When we got the keys to a 2006 Volkswagen Rabbit hatchback, we were just a little turned off.
A rather cheesy-looking, bright green rabbit's foot -- a retro good-luck charm from our childhood -- was attached to the key chain.
With a goofy touch like that, it was easy to worry that the new Rabbit would be a small car that puts too much of a premium on cuteness -- even silliness -- from its adorable bounding-bunny logo to the car's recent marketing hook-up with Playboy magazine. VW explained that unseemly alliance by saying the Rabbit logo was a "distant cousin" to the iconic Playboy bunny logo.
But after spending a week in the German-built Rabbit, we're convinced that all the whimsical stuff surrounding the renamed Golf is just a smokescreen. Because the little Rabbit is one substantial and serious small car that easily keeps pace with, and in some instances even outguns, such high-profile Detroit competitors as the Dodge Caliber and Ford Focus.
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