Sometimes it all comes together, doesn’t it — right before it all falls apart. Lightning in a bottle. Never as good before, never to be equaled afterwards. Duane Allman crashes his motorcycle, the sunburst Les Paul yields to the “Les Paul SG”, the perfected Honda VFR800 Interceptor is replaced by something that looks like the Nostromo’s escape pod, the woman you desperately love goes desperately crazy and desperately calls your wife, that kind of stuff.
The family sedan, too, had its high-water mark, its ’59 ‘Burst, its At Fillmore East. The G.O.A.T. The Greatest Of All Time. Once in history, all the tides converged. The resulting car was fast, spacious, full-featured, affordable, safe, economical, gorgeous, desirable. Hmm. We’re missing one quality, aren’t we? We’ll get to that later.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the G.O.A.T.: the 1998 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8t five-speed manual. Yes, I had one.
Tagged as 1998 passat, 1998 volkswagen passat, Passat, Volkswagen Passat
Recent Comments
kjb911 - may have had a slight tear by the end…great article
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Summicron - More than pan-European. The front end shows design cues from Ricoh office copiers. Paper drawer under the grille.
geozinger - “We know China-made Honda Fits are in Canada and elsewhere without giving people fits.” Thanks for the acknowledgment, Bertel. I bring...
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28-Cars-Later - I concur.
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28-Cars-Later - Yay a bona-fide Crabspirits story!