Friday 14th March 2025

VW Golf Rallye (Mk2) | Spotted

Before an R32 or a Golf R there was a Rallye - and there won't be many left better than this

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Compile a list of your favourite homologation heroes and a few of the usual suspects will likely emerge: Lancia Delta this, Audi Quattro that, a whole ream of Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi Evos. Spell Rally with an extra ‘e’ and folk will go on about 16kg being stripped from a 306 or Group N competition. They probably won’t mention the Volkswagen Golf. 

And there are a couple of good reasons why the Mk2 Rallye never quite reached the same iconic status as its contemporaries. Put simply, it wasn’t as competitive on stage or as scintillating to drive on the street; the very best homologation heroes managed to achieve both. That being said, if we only ever showed an interest in the best of the best, it’d be a very tiny pool of cars to think about. The Rallye remains intriguing to this day because it serves as a reminder of just how seriously VW took Group A rallying way back when - basically hand-building 5,000 units of the first supercharged, all-wheel drive Golf. Significant? You bet: long before there was an R32 or an R, this was the forced induction, four-wheel drive flagship. 

It’s believed that 5,071 Rallyes were made in total, all for Europe and all in left-hand drive. So they’ve always been rare, and therefore always fairly valuable as well (the effort invested in making them meant an asking price twice that of a Mk2 GTI). With 35 years having passed since their creation, any Golf Rallye in the UK is a real find in 2025. 

Oh sure, it might not have been hugely faster than a 16-valve - and the engine was in a Corrado anyway - but the Rallye is manna from heaven for VW collectors. If not the holy grail then it’s not far off, a bonafide homologation Golf unlike any before or since. That fact alone accords it a level of interest well beyond the identikit derivatives of the world's most famous hot hatch. 

It’s an absolute beauty as well, somehow notching up just 30,000 miles since 1990 and with only its third owner from new. Apparently they spent a decade trying to find one this good, and are only parting with it now because it's become one of those luxuries that is hard to justify. The condition really is exceptional, complete with all the original equipment and glorious Tornado Red paint. An entire story could be dedicated to the seats. 

Clearly, it's a very special example of a very special Golf, one of those opportunities that comes up very seldom. Any collector desperate to have a Rallye to sit alongside the rest of their cars (other Golfs perhaps? Homologation heroes?) will have to pay £65k for the privilege. Which is the most we’ve ever seen asked for a Golf, if still some way from the ceiling for Deltas, Imprezas and the like. And good luck finding another one…

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SPECIFICATION | VW GOLF RALLYE

Engine: 1,763cc, supercharged four-cylinder
Transmission: 5-speed manual, permanent four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 160@5,600rpm
Torque (lb ft): 166@4,000rpm
MPG: c. 25
CO2: Er
Recorded mileage: 30,000
Year registered: 1989
Price new: Twice a GTI
Yours for: £64,990

See the original advert

[Augustus Windsock]

I might be first to reply but I had one of these about 14th are ago and have to say they really are nothing special to drive imho
Having said that I folllowed that with my RS500 Cosworth and again feel that it’s still not special to drive apart from the ‘put foot down, wait, wait.. wait…. boost!’
And £65k?
The seller is having a Jimmy although I’m sure others will say ‘but find another, especially with this mileage’.

[Piston-slapper]

Golf Mk 2? I thought this was going to be the Shed of the Week article. Oh well, shows what I know...

[PRO5T]

Those flared arches that start at the ridiculously low swage line always have, and always will, look utterly ridiculous.

It’s incredibly hard for a manufacturer to add box arches to a car and make it look worse, VW should I suppose be applauded for that alone.

[RedWhiteMonkey]

A mate of mine went through a Golf Gti phase years ago and had just about every early variant at some point. I was lucky enough to drive most of them and my recollection of the Rallye was being underwhelmed, a MK1 GTI was much more fun.

[T1berious]

As much as I'd love the idea of owning it (if I had the space and a garage) it feels very much "collector only" and the mileage mirrors that thinking.

Lovely example though.

Nostalgia really is a very expensive drug.

[GreatScott2016]

I know it shouldn't, but LHD always puts me off and while I get the rarity thing, £65k!

[howardhughes]

Wow, I forgot about these. Love the styling, akin to the Intergrale and E30 M3. Or Zender which I'm sure some people will remember

[username_checksout]

Urgh.

[chirurgus]

I much prefer the face of a 16V GTI over this, and those wheel arches look ridiculous! The whole thing reminds me of a Citroen ZX GTI.

[Agent57]

Yuck.

[mooseracer]

chirurgus said:

I much prefer the face of a 16V GTI over this, and those wheel arches look ridiculous! The whole thing reminds me of a Citroen ZX GTI.

Reminds you of a what?

[J4CKO]

As the sort of ultimate Golf in period, never really liked it.

A normal mk2 looks better, small bumper 16 valve for me, plus these weren’t exactly all that much faster.

[IMI A]

I love that.

[Riley Blue]

J4CKO said:

As the sort of ultimate Golf in period, never really liked it.

A normal mk2 looks better, small bumper 16 valve for me, plus these weren’t exactly all that much faster.

I wouldn't consider it the 'ultimate Golf', the G60 Limited has a better claim but even that wasn't as desirable as some of the one-offs taken by VW to the GTI-Treffen at Worthersee in the late '80s.

[WPA]

I get the rarity but £65k not a chance, yes it is a homologation special and only 5000 made in total but this to me is at best a £25k car

Sooner have an oak green mk2 16v and keep the change

One last point is that the article is wrong this not the same engine as the Corrado, they reduced the CC so it could enter the sub 3-litre class for Group A rallying allowing for the rules at the time, this is a 1763cc whilst the Corrado was a 1781cc

[s m]

Riley Blue said:

J4CKO said:

As the sort of ultimate Golf in period, never really liked it.

A normal mk2 looks better, small bumper 16 valve for me, plus these weren’t exactly all that much faster.

I wouldn't consider it the 'ultimate Golf', the G60 Limited has a better claim but even that wasn't as desirable as some of the one-offs taken by VW to the GTI-Treffen at Worthersee in the late '80s.

Yes, I think the G60 Limited would be the one for me too if I was a Golf collector

Remember Woofly from PC mag blowing the diff performance testing one for the readers

Edited by s m on Friday 14th March 10:30

[chirurgus]

mooseracer said:

chirurgus said:

I much prefer the face of a 16V GTI over this, and those wheel arches look ridiculous! The whole thing reminds me of a Citroen ZX GTI.

Reminds you of a what?

The ZX 2.0 16v - Google tells me it didn't receive the GTI badge of its 306 cousin

[thehardman07]

PRO5T said:

Those flared arches that start at the ridiculously low swage line always have, and always will, look utterly ridiculous.

It’s incredibly hard for a manufacturer to add box arches to a car and make it look worse, VW should I suppose be applauded for that alone.

I love a flared arch but couldn't put my finger on why they weren't working on this Golf. But as you say, it's the fact they start at the very low swage line. I do think wheels that actually fill the arches would help though.

[WPA]

They do look better lowered and running bigger wheels

[LotusOmega375D]

The guy who looked after my R5 Turbo 2 used to have one in for work about 20 years ago. It used to sit forlornly on the pavement opposite his lock-up off the North Circular. No-one was interested in it and he didn’t rate it as a driver’s car, but it always made me smile.