Fun little cars....the German equivalent of an El Camino. I had an '81 Rabbit and an '83 GTI (Rabbit GTI). Used to drive an '82 diesel Rabbit pickup around for a business I worked for years ago.
Not sure if you really wish it were a diesel. Those early VW diesels were a far cry from modern diesels. They were VERY slow.
Would be cool to get parts from an '83-84 GTI and put in. GTI seats and interior panels, maybe GTI gauges, GTI bumpers, GTI grill GTI wheels would look great on that car and would be a bolt on upgrade most likely.
Found this one online, similar color as yours with GTI wheels, bumpers , wheel arches, and grill:
