What is a Swallowtail?

The term "Swallowtail" is an affectionate term for any Volkswagen Rabbit built with unique sheetmetal shaping between the taillights. In the pictures below, the car on the left is a swallowtail, while the car on the right is not. The green car is a 1975, while the blue car (owned by Dean Futrell at Futrell AutoWerks) is a 1976.

They are extremely rare, as they were only made in late 1974, and 1975. There was no model year 1974 for Volkswagen Rabbits, although they began production in April of 1974. All model year 1975s and some early model year 1976 Rabbits had "Swallow Tails." They are interesting not only because they are rare and especially attractive, but they represent a major change in the automotive industry. The switch from the mighty Beetle to the Rabbit happened with them. They also have many parts that are unique to those years of production. To learn more about these "Oddities," click here:

Now that you know what a Swallowtail is, check out the rest of the site!

If you have any suggestions, comments, hate mail, compliements, or own a Swallowtail and want to be on the website, email me at: Dan@Swallowtail.info!