Wednesday 20th April 2022

The ultimate VW Lupo GTI | PH Readers' Cars

Good things come in small garages...

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The Readers' Cars forum is a treasure trove on PH. It's easy to dip in for five minutes for a quick tea break, only to find you're still reading a thread two hours later.

Clayton Jones' Volkswagen Lupo GTI was high up on our not-so-shortlist of cars to visit. Sure, we love watching videos of ground-up restorations and the latest six-figure restomod as the next person, but what about something you could afford to buy right now and tinker with yourself?

The Lupo GTI was a cracking little hot hatch out of the factory, but with some modest alterations, they can really come alive and surprise much more powerful machinery. That's exactly what Clayton has done slowly over the past decade, building his ultimate lightweight road and track car.

Hopefully you'll agree the hard work has paid off. Despite far more exotic cars being on show at our Caffeine & Machine Sunday Service in December, Clayton's car got more attention than almost anything else. We loved bringing his story to life and I'm sure you will too. Enjoy!

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Read Clayton's Readers' Cars thread here

[MyV10BarksAndBites]

Haven’t read it yet but… if no 1.8T… No ultimate Lupo… Lol end of!!!

[Leon R]

Try giving his readers ride thread a viewing before passing judgement.

Easily one of the coolest build threads on this site even if it doesn't have the 'fabled 1.8'

[hothatchery7]

Surely the ultimate Lupo would be Proflex, AP’s, a built engine with none of the lethargic oem parts. Just like the cup rally cars or the few kit cars still in existence. This is cool but compared to other hot hatches in the same category, abit naff in terms of capability.

[Volare]

I'm surprised this hadn't made this article sooner. Fantastic car, I've always enjoyed reading the build. Very nicely done.

[anonymous-user]

MyV10BarksAndBites said:

Haven’t read it yet but… if no 1.8T… No ultimate Lupo… Lol end of!!!

Haven't read it yet but....

[coldclimate]

Now we're talking. After my comment about the fornt page of PH becoming a jazz mag for unobtainable toys, this is a refreshign change.

[The spinner of plates]

Great vid. Looks huge fun!

[anonymous-user]

Nice to see a story about an actual drivers car not a fat ugly SUV !

That little thing sounds awesome, nice work sir.

[Jon_S_Rally]

MyV10BarksAndBites said:

Haven’t read it yet but… if no 1.8T… No ultimate Lupo… Lol end of!!!

hothatchery7 said:

Surely the ultimate Lupo would be Proflex, AP’s, a built engine with none of the lethargic oem parts. Just like the cup rally cars or the few kit cars still in existence. This is cool but compared to other hot hatches in the same category, abit naff in terms of capability.

You're a cheerful pair aren't you?

Followed this car on Instagram for some time now. Really like it. A perfect example of taking an already fun car and using sensible enhancements to make it even better.

I think if it had a 1.8T lump, it would lose the Lupo character.

[TameRacingDriver]

Watched this yesterday on YouTube. Looks a cracking fun little car, with around 160 bhp if I remember correctly, good power to weight ratio, nice noise, tastefully modified. Spot on.

A 1.8T (boring engine) has no place in this car.

[SidewaysSi]

MyV10BarksAndBites said:

Haven’t read it yet but… if no 1.8T… No ultimate Lupo… Lol end of!!!

True. Personally I would have put the V10 Lambo engine in. A 1.8T is a pile of junk in comparison.

[Scrump]

TameRacingDriver said:

Watched this yesterday on YouTube. Looks a cracking fun little car, with around 160 bhp if I remember correctly, good power to weight ratio, nice noise, tastefully modified. Spot on.

A 1.8T (boring engine) has no place in this car.

Couldn’t have put it better myself

[Turkish91]

I saw this car at Snetterton a few weeks back. It looked like it belonged on a show stand, not spanking it round the track. Hats off to the owner for actually using it as intended as condition wise it seemed bloody flawless!

[Its Just Adz]

Really good video, I've just caught up on the build thread too.
Probably the most interesting car thread on here.

[Jester86]

The build thread is a great read and I always like reading the updates.

Really enjoyed the video, keep it up!

[WCZ]

nothing naff at all about this car

absolutely love it!

an ex lupo cup car came up for sale a (fair) few years ago which I was considering making road legal

[Water Fairy]

Splendid little car! Love it. Well done to the owner.

[Slippydiff]

Tweaked Lupo GTi ?
Just perfect

[BogleDog64]

Well done that man. Really enjoyed the article, which seems to encapsulate what PH should really major on. I’m impressed at what’s been achieved with such a humble little car and am already thinking what could be carried over to say, an UP GTI.
While it’s interesting to read about exotic supercars and the like, they are out of reach for the majority of enthusiasts. This chap has demonstrated that with determination, a cool car can be created with available OTC parts in the real world.
BTW, the exhaust sounds epic.

[Steve93]

MyV10BarksAndBites said:

Haven’t read it yet but… if no 1.8T… No ultimate Lupo… Lol end of!!!

But then it would be yet another '1.8T swapped VW' It's not even that good of an engine at the end of the day IME.

The Lupo in the article is awesome though.