Ambitious but rubbish? Or will this little project actually work? The folks over at Top Gear America website have taken on the task to save the world— with a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel. Their Goal? To achieve a 70 mile per gallon mark, at a price of $7,000, and still be able to do a nippy 0-60 run in less than 7 seconds. For the cherry to top this mission, the car will also have to be completely road legal. This means a plate, registration, and hardest of all an emissions test and inspection.
The ol’ Rabbit will begin its quest in New York City and trek all the way out to Regina, Saskatchewan, crossing thousands of miles of “frozen tundra” on its way. There, wizards at CWS Tuning will rip out the dying heart and replace it with a modern, computer controlled, turbocharged VW TDI engine. But the journey will not yet be over. The next stop is Southern California, where a UCLA aerodynamics professor John McNulty will aid in the Rabbit’s aero package.
That's their idea so far.
The rest of the plan sounds pretty solid, but the TGA crew does still need to come up with a name for their new-meets-old diesel. Click through the link below to add your own best guess.

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+ TopGear.com (America): We Build a 70 mpg Car