Back in the late 1980's VW just made some wierd cars.  The Fox was a good example of it.  I bought this car at an auction and the first experience was the worst.  It died in the ghetto in Atlanta due to a faulty alternator.  After that was fixed (40 miles away after it drained the new battery) it was an ok car.  It was so cheap it only had a single blinking LED instead of left and right turn indicators.  Odd also that the radio could be turned on without the key, which could be a problem around little kids.  The accleration wasn't that great, but it'd cruise ok at 80mph.