New Money Pit!

So I bought my daughter her first car yesterday. We looked at a dozen cars over the weekend and in the end it came down to this `88 Cabriolet or a 91 Nissan Hardbody 2x4.

This little car made the 70 mile drive home with zero problems, but after stopping it and starting it a few hours later to play the "too-many-cars-shuffle" I got the unmistakable rattle of a dead catalytic converter. Unfortunately it has already been replaced with a universal so a bolt-on direct fit is not an option and I was stuck going with another universal. I have no welder (and haven't welded in ages anyway) so now I get to pay someone to do that too.

$216 to register and still need to get it to pass safety and emissions.

Despite all that it's a pretty cool first car. Has a brand new top and the body is very clean with only two small spots that have minor surface rust. Needs a few minor things but overall is in fantastic shape and hasn't leaked a drop on my brand new driveway either!

I have to admit I've always been a VW fan. I've had a couple classic Beetles come and go, and will probably end up with another one before too long. Sadly I think this is going to push back some of upgrades I had in mind for my truck. =\

 

Cute lol. Is it considered a rabbit? Either way, they always reminded me of Scirocco. My buddy had one all fixed up and it was a pretty sweet ride.

 

It's a Cabriolet, but they were all the same back then haha!

Yeah, "cute."

It's fun to drive, actually has some unexpected balls. 1780cc's, baby!

 

Nice little car to start with. You'll want it in the summer to drive with the top down LOL

 

If you're into that sort of thing ha ha

Mike, is it a manual?

 

Whoa! Haven't seen those in ages!!
Great starter car! Please tell me it's a manual and that your daughter can drive one! #parenting win!

 

LOL great minds brother!

 

Yup, 5 speed manual.. And while I wouldn't say she's mastered driving a stick she's working on it and is a great student! (when she's interested in the subject matter..)

 

Nice. Looks like it's in good shape for an 88. With some TLC it'll go on for a few years!! Congrats. She'll enjoy it. My uncle in Australia just bought a new Golf for his 90th last year

 

AWESOME!! Talk about a perfect theft deterrent!
You know we're stuck in the good old days when we get excited about a manual tranny!

 

Nice car - brings back memories

 

Personalize her license plate...
VDEVILU. (VW)

 

That Tundra back ther needs a wash!

 

What's the red colored thing below the badge?

 

Yeah, it's dirty. The night before someone on a local Tundras/Tacomas group posted that they were buried in mud in their stock Tacoma in a canyon that's near me. I live out in the boonies so I put my pants back on and went and pulled them out - almost got stuck myself in the process.

It's a red American flag, I have one on both sides.

 

like this?!?

 

Nope... it's red.

 

Same flag though..

 

Yup, just like that but red. I have a lot of little red accents on my truck so I went with the red decals. I'm not sure if I like them or not, although the people who's opinions I've asked for have given positive feedback.

 

Lets see em

 

That decal red tow hooks painted red and sway bar

 

I have the TRD sway bar too. Been considering doing something with the bedside decals.

 

And yeah, bath is needed. Earlier this week I did a hand wash and polish and she looked extra sexy.. the next morning I woke up to rain, then snow, and rain since.. I'll just let the rain wash away the mud then I'll go do a full detail right before it rains again.

 

I like all decals stands out!

 

Sounds like my luck. I cannot recall a time when I washed my vehicle and not had rain within 24 hours. Including last week. At least the interior is still pretty clean.

Nice looking Cabbie - I went through a VW stage myself back in the day with an '82 jetta (1.7L stock) with a '91 1.8L transplanted in it, upgraded swaybars, Neuspeed throttle body... it had more go than slow, even with the brakes upgraded to 2nd gen. If you can't drive one if them fast, more power really isn't going to help you. I can't say I miss the damn thing, but I did drive it like I stole it for five years and sold it for $50 more than I paid for it. Of course, much more was spent on parts and upgrades in those 5 years.

 

Nice man. I grew up working on Audi and VW. Let me know if you need help on anything. I probably even have a few spare pieces depending on the application. Haha I've got a garage from of euro parts from 1970 up.

 

Need two center caps for the back wheels!

I found them online, going to order them..