VW Calling On Its Old Diesels

2006 Volkswagen Jetta

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Calling all Vee-Dub oil burners: the mothership wants you to call home.

In conjunction with the launch of the ’08 Jetta Bluetec diesel this week at the Washington, D.C., auto show, VW says it’s searching for two significant vehicles from its U.S. past. Specifically, the brand wants to find the oldest running Volkswagen diesel and the VW diesel with the highest accumulated mileage.

“Volkswagen has a long history of selling diesel-powered vehicles in the United States ,” Keith Price, spokesman for VW of America, said in a release. “We anticipate an enormous response from our owners.”

The company has sold 813,476 diesel-powered Volkswagens in the U.S.

VW expects the oldest running diesel will be a Rabbit, since the company sold more than 12,000 of them in 1977. VW will check VIN numbers among those who report in.

The highest-mileage car will be verified with odometer readings and service records. In both cases, the original engines must be in the vehicles. The winners of each category will get the use of a 2007 VW Touareg V10 TDI for six months.

Volkswagen’s urging owners to sign up for the competitions on www.vw.com, where they will be asked to fill out information and send in a picture. Owners will be asked to take vehicles to dealers to verify mileage and age.

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