So far, looking around at a variety of A2 Jettas and Jetta GLs, the only difference I've been able to spot is that the couple of GLs I've seen had automatic seat belts. Or is the automatic seat belt due to the model year and not because it's a GL ? What other differences were there ?
- FM -
The auto seat belt was to meet US passive restraint standards in the late
1980s and early 1990s when either auto belts or airbags could be fitted and the design of the A2 dated back to fall of '83 when they were first sold in Europe, so VW hadn't really designed the car with airbags in mind. Auto belts first started appearing in the late 1980s in US cars (probably 1988 or 1989 I believe). It's not a GL-versus-base Jetta thing.In Canada, we didn't get a GL model, per say. We got the "Jetta", Jetta GTX, Jetta GLI, Jetta Carat.
The GL trim was seen on the A3s in 1993 and until 2002 on the A4s.
I'm not sure about Jettas, but the base Golf lacked a radio, anti-sway bars, trim rings on the wheels, and carpeting in the trunk. It also had a cheaper looking interior.
Actually, VW offered automatic seat belts as an option in the 1970s, long before there were any US regulatory requirements. So it wasn't too hard for them to make such things standard equipment in 1990. They did install driver airbags in the a1-platform Cabriolet.
Right. I've seen a few A1 Rabbits with them. One in particular was a ~'79ish Rabbit diesel (German-made too...round headlamps)...years ago one of our neighbors had one and it was so equipped. The standard-ness of them though of course was the result of federal requirements.
To meet federal passive restraint requirements (auto seatbelts in a convertible would have been virtually impossible...or at least very strange).
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