I'm confused.. I thought that the VW Golf was a worldwide brand however the current MK5 version has finally gone on sale in the U.S. and it's called.. wait for it,
Rabbit!! www.vw.com/rabbit/index.html
As Clarkson would say.. ohhh dear....
What on earth are V.W. thinking? Surely the *Golf* name carries much more kudos than Rabbit.
If V.W. tried to market the name here it would be laughed all the way back to Wolfsburg.
So what's going on? Why the silly name?
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It has been the Rabbit for more than 30 years, back to Mk1 times.
For a history look at s87762315.onlinehome.us/history.php?site=vw
Even 30 years ago the Americans probably would think of a Golf car as a minute buggy/cart aimed at the golf playing public.
I think thay would be brave to throw away 30 years of branding, although a possible transition route would be to adopt Golf - Rabbit! It could be that Golf is/was already in use.
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pmh (was peter)
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Oops. oh for an edit button!
If in doubt read your own links first! VW did try to introduce the Golf name with the Mk 4, but falling sales promoted a rethink, and the historical cachet of the Rabbit (probably arising from its GTi roots) and now the mk5 has got the Rabbit label back!
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pmh (was peter)
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pmh is quite correct, when I was a lad my Mum had a Mk1 Golf and every summer I used to stay with a firend in LA or he would come over and stay with me.
On one trip over there we were talking and he said 'How is you Mum's rabbit ?' I turned around and said my Mum didnt have a rabbit and of course once the confusion cleared it has been a standing joke ever since.
cheers P
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There used to be a rude sticker available for the US version of the Golf - it was in the shape of two rabbits...err....reproducing, with the logo "Rabbit injection".
V
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There was more than a rude sticker,.You could get a perfect reproduction of the Rabbit name logo fitted on the hatch lid as standard by VW, but with the addition of the copulating rabbits.
It was very popular.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Am i right in thinking there's something from an Ann Summers shop called a 'rabbit', which could have made the conversation " How's your mum's rabbit" interesting...... or have i got the wrong end of the stick?
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It's a tribute to VW longevity. Just like my other half Rabitting on and on....:-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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The name Golf - boring, pretentious, right wing, snobbish, all the standard characteristics of players of the game except in Scotland - is quite bad enough.
No red-blooded European would drive a car called a Rabbit (or one called a Bug come to that). The fact that Americans can regard these names with affection is surely a measure of how alienated they have become from the real world in aesthetic terms.
As for the copulating rabbit logo, surely that must cause offence in US neoChristian circles?
'They're just playing, dear.'
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I neeeeeed one of those rabbit badges.
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Oh for an edit button!
I went googling...
www.blert.net/thecat/t/houston/i/4-28saturday/im00...g (sorry!)
www2.auto.t-online.de/dyn/c/75/85/59/7585592,tid=i...g (actually, I quite like this!)
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www2.auto.t-online.de/dyn/c/75/85/59/7585592,tid=i...g (actually, I quite like this!)
Very obviously a hare though PG. Naturally you wouldn't expect an American non-zoologist to know the difference (don't they have a sort of hare called a jackrabbit?).
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It took some time to find....
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TURBO-RABBIT-BADGE-EMBLEM-...m
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HUMPING-BUNNY-SEX-BADGE-VW...m
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pmh (was peter)
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The Golf has been called the Golf for a long time in the US. I think the Mk1s were called the Rabbit, but everything since then is a Golf. For some reason they have decided to bring back the Rabbit name now-Can't imagine why.
On a similar note, the Jetta name never got dropped over here, so the European Bora was sold badged as a Jetta. Young guys who like modifying cars replace the Jetta badge with a Bora one. They also get a "novelty" German number plate for the front (most states don't require you to have a real number plate at the front).
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Can't imagine why - Probably some God forsaken focus group. My ambition is to go to one of them drunk.
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So if i ever see the 'VW Pugugly' i'll know you've succeeded
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I've just seen the future.
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Saw a parking ticket issued to a Golf with the Rabbit badge on the back once. The traffic warden had written "VW Golf Playboy" in the make section of the ticket.
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Wasn't there a tacky special edition with the Playboy marque ?
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Pug, there was. That's what I thought this thread was refering to. The Playboy bunny badge. Oops.
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Most VWs had different names in the US in the 70s/80s if I recall it was something like this
Polo = Fox
Golf = Rabbit
Passat = Quantum
Audi 100 = 4000
Audi 200 = 5000
There used to be a fair amount of "playing bunny" merchandise but has probably all disappeared by now.
Best item though was a book called
"Poor Richards Rabbit Book"
The best ever workshop manual for the Mark I golf - hilarious text and illustrations but 100% spot on factually.
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