Friday 15th October 2010

SOTW: VW Golf GTI Cabriolet Mk1

It's perfect for summer. Oh, wait...

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Oh for the good ol' days when a model could soldier on long past its best-before date without even the merest hint of blushing. Volkswagen is a past master at this trick - just look at how long the Beetle lasted.

The VW Golf Cabriolet, and today's SOTW, is another example of that fine tradition. It originally came out in 1979 and, although the Mk2 Golf appeared in 1983, the Mk1 Cab lasted until 1993 before being replaced by the Mk3 Golf Cabriolet.

What is quite remarkable is that the Karmann-built Golf Cab soldiered on unmolested right through the decade - the only changes being a larger fuel tank and a smaller spare tyre for 1984, and later models (from 1988 onwards) getting 'Clipper' bodykits that brought their looks vaguely in line with the Mk2 Golf.

From a 21st-century perspective, the venerable Golf isn't exactly the coolest of drop-tops - after all, it looks like the mutant offspring of a pram, a shopping basket and a car - but in those halcyon pre-MX5 days there wasn't much without a lid for the enthusiast to get their mitts on.

Thus the Golf Cabriolet GTI was actually quite a catch. It shared mechanicals with its metal-roofed brother, but the installation of bracing to prevent wobbly car syndrome made it a full 150kg heavier than the GTI hatch. This was not a quick car, but when your only alternative is an Escort cabriolet (let's pretend the 205 CTi didn't exist) it's easy to see the Golf's appeal.

The advert for this particular cab says its just nine days old (the ad, not the car), but Shed has had its beadies on this little style icon for quite a while, so we strongly suspect this is a reposted advert. It's a theory borne out by the line "grab a roofless bargain for the summer and watch it go up in value", which perhaps ought to more accurately read "try to sell a roofless car just before winter and watch it lose you money."

Still, our vendor's loss could be your gain - we reckon you could knock a decent chunk off that £800 asking price. Sounds like he really wants to get rid of it, too, as it presumably doesn't hold the happiest of associations for him ("bought for the wife but she has gone so this must go too").

So, if you want to take advantage of another's misfortune - and the used car market is built upon such foundations - why not take a punt at this VW Golf pram (sorry, Cabriolet)?

Advert is reproduced below

vw golf gti cabriolet convertible mk1 classic (1988)
170,000 miles £800

here is a very good example of a classic mk1 gti convertible.mett blue with contrasting blue upholstery.big bumper model,cd player,long mot,immobiliser fitted, 5 speed recon gearbox recently fitted, runs great, grab a roofless bargain for the summer and watch it go up in value !
bought for the wife but she has gone so this must go too ! well looked after !

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[PetrolAholic]

Always loved these Theres a white one drives about where I live, always gets my thumbs up when I see it

[MagicMonkey]

I used to to have a bright red one of these before some dizzy bint thought it'd look good with her Range Rover parked on top of it!

[ZOLLAR]

Thats "retro cool", love it!.

[Garlick]

Plotloss, your thread has arrived.

[Trusty Steed]

Nice wheels, shame I have no where for it to go! And the best bit is it looks unchaved and unmolested!!

Edited by Trusty Steed on Friday 15th October 10:27

[PetrolAholic]

Trusty Steed said:

Nice wheels, shame I have no where for it to go! And the best bit is it looks unchaved and unmolested!!

Edited by Trusty Steed on Friday 15th October 10:27

Exactly what I was thinking, shame it's not March and just coming into "good weather" Would love to roll to work in that!

[mattviatura]

Brings back memories. Spent a day by the roadside in Mayfair waiting for new tyres for one once, a blue Rivage - lovely old thing.

[aka_kerrly]

That looks pretty decent, a good colour and without the gash grey/white interiors you see in some of the clippers + it is a GTI model to so has a bit more poke and likely to be a lot happier in the colder months than the carb cars.

Id quite happily run a cabrio as a winter run around then flog it come April with a hefty premium.

dave

[carinaman]

Lolo Agogo

The rear 3/4 view with the hood up reminds of a WW2 staff car, or half track. I think they'd look rather good with an RPG launcher strapped to the rollover bar.

A friend's girlfriend had one, I was quite fun getting 5 of us in for a short run to the pub, but the 2 women were pretty dinky.

An ex-colleague had a white in between an E36 323i Coupe and an E36 Cabriolet. The previous owner had hand painted various engine parts with the VW roundel. Supposedly it had the 2 litre Audi engine or somesuch in it.

I think even the non GTI ones are pretty classy, a former boss had a metallic brown one with a cream coloured roof.

[carinaman]

What's with the different colour strut tops?

I'm still thinking matt olive grean, camouflage material for the seats and door trim and swastika spinners for the wheels.

It looks standard and free from any VW surf/rat vibe mods or stickers.

[Strawman]

Looks a good car for the money, but at 170,000 miles I doubt the value will rise much in the spring.

[gforceg]

carinaman said:

What's with the different colour strut tops?

I'm still thinking matt olive grean, camouflage material for the seats and door trim and swastika spinners for the wheels.

It looks standard and free from any VW surf/rat vibe mods or stickers.

The off side strut has the plastic cap on it and the near side doesn't. I don't think they serve any real purpose.

[mercfunder]

,First car I owned, still miss it today.

[jake15919]

Wow this is a SOTW that's going to turn into 'all our yesterdays'.

Loved the MK1 Golf in the day but I don't think they have aged too well. For me they just don't have that 'classic' feel and there are too many ratty ones still kicking round.

I always thought the Cabrio was a bit 'white stiletto, leather mini'.

[Bottrill]

Looks tidy enough in the pictures. Great SOTW. I don't think you would lose any money if you ran this for a year. Even with that mileage, if it was cleaned up and sold during summer (or the week or so of sun we get) you may even make a couple of quid on an owners club website.

[pSyCoSiS]

I do have a soft-spot for these.

Something classy about them...

[theturbs]

Cool shed. A white, BBR RE1900-converted version of this car was my first open-top motoring experience.

As mentioned above, the interior on this example looks to be in pretty good condition given the mileage.

[Jeffmaniac]

Sorry but I don't like it. Fundamentally its too heavy and not that good looking.

[varsas]

Top shedding...wish my girlfriend had one. (no, not saying it's a girls car, just that I'd like to go out with the kind of girl who would have one)

[Petrolhead_Rich]

Just needs some Stretched Tyres