1987 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF

VW Golf Mk1 - CITI Golf South Africa Import 1987 - Volkswagen CITI mk1 Golf GTI.

Up for sale is my 1987 Mk1 Golf Citi Auto - South African import classic car.

12 month MOT just passed.

It was imported to the UK and registered in 2017, I bought over 2 years ago and have had a great time working on it. These early phase 1 cars (same as original Golf) hardly ever come up for sale.

I've spent thousands on the car getting running well. It has spent it's time with me either under a cover or in the garage.

- 120k kilometres (74k miles)

- 1987 year

- Auto gearbox (ultra rare)

- 5 door (they only made 5 doors in South Africa, no 3 doors produced)

- Some history, plus very detailed online threads (see below)

- MOT until July, should pass again no problem

- 1600cc with around 80bhp and 90ftlbs torque. I drive like an old man, it moves along nicely and weights very little

The floor of this Golf is perfect (South African climate for a lot of it's life!), never welded and you can see the original underseal and the original paint in the wheel arches.

In South Africa, the Mk1 Golf was continued to be manufactured after it stopped being made in Europe in 1983. The final Citi Golf was made in 2009! They're extremely popular in SA and there is a huge scene around modding them over there.

This is an early phase 1, meaning it is the original Mk1 Golf design/shape. They kept the original Mk1 shape until 1987, the facelift came in 1998. My blue Citi is one of the last of the phase 1 versions. Phase 1 cars came in just 3 colours, red/white, yellow/white, blue/white. See the original ad here, it's great!

Phase 1 cars have the original mk1 Golf interior and fittings etc. Facelift cars after 1987 ended up with different interiors (Fabia, Polo) and smoothed exterior designs.

I have 2 quite detailed public threads on the car, on pistonheads and on retro rides. You can see pretty much every piece of work done on the car since I've owned it. Search for 'citi golf retro rides' or 'citi golf pistonheads' to see the full threads.

Only a few thousand autos were made at the end of the phase 1 manufacturing run (phase 1 cars didn't launch with auto). It has the same 3 speed auto as used in the mk2 Golf, it's a beautiful gearbox and very smooth/natural.

Engine is a very common and reliable 1600 with a Keihin (Japanese) carb with manual choke which works really well. They're a loved carb and extremely reliable (quite valuable now!). Starts first time in any weather.

It is extremely rare now even in South Africa so importing them is getting expensive (they love them over there!).

I believe there are about 15 CITI Golfs on the road in the UK in total and this is the only phase 1 that I've seen anywhere for sale/listed.

It is also very likely the only blue and white phase 1 in the UK.

Everywhere I go people give me thumbs up and wave, I've had some interesting/extreme cars in my time but this gets more attention than any of them, from young and older people.

The car has gone to plenty of shows over the past few years, Ace Cafe, various Pistonheads including the Annual Gathering (where it was featured as a Reader's Car in the main hanger) and lots of local shows.

It's a really reliable car and has never left me stranded. I love working on it too, access is brilliant and it's a carb engine, nice and easy to maintain.

It'll cruise at 70mph on the motorway no drama. Long journeys are fine though and I've been all over the country with it. I was going to do a manual swap on it (it's all bolt on) but the auto box is just too smooth and easy.

Parts are very cheap and you can get everything easily. Apart from a few body panel differences it is all Mk1/2 Golf parts which are all available still.

Differences between the euro Mk1 and the SA Mk1 include:

- Different design of front and rear bumpers

- Rear quarter panel has a slash indentation (which was added apparently to improve strength)

- Unique CITI stickers and unique paint (white bumpers)

- Unique front wings which are slightly wider

- Unique front grille which is closer to a Mk2 than a Mk1 (people have euro swapped the front wings and fitted euro spec front grilles)

Work/mods done include:

- Swapped steel wheels (with white hubcaps as standard) for 14" le castalle forged alloy wheels which are genuine VW and came with certain Mk2 Golf GTIs. Painted them white to match the original white hubcaps. Expensive wheels these days (£400+ for a set). Original steel wheels and hubcaps included in the sale

- Full Audi TT mk1 blue leather interior in good condition (£200), using Fab53 conversion Kit (£250, no longer in production). Front seats and rear bench (rear mounted on original rear bench). Front seats fully slide and tilt. They are heated too (but not wired in)

- New exhaust, 1.8 cabriolet system from manifold to rear box. Rear box is a generic backbox and chrome tip. Sounds fruity but not too loud

- New outer CV boots both front corners, plus a new inner CV boot too. Regreased and looking good

- Removed the ugly side indicators that were put on to get it through import (not required for MOT)

- Removed the non-functioning old air con which was ugly and had holes in the pipes

- Refitted the front grille and front bumper so they fit nice and flush

- Swapped old original suspension for Raceland coilovers and lowered. Fully adjustable, so you can make it whatever height you want it to be (I like it low, but gets over speed bumps no problem!). The ride isn't too hard for coilovers

- Choke light fixed

- Interior light now working

- Intermittent wipers weren't working. Replaced entire fuse box and type 19 relay, now all works

- Rear door locks/handles replaced, now working

- New wiper stalk

- New indicator stalk (done by previous owner)

- Rebuilt the temperature gauge, now all working

- New temperature sensor

- New thermostat switch

- Lower bumper spoiler/splitter from a cabriolet

- Lots of new hoses, fuses other bits

- front and rear wheel spacers (hubcentric)

- New engine rocker cover gasket (upgraded to Mk3 Golf rubber version)

- New carb gasket

- 4x new speakers fitted (Kenwood and JBL) and new Sony head unit

- Wiring in place (run under the carpet) for a sub/amp in the boot (in case you want bass!)

- New rear light seals

- Various servicing actions including oil, new oil filter, air filter and fresh coolant (and a coolant flush beforehand)

- New tie-rod (passenger side)

- New full drivers side wheel hub with new bearing (expensive!)

- Rear wiper delete (motor was jammed). Will come with the car

- Front and rear new engine mounts done

- Loads of sound deadening added to reduce road noise, to boot floor, under rear bench and around the front (including engine bay). Big improvement vs standard

- Added an external oil catch can (as standard the breather goes directly into the airbox)

- New brighter LEDs added to the dash clocks (original green colour)

- Plenty of other bits and bobs I've forgotten. Check out the online threads for more detail and loads of photos

Car comes with plenty of spare parts, a genuine new rear backbox (for 1.8 cab), the original steel wheels and white hubcaps in reasonable condition (with tyres) and a full new unused sticker set which I got custom made in South Africa and imported over (unused). You can also have a cab front bumper and bumper bar (which I briefly had fitted to the car but didn't love, so swapped back).

Bad bits:

- Paintwork has plenty of dings, chips and 2 dents in the rear hatch (see pics)

- 2 rear hatch dents have been knocked out but could do with finishing (have left as-is so next buyer can see)

- The paint is mostly original and cleans up really nicely, but it's not perfect at all so don't expect concours

- I've not completed the trimming of the rear bench. Looks ok and never bothered me

- Drivers side carpet has wear

Great bits:

- Rust-free shell/floor, extremely solid. Never welded (lived most of it's life in the sunny climate of South Africa!)

- Ultra rare, surely the only Golf in this colour in the UK. Potentially the only early phase 1, you won't find another at any car show!

- Beautiful smooth auto gearbox and solid engine that runs well

- Loads of mechanical work done so it runs nicely

- Audi seats are very comfortable

- Everyone waves at you

It is almost 40 years old, so don't expect a perfect car. But it runs really well, looks awesome, gets loads of attention and is very reliable.

I love this car and I'll regret selling it. I've spent a lot of money getting it mechanically up to scratch. Selling as I have too many kids and I can't get everyone in it, so have bought a new project car (a big old audi estate). Plus I've done 2 show seasons with it now, time for a change.

Located very near M25 junction 17/18. Any questions just shout, I'll listen to sensible offers. Payment by BACS ideally, or cash. Thanks for reading!

IF NO ANSWER ON THE PHONE THEN SEND A TEXT AND I'LL CALL BACK (MAY BE AT WORK).

VW Golf Mk1 - Rare CITI Golf South Africa Import 1987 - Volkswagen CITI mk1 Golf GTI GLI 5 door mk1 golf - classic car vw golf mk1