1983 MODEL YEAR OVERVIEW
1983 marked a big year for the Vanagon, now in it's fourth year in the USA. After the 1982 introduction of the first Vanagons with a water-cooled, diesel engine, VW followed this up in 1983 with the mid-year addition of the 1.9L water-cooled, gasoline engine. This new boxer layout engine, dubbed the "Water Boxer" (or in German lingo, the Wasser Boxer), replaced the earlier air cooled engine in the lineup. This new engine makes 22% more power than its predecessor and delivers a top track speed of 84MPH.
1983 holds the distinction of being the only year to include three engine choices: air-cooled 2.0L (early 1983), 1.6L diesel (all year), and the new 1.9L wasserboxer ("Waterboxer" in English). 1983 was also the second and last year for the diesel engine option. As in 1982, all the 1983 Campers included the stove, sink, and refrigerator with seating for four. VW also discontinued the 9-seater option for 1983. In total, there were nine models of the Vanagon were built for model year 1983 and 1983.5. |
The six original 1983 models :
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The three added 1983.5 models :
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- Vanagon L, air-cooled gas
- Vanagon GL, air-cooled gas - Vanagon Camper, air-cooled gas |
- Vanagon L, diesel
- Vanagon GL, diesel - Vanagon Camper, diesel |
- Vanagon L, gas water boxer
- Vanagon Camper, gas water boxer - Vanagon GL, gas water boxer |
Ten paint schemes were available:
"L" Passenger vans: - Pastel White - Two-tone Samos Beige / Assuan Brown - Two-tone Damuso White / Marsala Red - Two-tone Damuso White / Medium Blue |
"GL" Passenger vans: - Two-tone Monaco Blue /Kuril Blue - Two-tone Timor Beige / Merian Brown |
Campers - Pastel White - Ivory - Escorial Green - Assuan Brown |
Volkswagen sold 14,695 Vanagons in the USA in model year 1983, up 11% over 1982.
(According to CarSalesBase.com)
(According to CarSalesBase.com)
Notable 1983 Features:
The most significant changes for 1983 models was the mid-year introduction of the Water Boxer engine and the discontinuation of the earlier 2.0L air-cooled predecessor. Additionally: - The diesel engine Vanagons came only with a 5-speed manual transmission. - On most passenger vans, the paint scheme was changed from a simple upper-and-lower color arrangement to roof / upper-side / middle-side / lower-side paint scheme with alternating colors. - All 1983 Vanagons now came equipped with the open "see-through" style headrests introduced with the 1982 GL models. 1983 Visual Cues:
All 1983 Vanagons came with an upper grille at the front of the van for interior ventilation an a pair of single round headlights are mounted along side the upper grille. Additionally, both the gas and diesel water-cooled Vanagons had a second, lower grille that provided cooling air for the front-mounted radiator. This two-grille look distinguishes all of the water-cooled Vanagons from air cooled models. The single grille of the air cooled vans was discontinued, mid-year 1983 with the introduction of the "waterboxer" engine which replaced the air-cooled and diesel engine options. On the rear of the van was a "Volkswagen" emblem on left side and a "Vanagon L" or "Vanagon GL" emblem on the right side. While the Camper models had "Vanagon L" on the rear hatch, VW didn't use the "L" designation to describe them in their publications. Following that lead, they are described here without the "L" in the name. The rear hatch does not have a "VW" logo. As with 1982, the 1983 models had removable black plastic cooling air intake grilles on each side of the van, behind the rear-most windows. These were used in all Vanagons after this point. |
1983 Brochure Gallery (Click any page to open)
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