I had an '81 4-dr 4-speed Dasher diesel hatchback in that sickly beige/cream color. It had the 1.5 engine but was amazingly torquey and had lots more zing than the '80 Rabbit that I had previously. Check out the story on it...
I towed it home the first time from the previous owher with a broken head following it running out of control on its own oil. We replaced the head, I did a little minor electrical work, then I was on the road at 44mpg once again in a full size car.
I drove it for about a year then sold it to a lady I worked with whose husband needed to commute 20 miles down the freeway every day. About a year and a half later she called me at some horrible hour (like 6 o'clock in the morning,) "Hey, if you want that car back my husband says he'll sign the title over. He was driving down the freeway and it died; now water is running out the tailpipe." I trailered it to the shop. Again. We surfaced the warped head then I was back on the road with it.
About a year later an acquaintance of mine who was down on his luck needed a car. I sold him the car for nothing down and small monthly payments. None of the payments materialized and then I received a letter from the State saying that my vehicle was involved in an accident and I, as the owner, was liable for the damage I was confused because we had filled out a bill of sale and I had turned in my half. I mailed them a copy of the bill of sale and they agreed that I was not liable after all About this time I got a phone call from the local community college saying that they had an abandoned car titled to me in their parking lot, and that it showed evidence of being in a wreck. So I grabbed the trailer and towed it home. Again.
This time I had to spend a few days cleaning it out first. Clothes, food (some partially eaten, some still raw), books, tools, you name it, even a tuba! Apparently he was living in the car prior to the accident and hadn't bothered to take anything out when he abandoned it either. Once I had it clean enough to sit in, I set about looking over the damage. He had hit another vehicle, crushing the headlights, grille, and marker light, plus popping the hood out of place and into the windshield. I looked at it for a few minutes, walked into my storage shed, and after a little bit of rummaging, emerged with a replacement grille, marker light, fender trim, and headlights My only expense in getting this thing back on the road was a windshield w/ seal (~$100) and a headlight bucket (~$25) -plus the obvious blood and sweat.
I let my sister drive it to deliver pizza while she was back from college for the summer. Since I was then driving an '84 Jetta 5-speed I didn't need the additional one, so I sold it to a close friend of mine who I trusted to actually make payments. He was going to take it on an 800-mile trip that weekend to visit his sister and I was sure he was going to be happy with it.
Well, I got a phone call that Saturday morning, "I need you to come look at the Dasher. I was driving down the freeway and it suddenly lost all power and now it won't start. I opened the hood and saw that I had forgotten to put the coolant cap back on after checking it. How bad do you think it is?" Yeah, melted the head and pistons. He assured me that he could get a replacement engine if I could put it in, but after it sat out in the weather for eight or nine months he gave it back to me.
Alas, by then the entire interior was moldy, the fuse/junction block was thoroughly rusted, the body was rougher than ever, and I had run out of ambition for the vehicle. I mean, this would be the fourth time I would have had to patch it up after someone else didn't take care of it. I scrounged up the parts necessary to do a complete rebuild, but would have had to invest more than $500 in parts alone to get it on the road, plus countless hours tracking down all the rusty electrical connections, and even then would only be able to sell it for $300 at the most.
So, one last time we loaded it onto the trailer, then dropped it in the parking lot at one of the local wrecking yards with a signed title in the seat. I was sad to see it go because I had invested quite a bit of time into it over the years, but sometimes you just gotta move on.
My family and friends have dubbed the car ‘Christine’ and sometimes I still look over my shoulder just to be sure it isn’t still back there following me
