Junkyard Find: 1980 Volkswagen Dasher Four-Door Hatchback
With the 1986 Quantum GL5 Junkyard Find we had a couple of days ago, we might as well make this a VW junkyard week. With that in mind, I present this icky-looking Volkswagen Dasher today.
I shot this car in Northern California a few months ago, and it showed all the hallmarks of a car stored outdoors for decades: low miles, paint burned off upper surfaces, moss and lichens growing on the shaded areas. Look, not even 100,000 miles on the clock!
This one was a luxurious model with sunroof and air conditioning a diesel injection pump.
The 1980 four-door hatch version of the Dasher listed at $8,190, which was $2,300 more than the Rabbit four-door hatch. Meanwhile, the far more luxurious and powerful (keep in mind that 1980’s standards for luxury and power differ from the ones we might apply today) Datsun 810 wagon (soon to be rebadged as the Maxima) listed at $8,129. Not that Dasher and 810 shoppers were the same people, but these comparisons are fun to make.
Yes, I bought the MotoMeter clock… and it works!
The car of choice for Kentucky Colonels.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
More by Murilee Martin
Comments
Join the conversation
Back in the late eighties i was shipping a lot of diesel 4 door sedans to Ireland for a local wholesaler. At the auction in the Bronx he purchased a 2 door 1984 VW Diesel in error and to dump it offered it to me on the cheap. Car only had 18,000 miles and ran like a top. The car was a stripper with only a heater and radio. Top speed down hill 85 MPH with the windows closed. Have a ticket i got in Penn showing 85. My daughters other half is a NYC Police Capt so i was able to get the ticket cancelled. I drove that car for 5 years and 85,000 miles with only tires and a battery. When my daughter got married i gave the car to her to drive to work. Of course after another 20,000 miles she got hit in the back by a hit and run truck and ended back in my backyard. My buddies son was going to collage in Ct at the time so he brought the car from my daughter and after 4 years of driving to school and seeing his future wife in Ct the car had another 125,000 miles on it. The car is still on the road with 845,000 miles going between Boston and Bridgeport every day. The owner drives with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver in case the car dies. This way he can walk away with the plates. All this on the original unopened engine. The oil was always changed on time and problems were attended to as they are all engineers. As for the matter of engine shake the front motor mount has to be adjusted every couple of years or replaced. A new mount is only $14.00. I wish i could buy another one just like it today.
With the power-to-weight of a Diesel Dasher being what it is, it's possible the moss & lichens grew on the car while it was in motion.