On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 19:36:55 -0800, JR North
wrote:

The '78-'79 Rabbit diesels were German made (round
headlights). Heads and tails above the later US built square
headlight models in quality. The head gasket blowing 1.6 in
your Rabbit was nowhere near as reliable and smooth as the
1.5 in mine. The US cars buzzed and rattled like crazy from
the engine vibration. The German cars are much quieter and
solid.
So there...
BTW: got 60 mpg on a recent roadtrip to San Jose from
Seattle

Ron White wrote:

Holy ****. So that's what was wrong with my '81 Rabbit. I thought it
was supposed to be a good German car. I experienced all of the
problems you describe, including the blown head gaskets...