I’m going to talk to you about something that has been banging around in my brain for decades, a set of thoughts and opinions I developed way back in 1980, when my family’s old 1968 semi-automatic Beetle caught on fire, forcing us to look for a new car. I remember going with my parents to all the car dealerships, and forming memories I still cherish today, like seeing an AMC Pacer in a showroom, and getting to drive in it. A brand-new Pacer! What you’re feeling is envy, and no reason to panic, by the way.
Anyway, I was very fond of our old Beetle, so I was excited when we went to the Volkswagen dealership to see what they had. I was aware that the Beetle was no longer being sold in America, so that wasn’t an option, which disheartened me, but I was still curious about the new liquid-cooled VWs.
Oh, actually – the Beetle wasn’t entirely gone. In 1980, you could still buy a (technically 1979 model year) Beetle Convertible at a VW dealer, and I remember seeing one and being absolutely thrilled.
It was like that one up there, I think it was even silver, and I remember the absurd UNLEADED FUEL ONLY sticker stuck on the outside of the fuel door flap, for some baffling reason. Still, it looked both modern and yet still like the old Beetles I knew, and I lobbied hard that we should just get one of these, but I couldn’t convince my sadly rational parents that what we really needed for a family car was a rear-engined convertible.
They were there to look at the Rabbits, which is what we called Golfs in America, in case you forgot, and those Rabbits were actually American-made, in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, and differed a bit from Golfs in the rest of the world. There was one main visual difference. I’ll show you.
Here’s what the Golf looked like in the rest of the world and America, up until 1979:
…and here’s the 1979 Rabbit:
As you can see, they changed the headlights, from round to rectangular. They also changed the side marker lamps from those simple, frameless reflectors (also used on Mercedes-Benz G-Wagens) to those fussy little vertical things, divided into thirds.
I’ve actually written about this change before, at the old site, and probably don’t need to write about it again, but I need a Cold Start and I’m thinking about it, and screw it, life is for the living.
Anwyay, even as a kid, I really hated this change. Somehow the changing of the lamp shape completely changed the character of the car, and not in a good way. Were before the Rabbit had a sort of friendly, eager expression, as you can see even in this hoity-toity Champagne Edition II:
…the square lights somehow gave the front end a skeptical, almost judgmental feel:
It looks like it’s inspecting something critically and going hmmmmmmm in an irritated tone. Who wants that? The brochure here refers to them as “handsome rectangular headlamps,” which, okay, it’s a brochure, you gotta say that, even though VW calling out the “good-looking black grille” feels like maybe it’s pushing it, just a bit too much.
What gets me is that on paper, you would think the rectangular lights would be better, as they absolutely fit the overall aesthetics of the car better. Aside from the wheels, which must be round for, I believe, legal reasons, there’s nothing round in this design. So why introduce a jarring roundness in the headlamps?
And yet, somehow I think it works better. I love the way the round lamps break the boundaries of the grille, too. And the position of the lamps is much more carefully thought out than you may guess; the rectangular lamps abut the sides of the grille, neatly. The round lamps are inset just a bit, to allow the corners of the grille to peek out at the edges, playfully.
But they’re not inset too much! As VW showed on one of the early Rabbit prototypes, then known as the Blizzard, things looks very weird when the lights get inset too much:
See? Look how weird the lights look when they’re inset that much! It just feels wrong. But look how right it looks when they’re further apart, but, again, with just that hint of grille around the edges. Somehow, the round lights just work, even on that unashamedly rectilinear body.
When VW updated the American Rabbit in 1984 to have wraparound turn indicators, somehow it improved the look significantly, though I can’t exactly explain why:
This also moved the Rabbit into having the Late Cold War-Era Default Car Face, which I have also discussed before.
You could still get the round lights if you opted for the Rabbit Diesel, since those weren’t made in Westmoreland:
…of course, you’d also be going from an 8.5 0-50mph time to an 11.something 0-50 mph time, but that just meant you’d be slow enough for everyone to enjoy your round headlights. Also, that was the fastest diesel on the market at the time! And you’d get like 50 mpg!
Anyway, thanks for letting me complain about this. Again.
Jason, I think what makes the round headlights better than the non-wraparound squares is it gives the car a goober face. It reminds me of a Clodsire(https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Clodsire_(Pokémon)#:~:text=Clodsire).
The squares look too, well, *square* and make it too serious, whereas the wraparound square headlights add in some goober that was taken away.
Oh I do not like the chance over to the square headlights. It’s like someone at VW woke up one morning and said “you know what our Rabbit needs? To look more like a Dodge Omni.”
The best Golf/Rabbit/GTI headlight setup is the 4-eyed style, like my old ’91 GTI. Only NEW car I ever bought, so far..
2 points.
1. The Westmoreland Rabbit updated to the wrap around blinkers in 81, not 84
2. Diesel rabbits were still built in the US with the US face. Cabriolets we’re still available with the round headlights, still built by Karmann in Germany, until 1992. But a regular 2 door, 4 door, or pickup Rabbit had the same face regardless of engine choice (minus some detail changes to the grill)
ewww the Westmoreland Rabbit- softer springs nastier fabrics and those headlights
After the old Volvo died on a road trip to Watkins Glen in October 1976 I bought my first new car, a white Rabbit I named Thumper. Built in Germany, it had round headlights and was the first year with fuel injection. The ride and handling compromises were excellent, as was feedback from the unassisted steering. Of course the only possible upholstery was vinyl. Folding the rear seat enabled it to swallow furniture with ease. It truly was a Great Little Car (155″). I recall the sticker price was less than $4,000. We still need cars like that today, but are there any?
As for the prototype with the headlights that are set very close together: There is a recent interview with Giorgetto Giugiaro in a German classic car magazine. There he says that VW wanted to design the front in the style of the Alfa Romeo Giulia “Bertone” GT, which also has headlights that are set very close together. Apparently, however, it quickly became clear that this front would not fit the design of the Golf.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_105/115_Series_Coupés
My grandmother drove one of those diesel Rabbits in yellow for at least 20+ years. I was kind of pissed that she and my dad agreed she should sell it after my grandfather died, and they didn’t tell me it was up for grabs.
IN 1976, my college roommate (in the US) had a very bright yellow ’75 Rabbit (gas) and I sure thought its headlights were round. But I could be wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time.
Well… it turns out VW didn’t start making Rabbits at Westmoreland until 1979, hence the round headlights.
Are diesel Rabbits that fast? 0-50 in the 11s suggests 0-60 at least in the 15 second range, if not faster, right? People complain about how slow diesel Rabbits are, but that’s not bad at all, and very competitive. Like you said, the fastest diesel on the market, and faster than quite a few competing gas cars.
They were about 18 – 21 seconds to 60. Acceleration fell off precipitously as speed rose. 0 – 80 couple be 90 seconds or could be never, depending on which way the wind was blowing.
I worked in a high volume VW/Porsche/Audi independent shop from 1982-2003, and the inferior feel, quality, everything about the Westmoreland cars compared to the German ones was and is still staggering to me…
This may be among the reasons the new Jettas were so popular when they were introduced – as they were made in Germany
Absolutely! In addition to the Cabriolet, Scirocco, Quantam and Vanagon, as well! Even the Brazilian produced Fox was a far superior product compared to Westmoreland Rabbits (Sadly including the fun but fast disintegrating GTI’s). 🙁
Yep! 2 friends of mine (late 80’s, when we were New drivers) had Rabbits: US & German. The difference in build quality was obvious, even if U weren’t purposely trying to compare.
Painfully obvious, all the way from the base materials used to the final assembled product.
I always liked that early-Westmoreland Rabbit face with the square headlights and non-wraparound signals, because it does fit well with the rest of the car and was only used on gas hatchbacks for two years (and on pickups along with diesel hatchbacks for one and convertibles not at all) so it was rarer than the earlier round and later square/wraparound treatment.
That being said it works best in “C” form with chrome around the edges with base with no chrome highlights at all a close second. “L” models’ extra chrome defining the headlights and sectioning the grille seems like gilding the lily.
I love VW anything. The Champagne Edition is just LOL. Trying to make it look like a Cadillac advert.
There was never a Cadillac commercial that was this fun.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2402121473419188
Id kill for that Scirocco in the commercial
I wouldn’t kill, but I would probably maim.
I drove past the Westmoreland factory on Tuesday. Rural PA seems like an odd place for a car factory. Appears to have been empty since 2014 after Sony made TVs there for a while.
I don’t remember whose car it was or even riding in it, but for some reason I can feel the Rabbit’s door handle and trigger from 35-40 years ago in my hand right now.
I really wanted the European headlights & grill for my hand-me-down 82. But, then I found out one would have to change the radiator support. I looked at my incredibly bad tries at stick welding, and decided I could live with the square headlights for awhile longer.
What’s going on with the wheels (hubcaps?) on the champagne edition?
Fancy, Huh?
Whooo boy!
About the protoype with close-set headlamps, I wonder for a long time why Mercedes-Benz chose to place the headlamps next to the grille and foglamps next to the turn signal indicators on W116 S-Class. This arrangement gave the car “cross-eyed” look.
Apparently, Mercedes-Benz probably regretted the design faux pas and put the headlamps and foglamps in the proper places for W123, W126, W201, W124, and W140…
I never understood why Mercedes-Benz stuck with the round headlamp capsules for its US versions of R107, W116, and W123 rather than switched to rectangular ones in the late 1970s. Even R107 soldiered on with four capsules and battle ram bumpers (when 5-mph bumper mandate was watered down in 1981) until its demise in 1989.
When I bought my w123, I immediately got on eBay and bought a set of Euro headlights. The sealed beams look awful IMHO.
Because composite lamps weren’t legal til 1983.
When you’re changing the model or doing a facelift in a couple years – why bother changing?
Especially when your engineering staff is overtaxed with developing the new W201, and you’re well behind in development for the R107 replacement.
Read my comment once again carefully.
Did I mention anything about the composite headlamps in my aforementioned comment, didn’t I? Tell me what’s the difference between the composite headlamps (form-fitting unique to each vehicle with removeable bulbs) and headlamp capsules in standardised size and shape that can be interchangeable between vehicles.
The rectangular sealed-beam headlamp capsules were legal from 1975 onward. Mercedes-Benz could simply use the 200mm rectangular headlamp capsules for its W123 and R107 and 165mm quad rectangular headlamp capsules for W116 like Rolls-Royce did with its Silver Spirit (1980–1997).
In case you haven’t noticed, Mercedes-Benz had been updating the W116, W123, W126, and R107 a several times during their model years, mostly under the skin and interior. R107 was selling very well and actually more so during the 1980s. Thus, Mercedes-Benz was in no hurry to replace it with R129 until 1989.
“When you’re changing the model or doing a facelift in a couple years – why bother changing?”
For 1986, R107 received recessed door handles (same as W126), deeper front air dam, third brake lamp (two designs in three short years: 1986-only and 1987–1989), bigger V8 engine, and so forth. That doesn’t explain why Mercedes-Benz couldn’t use the rectangular headlamp capsules or revert to the thinner bumpers for US R107. That was three model years before R129 replaced R107.
The headlamp bezels weren’t that expensive to be revised for the headlamp capsules. Something that the domestic manufacturers shamelessly have done for many years. For instance, SAAB went through two different bezels for its 900 “Classic” before settling on the composite headlamps that more or less resemble European headlamps.
So, your argument is moot.
Who wants that?”
Puritans! This is exactly why those fun hating monsters were kicked out of Europe to be dumped on our shores. Ugh, now we get Europe’s puritanical Rabbits too.
“”the square lights somehow gave the front end a skeptical, almost judgmental feel. It looks like it’s inspecting something critically and going hmmmmmmm in an irritated tone”
Careful, it’s probably about to accuse you of being a witch!
That DIESEL rocker panel stripe is the best. I wonder if in like 10 years, putting large “ICE” decals on vehicles will be the new mildly transgressive/screw you society/No Fear license plate frame or truck nut accessory?
Can’t be worse than the truly hideous badge & stickers that the Escalade hybrids wore in ~2012-13.
Just when I’d forgotten about those, you pull me back in…
You’re welcome!
We are programmed to scan faces for emotion. It’s a genetically-wired early-warning system: faces telegraph intent. So in anything that kinda looks like a face, we look for clues. Round headlights are wide-eyed and approachable. They’re the simplest expression of a face, which requires the least processing, so they often just “feel right”
Plus the car needs contrast from all the straight edges – the round headlamps give a visual relief
Jason, You magnificent multi-media master mind! Yeah, yeah, round headlights look better. What made me sign in to comment was, enjoying a coffee and watching The Cars that Built the World, You make an appearance. I’ve been a fan of your writing for a few years before Autopian launched, and knew of Robot take the Wheel, and some online interviews, but Congrats on being History Channel approved!
As a kid my dad always had Beetles of some sort or another and I remember when I was around 10 a friend of his had a Rabbit which was a pretty cool car name for a 10yo but I remember it had rusted out pretty significantly and my parents wouldn’t let me ride in it.
Even as a kid, I thought the reflectors on the Pennsylvania-built Rabbits were needlessly fussy and didn’t get why VWoA felt they were needed.
I like even more the Euro version that had round fog lights to the inside of round headlights.
I think you mean the rectangular lamps here? Anyway, I agree with this take, especially the positioning of the round lamps. I never appreciated it before, but it’s the kind of playful detail–not overthought, but just because–that started to disappear in the ’80s.
oops yes, thanks for catching that! I fixed it.
Another error is that the wraparound turn signals came in for 1981. There were no further substantial changes for ’84 because the Mk2 Golf was already on its’ way for the ’85 model year.
I made it to an embarrassingly late age before realizing the wraparound blinkers were enabled by using fenders Wolfsburg had tooled up for the MkI Jetta.