an ad that tells the buyer the answers to the questions so they don’t have to ask them. I constantly see ads for everything from tires to clothes where they fail to even mention the sizes. Think people
True. But I’ve also written detailed ads and got questions that were clearly answered in said ad. People can’t read for shit sometimes. Or most of the time.
Well there is always a segment of the population that just ain’t right
If the Mk 3.5 Cabrio has no defenders, then I am dead.
That stout little vehicle was my first car in high school with 141,000 miles on the clock, and it was perfect for the task. Small enough to semi-legally park anywhere, with a true usable (flat-foldable!) back seat and a trunk big enough for 2 weeks of groceries. Plus, it didn’t shrink with the top down– which you could throw back one-handed at a stoplight.
It had the mushy plastics, soft-touch dash, and the neat blue and red lighting. Mine even had heated cloth seats and side airbags. Cruise control worked precisely once after I took it off the lot, but so be it. The 2.0 was STOUT. My oil drain plug fell out and it drove for a half mile until it freaked out. Even then, a quick plug and refill and we were back on the way. There was a trail of shame from main street back to my driveway for a month.
It drove like it weighed 6000 pounds, which is great for a teenager behind the wheel of their first death machine, even though it might have actually been impossible to kill someone with a Cabrio. Incredible suspension and honest road feel, and loved being tossed around like a puppy without complaint. I even executed a few 360 spins in the snow when I was late for work, oops. The only downsides were a leaky top seal that required a permanent beach towel on the seat for rainstorms, and the vacuum locks that would hilariously groan when activated, as if to say “we’re doing this again?” The A/C compressor also clogged and went off like a pipe bomb under the hood, blowing out the radiator at one point, but stuff happens.
When I left for college my parents sold it as a parts car to a guy in town. It served me well, and if I didn’t think one would disintegrate like a tuna can should it make contact with any modern vehicle, I’m almost of the mind to go get another.
Long live the Cabrio!
Cheaper newer more comfortable car for sure. I want nothing to do with a 80s vw. 80s had terrible seats the early 2000s vw seats and interiors are very comfortable. Just most haven’t survived well but better then the 80s. This one looks in great condition.
Someone is trying to sell a parts cart as a runner and isn’t willing to answer a lot of questions? Could this be any easier? Let’s go home, Blue.
The white cab reminds me of my first boss. He let me rebuild a vanagon in the parking lot but he was also going through some things. Divorce and finding himself and all that nonsense that springs up for some in their early 30s.
He was dating a girl who’d dropped out of the whole corporate thing to tour festivals selling toe rings puka shells and hemp jewelry. She’d show up in an old green bay window bus every couple of days. I taught her how to skateboard on my sector 9 longboard in trade for a full set of silver toe rings. Things seemed pretty stable as fall came on but then she fell off the skateboard and broke her wrist and found out what it was like to be out of the corporate world without healthcare. My boss blamed me and I moved on.
10 months later he called me out of the blue to go look at a near identical cabriolet and do a ppi for him on it. Said he was dating some lawyer and they had moved in together and he wanted a fun car before he got back in to the marriage and kids thing.
The thing ran and I showed him what to look out for from owning that era vanagon and handed him a bag of those little pill like fuses VW used since you couldn’t find them at most auto parts stores.
Fast forward a year or two and I run into the guy with his wife and kid at some store. He tells me he bought the cab and it ran exactly 4 times before it stopped working completely. Kid came and it was just sitting.
I think he blamed me for that too. I dunno man some people.
So I’d take the old cab just for the weird set of vignettes into someone else’s path from the parade to the circus to the parade.
Cabriolet! This was one of the easiest Showdowns ever…I love those classic “bitch baskets” and still wouldn’t care about being seen in one since I’d be about the only one in a fun car on the road while breaking stereotypes. I really love that one very similar to this that Mercedes drove in License to Drive…what a great movie (also love that Cadillac!)
Damn, I want one of these so bad that I’d buy it right now if I could…used to have an 83 Rabbit GTI and an 84 Jetta that were both a blast to drive. I like that newer Cabrio too…it’s really nice and everything but I’ve always preferred classic VW to newer. Also, I don’t care if they don’t want to answer a bunch of questions…I’ll look it over myself and if I want it, I’ll buy it…end of story. Obviously, I still expect them to respond “ok” when I say “I’d like to buy it!” Ha ha. I will have a ton of fun cruising around!
I like the Cabriolet but these specific two are both kinda gross to me. I like the boxy first gen better so went with it, but I’m holding my nose.
I voted for the Mk3 because it looks to be in nicer shape and I’ve already owned a Mk1 convertible. BTW: the trunk in the Mk1 isn’t really that ‘teeny tiny’ …I’ve fit a full-grown American male human in one w/o trouble.
Disclaimer: I wouldn’t want to own either of these because VW. NA Miatas are rarely this cheap anymore (unless beath to death) but for a couple grand more, you can probably find a decent one that’s only a little bit rattier than mine. That car would be so much more fun to drive and less aggravating to own over time than either of these VWs.
“VW stopped making convertible versions of the Golf after these two, focusing instead on the New Beetle drop-top.”
Don’f forget the odd Eos with foldable steel roof…
If I had to choose between two, I choose neither as both are shite.
I don’t know why they went away from manual soft top convertibles for the lower end. They just feel so much more authentic. I guess if it’s a daily driver the automatic top is nice but for a weekend joyrider give me the flappy top
Volkswagen gave in to the popular trend of building the compact cars with foldable steel roofs in the late 1990s and early 2000s starting with Mercedes-Benz SLK. Ford Focus CC, Opel Astra Twintop, BMW Z4 (E89) Volvo C70, Peugeot 206 CC, etc. are amongst ones.
I’ll take $3000 in lottery tickets, likely a better outcome than either of these.
I’ll take the original Bitch Basket, the second gen are fat and heavy. It has the same 90hp engine and close ratio 5spd as a MKI US-spec GTI/GLI, btw. I don’t even look at cars that have been slammed, God-knows what other horrors have been wrought on the poor thing.
Both of these cars are kind of gross, and overpriced for the condition they are in. Spend the money on a better one or don’t bother. You can’t make either nice for what a nice one costs.
I had not heard that delightful slang term for the Cabrio.
A Gen X thing, was it?
Me (born 1973) neither. Gen X kind of fits though, as the Golf I Cabrio was available new from 1979 to 1993, right when we got our licenses. The description fits both the stereotype and my personal experiences with Golf I Cabrio drivers, none of them male.
That said, gimme the 2001 one. Not only does it feature the blue and red dashboard Illumination I remember fondly from my own real Golf IV Variant and my mother’s Passat B5 Variant, it also carries significant historical value. The idea to simply graft the Golf IV front end onto the Golf III Cabrio was one of the first in a series of cynical quarter-assed decisions that landed VW in the shit they’re in right now.
That blue and red illumination was the only thing I absolutely LOATHED about my ’02 Golf GLS TDI. I found it literally painful on a long drive at night. Red is fine, it’s the blue that should be nowhere near a car.
Definitely THE term for them in my college years of the late 80s /early 90s. Absolutely standard equipment for the well-heeled Sorority Sister spending Daddy’s Money.
A couple of my homo homies had them too – and I actually came THIS close – when I bought my Spitfire 30 years ago, it was down to that car or one of these at the same price ($3500 in 1996), and I went for the Spitfire. I had an ’84 Jetta GLI through much of college and grad school, love the MK1s.
Sister? Sluss?
When sellers are uptight douche bags it’s usually a warning or signal of some kind.
When both sellers are turds it’s probably time to flush the shit away.
Haven’t sold anything on line recently have you? I loath even thinking about dealing with the doucherie that crawls out from under the bridges to to annoy sellers.
Rather take a loss than deal with stupid. YMMV
Agree
The doucheries exist on both sides of the sale. But really write a proper ad include proper pictures set a realistic price and say I refuse to negotiate on the price until you take it for a test drive
Yes
I’m going with the newer blue one as it has things like bumpers and is also cheaper.
The only thing the blue one needs is to be un-lowered.
The white one looks like someone’s unfinished project that they are asking too much money for.
The 80s ones are available all day long un-molested for cheap. So I’m picking the newer one.
newer one is turbo free and manual. I do kind of dig the old one from a nostalgia POV, but not enough to may that price for that car.
Like many others, I prefer the original, but not this one. The interior on this one reminds me of boat owners that don’t bother with the cover. I’ll go with the other one and communicate through the purchase with the current owner only via a series of grunts and hand motions.
THE FIRST RULE OF PROJECT CABRIO IS YOU DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS
THE SECOND RULE OF PROJECT CABRIO IS YOU DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS
The third rule is you don’t pay the finished value for an unfinished project
My $? Neither.
Autopian Bucks? The white one, because I like the lines better and I can probably grab some bumpers from somewhere.
I’m not a convertible person, so I have zero interest in either, but I’ll take the newer one simply because it has slightly fewer red flags than the older one (even if I think the older one looks better).
Really? Park it under an acorn tree with the top down and you are set for winter.
I wanted to go with the ’85; I really do prefer the crisper lines, but making it road legal in my state would mean sourcing a set of bumpers and the associated hardware. Also, I don’t know, but to me there’s something about the state of that interior that says it’s been left out in the rain with the top down a couple times.
I’m not a fan of the lowering or the wheel choice on the ’01, but those are easy enough to rectify without spending too much time or money. Newer and bluer for me today.
Every convertible has been caught out in the rain top down that’s why any projects going forward I’m using boat materials for my convertible. From fabric to radio hell buy some old wet suits and have a good upholstery shop do the whole interior
Both of these are pretty beat. The blue one is less obviously beat, but the air freshener (Yoinks! and Crikey!) implies this car has smelled some things. Still, I think it is more recoverable than the white metal box with a handle.
Air freshener in a convertible is decidedly a red flag. Then again, maybe they’re just a big Scooby Doo fan. Alright, gang, let’s split up and look for clues…
Totally going for the white one and someday the neighbor who cuts my lawn and I will take it to the airplane graveyard!