VW Golf GTI Mk1 | PH Auction Block
What's the longest you've had a car - 10 years? Maybe 20? This Golf comes from 40 years of ownership...
It’s always nice to see just a few owners associated with a car for sale. It’s not the be-all and end-all, of course, but having a couple of people keep something for a good few years between them - rather than being passed from pillar to post - is reassuring. They will know the car, have learned its quirks, and presumably have cared for something they’ve long enjoyed. Services don’t tend to be skipped, for example, when keeping a car for years. If the running costs spook you after a few months, the check-ups might be forgone. Then it goes on to the next owner…
As the tenth owner of an old BMW that doesn’t have its original service book, there are whole heaps of my car’s past I know nothing about. While it doesn’t spoil the enjoyment of the car, it does feel like something is missing. My car is about as far removed from this VW Golf GTI as it’s possible to be; not just because it was a hugely successful hot hatch in period that’s become a coveted classic, but because it’s only ever had four owners. In 42 years. And one of them had it for more than four decades. Get comfy…
The dealer, Arthur Price VW in Loughborough, will have been the first registered keeper, who sold it to the first actual owner; they moved it on again in 1984. That person then kept it until the end of their life, the car now being sold by the owner’s family, which is how you get to four owners. But it’s been one for the overwhelming majority of 42 years - incredible. That’s one owner using and enjoying it for four decades as well, not stuffing it away in a barn and forgetting about it until YouTube came knocking. It’s covered more than 200,000 miles, backed up with a tonne of history, and promises to be a glorious GTI for an enthusiast to take on.
The spec for this Mk1 is certainly a bit different, we’ll give it that. Did you know a tow bar was an option? Exactly. But both it and the BBS bodykit were dealer fit options back in the early '80s, so have been with the Golf since new. Maybe this was a dealer demo to show off all the possibilities, or loaded with options to help flog Mk1s at the end of its life. The OZ wheels and stereo upgrades (this is a 20th-century hot hatch, after all) were added at a later date. There was a glass out respray, complete with a receipt for £1,500, but that was back in 2001, so cosmetically the VW would probably benefit from some TLC now to bring it back to its best. Worse jobs to have to do, for sure, and just imagine the reaction when it’s done. And the tow bar is gone…
The inside is similar, wearing its miles and use with pride. The driver’s seat will want a bit of attention if the Golf is going to be used regularly, though you wouldn’t want to eliminate the patina too far. It’s nobody's favourite phrase, really, because it’s usually associated with stuffy old things that have been forgotten about, but this has 200,000 miles of adventure to show for its life in the way it looks. That’s patina.
Almost 50 years since launch, nobody really needs reminding of the Golf GTI’s significance. The Sport Golf project was never meant to be such a big deal, only for VW to create a fast car icon that endures to this day. As a later car, first sold not long before the arrival of the Mk2, this is a 1.8-litre, five-speed GTI, so surely one of the more desirable. It’s old enough now not to require an MOT, young enough to be loved by plenty, and most certainly usable enough to be driven, enjoyed and loved on a regular basis. Keep us posted on this one, please, whoever’s lucky enough. Bidding starts on Wednesday.
As an aside, and probably backs up the towbar thing, I had an Audi UR quattro which I bought from Porsche Silverstone.
It had one owner, a barrister, and he had a towbar fitted so he could take a little trailer to his local ‘dump’ to dispose of his garden refuse..!
They were right, it felt awesome.
Until I braked. I nearly peed myself.
WTF?? Autocar, Car, et al, never said the brakes were crap?!
Never totally trusted the opinion of car hacks ever since.
RHD Mk1s had a Heath Robinson-type arrangement of metal rods linking the pedal to the master cylinder due to VW cost-cutting – the master cylinder was still in situ for LHDs.
Gawd knows how UK Mk1s’ brakes passed MOTs?
During the past 42 years, please tell me someone has devised a brake mod for RHD Mk1s?
Yes, there has been a brake conversion for years, originally from Brian Ricketts Motorsport (BRM) which I think became part of BBR.
They were right, it felt awesome.
Until I braked. I nearly peed myself.
WTF?? Autocar, Car, et al, never said the brakes were crap?!
Never totally trusted the opinion of car hacks ever since.
RHD Mk1s had a Heath Robinson-type arrangement of metal rods linking the pedal to the master cylinder due to VW cost-cutting – the master cylinder was still in situ for LHDs.
Gawd knows how UK Mk1s’ brakes passed MOTs?
During the past 42 years, please tell me someone has devised a brake mod for RHD Mk1s?
They were right, it felt awesome.
Until I braked. I nearly peed myself.
WTF?? Autocar, Car, et al, never said the brakes were crap?!
Never totally trusted the opinion of car hacks ever since.
RHD Mk1s had a Heath Robinson-type arrangement of metal rods linking the pedal to the master cylinder due to VW cost-cutting – the master cylinder was still in situ for LHDs.
Gawd knows how UK Mk1s’ brakes passed MOTs?
During the past 42 years, please tell me someone has devised a brake mod for RHD Mk1s?
Lack of underbonnet space was the reason.
It was generally downplayed at the time by the hacks because of the usual German Worship.
I've only driven a LHD Golf. Love this one, though!
t car, bloody awful name. Wouldn’t have one if you paid me. Peugeot 205 gti all the way, every time for me.I don’t get the “my preference is the best and the other thing is s
t” mentality, the 205 is more a Mk2 Golf competitor anyway.They will both feel old, slow and rattly nowadays anyway, the 205 was a bit better but not night and day.
I have had two Mk1 GTis, and had great fun in the, drove a couple of 205s, did quite like them but didn’t think it was light years ahead, by then you had loads more choice and the 16 valve mk2.
I am not sure I would want another unless it’s had a few of the issues sorted, most notably the rubbish brakes with the under sized disks and useless bell crank linkage replaced.
This one, not keen on the wheels and kit, they look best as original, maybe with some better wheels and a slight drop on the suspension.
I wonder how many drove a tired one and aid they were no good, I drove loads of these and mk2s and they varied massively. Some felt gutless, some rapid, some had knackered brakes and gear linkages, a guy at work had one he was skinning himself to insure and it felt flat as a fart, can’t have been more than 80 bhp.
They were right, it felt awesome.
Until I braked. I nearly peed myself.
WTF?? Autocar, Car, et al, never said the brakes were crap?!
Never totally trusted the opinion of car hacks ever since.
RHD Mk1s had a Heath Robinson-type arrangement of metal rods linking the pedal to the master cylinder due to VW cost-cutting – the master cylinder was still in situ for LHDs.
Gawd knows how UK Mk1s’ brakes passed MOTs?
During the past 42 years, please tell me someone has devised a brake mod for RHD Mk1s?
Yes of course the Golf was far better built but took a while for VW to catch up on the dynamic stuff that Alfa pioneered and that the French then delivered in spades with their hot hatches - 205/309 GTI, R19 16V etc
t car, bloody awful name. Wouldn’t have one if you paid me. Peugeot 205 gti all the way, every time for me.They were right, it felt awesome.
Until I braked. I nearly peed myself.
WTF?? Autocar, Car, et al, never said the brakes were crap?!
Never totally trusted the opinion of car hacks ever since.
RHD Mk1s had a Heath Robinson-type arrangement of metal rods linking the pedal to the master cylinder due to VW cost-cutting – the master cylinder was still in situ for LHDs.
Gawd knows how UK Mk1s’ brakes passed MOTs?
During the past 42 years, please tell me someone has devised a brake mod for RHD Mk1s?
They were right, it felt awesome.
Until I braked. I nearly peed myself.
WTF?? Autocar, Car, et al, never said the brakes were crap?!
Never totally trusted the opinion of car hacks ever since.
RHD Mk1s had a Heath Robinson-type arrangement of metal rods linking the pedal to the master cylinder due to VW cost-cutting – the master cylinder was still in situ for LHDs.
Gawd knows how UK Mk1s’ brakes passed MOTs?
During the past 42 years, please tell me someone has devised a brake mod for RHD Mk1s?
They were right, it felt awesome.
Until I braked. I nearly peed myself.
WTF?? Autocar, Car, et al, never said the brakes were crap?!
Never totally trusted the opinion of car hacks ever since.
RHD Mk1s had a Heath Robinson-type arrangement of metal rods linking the pedal to the master cylinder due to VW cost-cutting – the master cylinder was still in situ for LHDs.
Gawd knows how UK Mk1s’ brakes passed MOTs?
During the past 42 years, please tell me someone has devised a brake mod for RHD Mk1s?
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