It would seem strange if 98% of the cars heard of on here have never had leaves removed from the torsion stack and they all ride just fine while yours doesn't.
Like Stan, my money would be on those gas shocks, but I would also grease the front trailing arm bushings, too, as Danny mentioned. That's just as important. And not just one or two squirts on each either - There are four grease fittings; top and bottom on each outside end of the torsion tubes on the front side of the tubes and it sounds like they might be dry, so put 6 - 10 squirts into each one, road test and then do the shocks. Get the softest, oil-filled shocks you can find for a VW sedan of your pan vintage and you should be all set.