America has no shortage of small pickup custom builds. But if you’re tired of the same old Datsuns, Subarus, and Toyotas, we’ve got something with an exotic European flavor. It’s the world’s only mid-engined VW Caddy with an Audi 4.2-liter V8. Talk about Euro chic!
The Caddy is known all over the world as a small panel van that brings the features we love from VW. However, the first two generations were available as “coupe utility” vehicles, basically small pickups, like a Subaru Brat.
In fact, that’s how the Caddy was initially conceived, as a ute. Volkswagen of America was experimenting with the idea of offering variants of the Rabbit, its Golf. The engineering team led by Duane Miller eventually came up with this design which had a 6-foot bed behind a 2-door body.
It entered production in 1978 at the VW factory in Pennsylvania. The Rabbit Pickup was offered with two engines, a 1.6 diesel making 52 hp and a 1.7 rated at 78 hp.
Right, that’s enough history! This custom one-off is a 1980s VW Caddy which has been swapped to an Audi 4.2-liter V8, located in the middle, as you’d find in the R8 sports cars. It’s the work of Adam Mucha, the Polish fabrication wizard at Fly Garage.
The bodywork is almost 100% custom-made. At the front, we see the front grille, headlights, bumper and markers from the Rabbit. This is important because as a Caddy, it would have hard round Golf lights originally. The roof is from a 3-door Mk1 Golf because it’s stronger, and the sills and floor come from a Mk1 Golf convertible.
The Caddy is basically a race car now
Under the hood, where you’d normally find a 4-pot, the Caddy has a small fuel tank, radiator, and battery.
The core of the build is obviously the engine, a 4.2-liter V8 that originally came out of an Audi A6 C5. It makes 300 horsepower and was chosen by Adam because it’s cheaper than a rebuilt Caddy/Golf 1.6-liter unit. The V8 breasts in through a custom chrome intake with a snorkel tippled with a K&N filter.
The exhaust is a 3-inch Turbo Works system with mufflers on top of the pickup bed and quad tips coming out the back like a Pagani Zonda. A tubular frame is piped through the body and the cabin for rigidity. The engine has custom mounts and a 6-speed manual pushed towards the rear. The rear suspension is also worth noting, featuring a custom-made pushrod design with four coilover packs and external reservoirs.
We also know that the VW Caddy is dripping in parts from other cars: Ford Ka front coilover pack, Opel Insignia front brakes, Mercedes S500 rear brakes, and I believe that’s a BBS front body kit from the Golf. The interior sports Mirco WRC seats, Takata seatbelts, a Nardi steering wheel plus a bunch of Mk1 Golf/Rabbit goodies. But perhaps the most extreme mod of all goes unnoticed: the center lock wheels from a 1980s Ford Cosworth LM race car.
