1980 4cyl Manual in Mill Valley, CA

Last Updated: 9/3/2025 | Ad Source: Craigslist

Asking Price: $5,350

 

More Details & Pictures

Hello, and thanks for checking out my 1980 Volkswagen Caddy Pickup listing.

Obviously I want this truck to go to a good home, but I also want to make sure that anyone who isn’t immediately local knows what they’re getting into; this is a 40 year old truck now and isn’t without it’s cosmetic opportunities and mechanical nuances.

So, some backstory: I purchased this truck from the original owners son who sold it after his father had passed. I’ve always had a liking for the VW Caddy’s and I’d put out a few requests to my VW contacts who might know of one coming up for sale. Sure enough, my buddy Joseph knew the owner of this truck and put me in contact when he knew it was coming for sale and I purchased it sight-unseen off Joseph’s recommendation.

The owners son gave me a a rundown of the history he knew of with the truck. His dad was big into the VW scene (rad!) and had mostly worked and driven VW buses and bugs. When the Caddy came stateside in 1980 he picked one up, a somewhat rare offering as they hadn’t been sold in the states yet at that time. 1980 was a great year for the Caddy since they were imported to the states without having to make major D.O.T. modifications to the bumpers and lights. You can easily spot a 1980 Caddy because of the lack of huge orange reflectors on either side of the headlights. I once inquired with one of my VW fanatic friends over the possibility of backdating the truck to the late-70’s round headlights (which I prefer, esthetically), and you’d have thought I’d shot his dog; apparently the 1980’s are extremely rare and sought after because of their 1-year development status.

The original owner had eschewed the Diesel for a more sporty 1.6l GTi engine from a MK1 donor along with the 5-speed transmission opposed to the original 4-speed. While the truck is happy to do 65, it’s sweet spot is around 55, very comfortably. Granted, I’ve done very few miles on the highway as this has primarily been a Mill Valley / West Marin driver, so for those of you asking if it’ll make the trip to Southern California, I don’t doubt that it would, but it’s untested.

Further modifications included an Oettinger valve cover, custom exhaust, Koni shocks up front, BBS RS’s, strut bar, and GTi fender flares. The owner also added Air Conditioning, which still works just fine, though I think it reduces the already-limited power on tap by about half while running.

While in our care for the last 5 or 6 years we’ve had the truck exclusively maintained by the brothers at Zuffenhausen Auto in San Rafael. After we acquired the truck we dropped it to them for a PPI, ending up spending around $5k to take care of some deferred maintenance. While there have been small things here and there, the truck has since been incredibly reliable, not to mention an absolute blast to drive. This truck features no power steering, which while sometimes difficult to navigate at very slow speeds, gives you a smile-inducing tactile feel that modern vehicles lack.

I want to be as up-front as possible about the truck’s trouble areas and opportunities.

1. The biggest issue are the window and door seals. I believe these are still the OE pieces, now cracked and dry, and they need to be replaced. The truck is not moisture tight, but it doesn’t leak badly either. If for some reason we ended up keeping the truck I’d replace everything this summer.

2. Rust. Damn it, rust. The truck has plenty of spots that should be addressed. We’ve had a few quotes to have the rust and paint redone, ranging from $5-8k depending on the level of disassembly we were after. Going through this process is also why we didn’t address the seals sooner, as it makes logistical sense to do both at the same time. I’ve included photos of the bigger rust areas in the photos.

3. While the interior isn’t too bad, it’s definitely showing it’s age. The dash is somewhat brittle after years in the sun, the headliner is sagging, the B-Pillar coverings are dry and cracked. and the bezel that holds the third gauge is broken (though the gauge is still working properly). The good news is that replacement parts are fairly easy to acquire at very reasonable prices. While some of the patina is palatable I’d love to fix the B-Pillar cover and headliner.

4. The stereo works well, though there’s a loose wire in the headunit that could be addressed as the power goes out from time to time, easily remedied by moving the unit just slightly. The price includes the CD currently installed, The Gypsy King’s Greatest Hits heard in the included video.

5. The Two-Finger tranny. Nope, not a SF sideshow, but rather the way our Mechanic’s describe the transmission. 1st gear can sometimes be just slightly difficult to get into, and reverse sometimes likes to pop out of gear, but after a couple drives they’re the kind of nuances that just become second nature. All other gears work without issue.

If you’d like any other images, want to get on the phone and chat, or anything else that might need further explanation, please don’t hesitate to reach out. The truck is located in Mill Valley, CA, just North of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I’m also including a cold start video in the Dropbox folder with more images… yes, I too look at BAT too much. 😉

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jfzlogq6vn01j60/AAB4_1C8u5EWIdBJUf_RsW6Na?dl=0

I’m asking $5350 or best offer.

Last Updated on September 3, 2025 by TruckAds