Must have been my Dads MK2 Golf, even though it was a boring little 1.3 in the dullest colour Maritime Blue If it wasn't for that I may have gone into Pugs, as I had a fancy for the 409! My wifes sh*troen AX also played a part in turning me off all things french with its woeful build quality and terrible electrics My favourite bond film, bond actor and car 'the living daylights' may helped nudge me to MK2s, I've loved pretty much all cars with round lights ever since P.S. the 'I' in VW GTI is capital, lower case i is for inferior manufacturers
The "green golf". The second of my dads 2 mk2 golf gtis, I was too young to remember much of the first (the black golf) though dad was furious at himself for buying it. So that didn't stay long before a brand new 306 came and went (poo) then my dad started looking at corrados but at the time we only found daft colours and/or rubbish ones so then the search for another mk2 gti began, after a couple of weeks or so (I was only 5 at the time so not sure how long) we went to a honda dealer in Scunthorpe and I wondered round the showroom then I saw something, something that made my jaw hit the floor. A 1991 capri green mk2 8 valve with 14" bbs rd wheels, so I ran over to dad dragged him out of this white honda integra and told him we are having the green golf. He came home from work with it the following day and it was in the family for the next 9.5 years. But got sold when I was 15. H463 GNC the search continues, it doesn't have an mot I know that much but I ain't giving up on it yet. And vws have made up a majority of my families cars. (Also a contributing factor) Sorry for the biography but that car was a massive part of my life for a massive part of my life.
Got to be my brother, who's is a couple of years older. He had a 1.3 as his second ever car, after his 1st car which was a Peugeot 205. I remember going out, on day trips in it, to different city's and it just looking so cool on 5spoke alloys. Was also the car he let me have a go in down coop car park before I could drive. I just kept kangaroo-ing and stalling it. All good fun though My 1st car was then a mk1 1litre. Good times
a good friend of mine 'matt' who has since passed before I got a golf, he had a red abf he once took me out in it and I was hooked, so when I had chance to get one to go the ring it I got one, since then im hooked
5 Door Willow Green Mk1 1.5 GLS Auto 500 was the start of the love affair, dabbled with Nova SR and a Nova Sport, couple of mk1 Astra SR too, back to vw's in the shape of mk1 drivers(2nr) & GTI's(x3nr), MK2 GTI 16V Oak Greens x 2nr, early MK3 VR6, and then back to mk2 Traded Oak Green 16v with votex bodykit for edition blue, bought more door 8v as easy project (i converted to 3A bubble block, mild cam, Stage 1 head and Milltek 4 branch). Finally Edition one shell for the chromelux. I think its the square boxy shape, 6 lights at the front timeless classic good looks, as well as the loads of parts and very easy to maintain. If you see clean mk2 it still turns people heads nowadays.
This. 1996 Sadly stolen I believe in 97, now probably in a million parts on a hundred cars. Was epic though
I got into them after driving my mates brothers Oak Green 8v in 1997ish. I'd had a Nova SR (which was great), then an XR3i but the Golf was miles better. I ended up buying a 1988 8v MUX 538F around 1998 and haven't been without one since. Good thread
About 28 years ago, if not more, Dad used to service his mate (just lately passed away, RIP, my second ever hero ) 3 Bobby's mk1 Gti. I remember sitting in it as a child, thinking it was the coolest car in the world. Bear in mind this was mid 80's Ireland, in a very rural area, most people drove the likes of diesel Jettas and Pug 305s!
It has to be going to Inters though the mid ninetys with my dad in a series of Mk2 GTIs. The whole scene and huge enthusiasm of everyone there was addictive. I could only afford the buy/insure an XR3i at the time, but vowed to one day return as an owner
Some good stories here I was also taken out in a big bumper, black, 16v by a friends uncle. He basically scared us 2 13/14 year olds to death by ragging it over a few country roads. Was a real buzz!!! First time in a fast car because my dad likes slow ones lol lol
When I was too young to remember stuff my folks had a camper van, I think. Then an original Beetle when I was about 5 or 6. Years of fairly uninspiring Renaults were the family cars of my later childhood. Then a few years later, when I was driving one of the handed down Renaults; kinda by force of circumstance, my old man became a Dubber again. He got stranded by a dying Volvo somewhere on the M6 while conveying my Gran south for Christmas. Ended up trading the Volvo in for an F-reg Polo Coupe S there and then (Stoke area?), which later got handed down to me! Then came the legendary EZ, which is still running around somewhere locally, the GTI that needs to find a new home, and the Polo I'm currently enjoying.
What got me in to VWs? My Daddy's 69 Type 1 Beetle 1500 and his pretty crazy mechanic, who also had a Volkswagen called the 'Lightening Bug' back in the 70s. Later that Beetle was upgraded for a Super Beetle - a 1972 1302-S. The distinct noise of the Beetle flat 4 and its layout, lead me to small engine repair as a primary school lad. From here the love for the internal combustion engine, was refined into a skill. I started to work on vehicle engines, before I could legally drive. When I started to drive, the car of choice was guess what! A 1969 Beetle, built with a twin port 1641 motor, single quiet pack and twin Solex 40, heads ported by me as was the Cortina hall sensor in the dizzy and a Toyota ignitor system. Many tricks learned from reading David Vizard's books, VW Trends and Dune Buggies and Hot VWs, were practiced on that Beetle engine. By then I also had a customer base that was primarily Japanese vehicles that I maintained and tuned the time. Despite specializing in various JDM EFI conversions, I acquired a second VW, a '66 Type 3 Notch. But change was to happen.... In the late 90s, I transitioned away from the VW aircooled, Toyota and other JDM brands, to the make my dad missed out on purchasing in the early 80s. A Golf. In fact I bought my first Golf GTI 8v D660 LKM. Since then, even with a multi-car fleet, I still own at least 3 GTI vehicles and the rest of the fleet are VW based. Who knows what will change in the fleet. One thing for sure, the fleet will always have a Volkswagen in the mix! Good thread Victoria!
came from a car back ground, with my folks being heavily involved in the ford scene when i was a we knipper so was always going to have an interest in cars. got to know a couple of guys who lived around the corner from me who was building a 67 bug and this got me hooked on the aircooled scence. i then discovered a passion for 80's hot hatches, had plenty of xr2's, 205 and 309 gti's etc then finally settled on vw's again
I never had any interest in them whatsoever until a colleague sold me a 1991 Driver for peanuts, it was written off after a few months & I bought a few other cars then ended up with my old Mk2 GTI which I kept for ten years before selling it about two years ago. I miss my old my Mk2 but as far as I'm concerned just about everything VW have made ever since the Mk2 Golf has been nothing special & if I was given one I'd sell it & buy a decent car. The Mk1 & 2 Golfs were just head & shoulders above the competition (maybe a few drove better than the Mk2 but they didn't last as well)
My dad had been sent by his compamy from Sheffield to Newcastle to work on a swimming pool in Sheffield years ago. In his field the structural engineer moved to where the architect is based for some reason. Anyhow we got invited to the architect's house, the house was awesome, his missus was very attractive, and in the driveway was an atlas grey mk2 3dr gti 16v. That's what started it. Must have left a hell of an impression on me! At the same time my parents split, I gained a step brother whose dad made beetles and mk1's go faster and he's also into his vw's I guess that reinforced it too!
Brought up on racing mini's, but eventually found there antiquated gearbox couldn't make them any faster. As a daily in my twenties they were uncivilised. The 205GTI was the car of the moment late 80's so I had four of these on the trot. Best one was a graphite grey 1.9 that got stolen. That led to an 1800 mk1. TTY491Y. After a very short time, I bought a mk1 GTI tarmac stage car from some guys in Cleveland. Fairly standard, but it worked. The attractions were, lift off oversteer, a family of engines with a common block, revvy unburstable engines, minimal rust, strong suspension, but mostly a gearbox that didn't need a 3 event rebuild. Since then, I'm 85% VAG group, other toys are my GTIR and another flirtation with competition pug's (106's) Jon
Did a few laps on the Nurburgring in my daily. Decided I needed a dedicated track car that I could source parts for easily when in Germany. Choice was between BMW E36 or MK2 Golf. At the time, the E36`s were too expensive and I wasn`t confident enough to go RWD so the Golf it was. Crashed and wrote that one off on the first visit, bought a new shell and transferred everything over. Then it became a project where I could experiment / learn & develop at the same time. I`m reaching a point now where there isn`t much more to do, what`s next is something I am really struggling to decide.
It's not what got me into it that matters anymore, it's what it's going to take to get me out of it that has me concerned.
