VW Dasher

[mtdxx]

Anyone own one of these? Have a story to tell about them? or know where I can read any information on them?

These cars must be pretty rare now, I have not seen one around in a very long time.


My dad has a black 2 door hatchback dasher diesel, a 1980 I believe.

Unfortunately it has been sitting and rotting now for about 10 years, I think it needed valve work, which never got done.

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by mtdxx

Anyone own one of these? Have a story to tell about them? or know where I can read any information on them?

These cars must be pretty rare now, I have not seen one around in a very long time.

My dad has a black 2 door hatchback dasher diesel, a 1980 I believe.

Unfortunately it has been sitting and rotting now for about 10 years, I think it needed valve work, which never got done.

My father has a 1979 Dasher Diesel (original owner), I drove the car from 1981-1984. I last saw the car in the mid-1990's, repainted White from the original brown, still OEM wheels, had all trim and upholstery replaced. Glass - full replacement. Trim around the glass, same. It had been racking up the miles until about 1988 when it was used more as a run-about because it did not have A/C and he lived in AZ. Because OR does not salt and the move to AZ, the car never had any rust at all. The only thing showing its age was the splined pattern in the OEM alloy wheels had some pitting where it is hard to clean.

The most amazing thing about the car was I would get a solid 55 mpg on the highway, never less than 45 mpg under any condition. It had Goodyear Tiempo's all around and drove through the worst snowstorms I have ever been stupid enough to drive through - unplowed snow up to the hood in Central OR at night, 70 mph using the telephone poles for guidance as to where the road went (and a lot of familiarity).

His had uncanny "pull" for such a low hp car, and many of my Rabbit-owning friends commented on how much power it seemed to pull vs. their gas-powered 4's. 500 miles plus on a tankful didn't hurt, either.

One thing I recall was asking him why he did a full upper-end rebuild at 50k when the car seemed to run fine - valve job, head spec'd and machined, etc. His answer was nothing was wrong with it, but he felt it would last 150k with valve work, etc. at 50k intervals. Somewhere in Eastern Washington the car is still doing duty, looking mint and proving his maintenance strategy had some merit!

If your father still has that rig intact, and you're not interested in a major project, I am sure you could find an enthusiast out there who would buy it in any condition short of rusted hulk.

I would love to find some photos of the 1979-1981 vintage car, but my Google and Jeeves cannot produce even one decent pic for me!

I am amazed that a non-smoking relatively clean-burning car could exist in 1979 and yet today we're looking at Hybrids to get anything close to the mileage (45-55 mpg). Granted they are LEV's, but do the math, how bad can a gallon of diesel pollute when it takes the car 50 miles???

Something lost here - I guess the inversion of diesel vs. gas prices (about 20 cents less back then) has a lot to do with it - slightly over 50% of all Volkswagens sold in 1981 were Diesel-powered.

[mtdxx]

thanks, i enjoyed your story. Nah i'm not looking for a project. it makes me mad that he let the car go like that. Since it has been parked a branch fell and hit the hood, really did some damage.

maybe someday it will get into the hands of someone who is looking for a project

[SteveZ]

Which region of the country are you located?
Steve

[mtdxx]

pennsylvania

[SteveZ]

I'm in NW CT. Might be something worth looking into...how bad the front damage?
Steve

[mtdxx]

not bad, just the hood. But my dad won't part with the thing. He has "every intention" of getting the thing back on the road, just like the 8 other cars he has sitting there for the past 10 years He has one of those rabbit pick ups too and an isuzu pup diesel. The rest of them are nothing special.

[SteveZ]

too bad, best of luck to him.
Thanks!
Steve

[BudFox]

OH man I loved that car. That was my parent's car when i was growning up. I've always been on the lookout for one. I think it was turned in to the Scirocco sometime in the 80s....If there are any left out there I definitely would like to know!

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by BudFox

OH man I loved that car. That was my parent's car when i was growning up. I've always been on the lookout for one. I think it was turned in to the Scirocco sometime in the 80s....If there are any left out there I definitely would like to know!

The Scirocco goes back to 1977 in the USA. We had both in our family; the Dasher was the US version of the Passat in the 1977-1981 period. If I remember right, we had the following in our family in the US:
1977 Scirocco
1979 Dasher (still running somewhere in NW US, I last saw it totally mint condition in about 1992, I put major miles on the car ~1983, true 45-55 mpg anywhere - 500+ miles per tank)
1981 Scirocco (Wolfsburg style, White with Recaro seats in a black interior - sold)
1985 Scirocco (2nd gen, rounded body and 16V I-4, faster, totalled by an inattentive driver smashing into it)
198- Golf GTI (2nd gen, 16V Red, handled even better)

I lived in Europe in 1977-1978 and the "Passat" was a dead ringer for the "Dasher" over in the US. Kind of like the Golf was pretty much always the "Golf", but was badged with the "Rabbit" by Volkswagen marketing.

I did a little looking around and the only knock I can find on the Dasher Diesel was blown head gaskets - not sure why. Rabbits fared worse, the Dasher was a little more "upscale"...

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by mtdxx

Anyone own one of these? Have a story to tell about them? or know where I can read any information on them?

These cars must be pretty rare now, I have not seen one around in a very long time.


My dad has a black 2 door hatchback dasher diesel, a 1980 I believe.

Unfortunately it has been sitting and rotting now for about 10 years, I think it needed valve work, which never got done.

I was just in an old import parts shop a few weeks ago, and there on the shelf was the Dasher Haynes manual, covered 1979-1981. They're still around.