While not the fastest or the prettiest car Volkswagen ever made, the GTI represents the ethos of VW’s 1980s philosophy of cheap, fun-to-drive, and eminently practical cars for consumers. As they did when new, the first generation GTI also represented a car which gave much faster cars a run for their money. True, the 90 horsepower under the hood won’t scare a supercar. But what this car lacks in straight-line performance it more than makes up for in value.
Over the past few years we’ve watched the fan-favorites and driver’s cars from the 1980s increasingly price themselves out of the range of most enthusiasts. The esoterics are also forged in unobtanium today, and while there was a period where you could snap up cheap 80s products in Europe and import them, they’re going away, too. Sure, the M3 and 911 led the charge, but today a clean 190E 2.3-16 or Quattro will set you back some serious bucks. And then when you do get one, you need to worry about collector insurance, expensive and hard-to-source parts and whether you bought in a bubble.
The solution is still the giant-killer GTI. Find a clean one, and you’ll have a car that can be driven at 10/10ths still today and generate plenty of smiles, yet is relatively cheap to buy and very cheap to run. You’ll get thumbs up just like the 911 driver will. Maybe even more, honestly, because when was the last time you saw an A1 cruising around?
Okay, this one isn’t a looker. But stick with me, because it’s worth it…I think. I like the BBS wheel update, though an earlier design like the RA would work better in my eyes. It appears to be all there outside but clearly needs some cosmetics.
Inside looks better, with good-condition upholstery and only a few hanging wires under the semi-warped dashboard. Something funky happened to the left bolster on the passenger seat, but otherwise it looks serviceable. But the asking price is $9,500 – why so high?
AH HA! Under the hood is where the money and time were spent here. Talk about a sleeper! This one has a 1.8 16V with dual Webers and a rebuilt 2Y 16v-specification transaxle. Add up the parts here and it’s easy to believe the seller’s claim that they’ve got 12k into it.
Granted, to get this one to really be a stunner you’ll have to probably double that amount – brakes, suspension, and cosmetics aren’t cheap. Still I think if you got it right you’d not be upside down in your investment; a sorted 16V’d GTI would be a hoot to drive and hard to replicate for much less than the asking price here unless you sourced and did everything yourself.
-Carter