Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Hang on for the ride, folks. I have not one, not two, but six Mk.2 GTis to cover here. Like all good Mk.2 GTis, none of these cars is stock, so you’re going to have to pick you poison. From engine mods to suspension, interior and exterior mods, we’ve got it all here – but don’t judge a book, because I don’t think they’re all bad. Let’s start with the one I think it the strongest example – a neat grey example with a VR6 swap:
Last week, I popped a quick ad up on our for a stock Mk. IV GTi 337 Edition. Not only are GTis in just about any form rare to find stock once the warranty in over, but in the case of the 337 and 20th Anniversary Edition GTis, it is nearly impossible to find one that hasn’t been modified to death. Lucky for us, we can take a closer look at this 337 because it failed to sell and was relisted this week. The 337 was an attempt by Volkswagen to bring the GTi back towards its roots; the VR6s made a great noise and were more refined highway cruisers, but the basis of the GTi was back in those peaky 4 cylinders that combined economy, light weight and performance into defining the hot hatch category. In that light, Volkswagen equipped the 337 – called the 25th Anniversary edition in Europe – with the 1.8T motor now churning out 180 hp coupled to a 6-speed manual gearbox. To keep weight down but looks up, the 337 received specially painted BBS RC wheels with a revised sport suspension and larger brakes. Additionally, the 337 came with a unique body kit and some awesome Recaro seats that again evoked memories of the 16V GTis and you could get it in any color you wanted – as long as it was Reflex Silver:
Purists decried the arrival of the “grown up” A3 chassis Golf and Vento, sold as the Jetta in North America. It was expensive, it was heavy (relative to the A1 and A2 chassis, anyway) and the performance was dulled – that was, until the introduction of the GLX model that replaced the earlier GLi models. Now sporting the VR6 that had debuted in the Corrado a few years earlier, the GLX was all around a screamer. It might have been heavier than the GLi had been, but it was quicker to 60, quieter on the highway, more comfortable and better in crashes (if things went south), and returned close to the same fuel economy as the thirsty, buzzy and boxy 16V had. The Jetta in many ways helped to save Volkswagen, too – being one of the highest sellers since the Beetle, it was insanely popular and seemed to be the defacto college car of choice for both men and women. Because of that, many of these Jettas fell into disrepair or were totaled, so it’s rare to find a lower mile and clean GLX these days:
Much like the original Mini, there was a plethora of special editions that came and went during the Volkswagen Golf Mk2 production run. Just when I think I’ve heard of them all, up crops another one. This Golf Boston was a 1989 only special, featuring unique trim and exterior graphics. This particular Golf has led a fairly easy life, with the equivalent of under 100,000 miles being traveled.
Last year I wrote up a very cool Caddy, almost completely redone with great mods like a 16v and Brat seats in the bed. At the time, the seller was asking almost $15k, which seemed a bit optimistic. Today’s fully redone Caddy is gorgeous and leans a bit more towards the subtle end of aesthetics, but has a 16v ABF engine among a very nice list of performance improvements in addition to the cleanliness that can only come with ripping something all the way down. Unfortunately, while $15k seemed optimistic (and was… it sold for $10,900), this seller has started his auction at $12k and is asking $19k. I love Rabbit Pickups, it was my first car and I will own one again etc., but that white one represented the top of the crop. This one may be there, but that market is still short of the opening bid.