Tesla trucks in the South

[JohnMOhio]

If I recall correctly, the pickup had the front end the same as their van. VW just added a bed behind it.

[Allen]

If I recall correctly, the pickup had the front end the same as their van. VW just added a bed behind it.

Yep. A ridiculous concept for a truck. No engine, no power, and no traction.

I remember when those POS's were selling like hot cakes due to the low price yet you seldom saw one on the road being driven. After just a few short years the Rabbit and all the variations were cancelled and none (zero) were seen on the road.

What made my 1966 Toronado so difficult to tow was they didn't have roll-back wreckers back then and car being front wheel drive had to be lifted on the front where most of the weight was. Curb weight was 4,700# empty and weighed 3000# from the windshield to the front bumper. This was curb weight, not gross vehicle weight which would have probably been over 6000#.

[JB White]

Funny you should mention the VW Rabbit.

In the late 70’s Dodge offered the front wheel drive Omni. Trying to rock the car out of the snow they had catastrophic transmission failures. Facing a shortage of transmissions, we used the VW Rabbit trans. Bolted right in. No problem.

[lyman]

omni's, or some of them, used the 1.7 VW motor as wel,


re the Rabbit, it never went away,

VW built the small truck off the Rabbit/golf platform, not the van

the Rabbit eventually got renamed the Golf,

they still offer it in the R (hot rod) and the GTI, (the original hot hatch)

[JB White]

I’m fairly certain Dodge used VW blocks modified to Chryslers whims.
Sort of like AMC and their outsourced blocks and components from GM or Ford.
Ford dropping Tecumseh air conditioning in favor of AC Delco.
Dodge using Mitsubishi 4 cylinder power trains.
Ford selling European Capris and Buick pushing rebranded Opels…

But the “Buy American” bumper stickers could be seen on those too.

[Allen]

Long ago I looked into buying an old 1971 AMC CJ5. The appearance and price was good so I inquired and the owner let me take a little test drive. The little 4 or 6cyl engine pulled well, everything worked (what little there was to work) but the drawback was the trans. The shifter was a 4 speed H pattern. The throw was very long (clean out the house) but was hard to tell what gear you were in unless moving. 1st and 3rd, 2nd and 4th were like an inch apart.

I contacted a local trans shop that said AMC used about 8 different manufacturers of trans, Peugeot being the main provider and that nothing would cure the problem other than replacing it with something else.

I felt this was something I couldn't get use to and didn't want to rebuild the thing so I declined on buying.

Unfortunately almost nothing built is 100% American.