My First Car: VW Polo G40
PHer Nathan Millward bought a rare supercharged VW as a cheap runaround. What could possibly go wrong?
And so off we ripped, returning ten minutes later with the little Volkswagen sold. Sure, the driver’s seat was ripped, it had no service history and the mechanic at the local VW dealer advised against it; ‘too expensive to service the supercharger,’ he said. But by then I was hooked. Forget the Punto, ‘I’ll take it.’
The next night I picked it up with my dad. He wasn’t impressed. ‘Pah, a supercharger,’ he wheezed from the passenger seat, ‘I’ve told you before, there’s no substitute for cc.’To him forced induction involved cigarettes, not superchargers. I didn’t say anything, waiting instead for the road to clear before flattening it in first. By the top of fourth my old man had choked on his Camel and I’d made my point; 8.1 seconds to 60mph. It felt faster.
A shame then that the following week the exhaust fell off, the petrol tank collapsed and the rain flooded the foot-well. ‘Serves you right,’ my dad gloated, ‘too flash for your first car anyway.’ The first two faults the dealer fixed for free, but of the third he simply wiped his hands. ‘Not his problem’, he said, which was annoying, as the water leaked through a hole where the battery tray should have been. Leaking acid was the cause, but ‘not to worry’, the previous owner must have thought,‘I’ll just plug it with cardboard and waterproof the lot with an old carrier bag’. Genius. Until it rained. Which in Yorkshire is often.
For a while I just put up with it, lining the footwell with newspaper and sticking a fan heater under the carpets to blast the moisture away on weekends. But when a date complained of the water deep at her feet I had no choice but to find a fix. At the local backstreet bodge-jobber the man sucked his teeth. ‘I’ll have a go, but it’s pretty bad.’ And so when the car came back still leaking I wasn‘t one bit surprised. ‘More work needed’, he said. More money more like.
And that meant I didn’t sleep well that night. I was worried not only by the leak, but also by the cambelt and supercharger that would soon need attention as well. Best part of a grand I reckoned. Let’s face it; I’d bought a lemon. And so, after just two months of ownership it left me with that all too familiar dilemma - do I spend the cash and keep the keys, or do I clean her up and sell her on? The next day an ad went in the classifieds. It had to go. ‘Sold as seen’.
The first viewer redlined it from cold on the test drive. I felt like demanding the clown pull over and wait for the bus. Or the train. Whichever hit him first. Then a guy from London called. He wanted to know when he could come and collect it, no viewing necessary.
The next week I waited for him at the train station. It was a cold day, raining of course, and I stood there preying for a skinny kid to arrive, someone just as gullible and snivelling as me. But it wasn’t – he was a huge fella who was almost as wide as he was tall.
He spotted the leak immediately. ‘The carpet’s wet,’ he rumbled. I didn’t argue, I just stood there waiting for the pain to flow and my eyes to blacken. And yet the guy cared not one jot. Not about the leak, the ripped seat, nor the hole in the service history. It was to be his ‘project’ car, nothing more, nothing less. And so off he drove, him smiling and me relieved. ‘At last’ I thought, ‘I can now buy that Punto.’
Not the best vehicles supercharged dubs
Not the best vehicles supercharged dubs
There are some great examples still around and a cult following, sadly a lot of them have ended up being modified badly. It is quite possible to get 160bhp out of the engine with minor modifications, coupled with a 890Kg weight - this is a very quick car and is completely under rated.
The G60 G-Lader charger is larger than the G40 (60mm as opposed to 40mm diameter inlet) and has a troubled reliability score. Mine was in perfect condition internally after 120k.
I really miss this car and most things seem slow by comparison. As standard it is quicker than the G60 Corrado and the engine revs through the range so quickly, it easily keeps up with many larger engined cars on the road. I would have another any day, the bulkhead on mine also rusted through under the battery. Otherwise the bodywork was up to VW's usual standard, i.e no rust after 16years.
Credit must go to VW for developing the ingenious G charger and not using an off the shelf twin screw type?!
Getting back to the topic of g40's, its a shame Nathan's was a bit of a shed, lets hope the guy who bought it brought it back from the brink!
Lucky guy for a first car. I really wanted a new Polo L for my first car in 1982 but was told I would crash it. I didn't crash my first car which was an Austin 1300 Estate
Shortly after the accident, I went to southend with my partner on the lookout for a car for her, and stumbled across this very mint Capri Green example. The guy was closing so I left a deposit with a view to return the following weekend. I can remember it being a looooong week.
I don't use it often, and have often thought about selling it, but whatever would replace it would need to be more interesting, and fun, and I simply haven't found the ideal car for the money that the sale of mine would return.
I knew about the battery issues, so shortly after buying it brushed some black gunk under it, which has obviously helped matters. Charger was rebuilt shortly after purchase, which at the time turned out quite expensive, but has been OK for 40k.
This might be of interest:
http://www.polog40.co.uk/article_glader.php
http://www.polog40.co.uk/article_records.php
Oh btw I am a big fan of VW's from the 80's and 90's, feel they've lost the edge lately although the recent GTi was ok
This might be of interest:
http://www.polog40.co.uk/article_glader.php
http://www.polog40.co.uk/article_records.php
Oh btw I am a big fan of VW's from the 80's and 90's, feel they've lost the edge lately although the recent GTi was ok
IMO VW lost it a bit around the time of the mk3 golf, the 8v GTI I had was like driving with a damp sponge in the suspension and I didn't keep it long - nice otherwise, but hardly a drivers car. I've not driven the new GTI but I think that and the previous shape R32 are the only modern VW's I'd consider.
Not the best vehicles supercharged dubs
Who's this?
Not the best vehicles supercharged dubs
he wouldnt even chuck in an oil filter.I didnt mind too much,I just wanted it back and then had 3 years of trouble free fun in it,small pulley and a chip were added for extra 4th gear wheelspin,I once scalped my friends 2.0 16v corsa with it-that was enough for him to sell up and get a Corrado VR6
I swapped it for a Charade Gtti turbo and a Cavalier turbo and regretted it instantly(although the Charade was fun).
I regeret selling it to this day especially with the price they now fetch,I saw it a couple of years ago,some student to$$er had defaced it with some gay skateboarder stickers and let it get a bit shabby,I offered a deal with my mint Golf gti but he wouldn't have any of it. Shortly afterwards he wrote it off,I was gutted when I found out.
Brilliant cars.
Overall, they're a reliable car, although I'll never forget one night, over 6k on the rev counter in 5th on a dark road in Yorkshire, when the head gasket blew in spectacular fashion!! Still made it the 120 miles home though :S
I had one charger go, but even up til now, it's the most fun you can ever have with your clothes on!
Out of all the fun cars I've owned, this is the one I couldn't imagine being without! Top article!
Alex
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