Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
The strong market for Westfalias should surprise no one by now. What is surprising, however, is finding two ridiculously low-mileage Westies for sale at the same time, in nearly the exact same spec. They’re both late-model, white on grey Vanagons that are looking for high-$30ks. That’s starting to get into decent Syncro Westy territory – are they worth it?
It’s interesting to me that Volkswagen has managed to make the Golf a premium product, because for so long it was actually low man on the totem pole at VW. I owned a Westmoreland made Golf built in 1986, and while it was a fun car to drive, luxurious it was not. Compared to new models with Audi-inspired interiors, the Mk.2 cars are positively Spartan in design. However, compare them to some similar Japanese interiors from the day and you begin to see why the Golf was widely regarded as the premium hatch in the segment. It also offered plenty of performance from the 16V models, though in Europe those cars were more expensive to insure. Popularity and a propensity for getting into accidents meant that they were targets for theft, the and consequently high insurance premiums. As a result and due to the higher cost of the GTi models, Volkswagen introduced several GTi-look packages like the Golf GT and this one, the later Golf Driver:
Over the last year I’ve really come to appreciate the high-top Vanagon. With a very different approach and look from the Westy, it’s taking the VanLife game just a little further. This early 1980 model has covered less than 50k miles with its air-cooled 2.0-liter. There’s no explanation as to why it has only covered an average of 1300 miles a year, but it looks the part. The two-tone yellow is going to make you the quintessential ray of sunshine that comes when people see awesome Vanagons on the road. Inside, the redone interior is pretty amazing with a very early-80s brown and beige color scheme and as high quality of work as I’ve seen in any Vanagon. With reserve-on bidding starting at $7k, it’s nice enough to go much higher than that.
I love the VW T3 DoKa, especially in Syncro trim, but today we have a beautiful example of the earlier T2 DoKa. It’s about as utilitarian as a 50hp air-cooled truck can be, seating 6 and with plenty of bed to haul light but voluminous loads. With year-old exterior paint and a brand-new rebuild, this Bustruck is sure to garner lots of attention. The interior displays its 46 years a little more clearly, with some original paint and decades of use showing through. The seats look to be in good shape though. A nice carpet set would probably clean that up the floors a bit, but overall the interior keeps this from being a total resto-creampuff. In my eyes that’s for the best because you can look good while putting it to work, but the seller is still expecting over $20k for it.
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There’s something that’s just so right about the 1990-1992 GTis. The bigger bumpers gave a chunkier, more menacing look than the 85-89 cars had, and the swap to the 4-headlight grill worked so well. More power and bigger, better BBS wheels made these the best GTis in the eyes of many VW faithful. By 1990, the GTi 16V had gotten fairly expensive so Volkswagen reintroduced a more budget-conscious 1.8 8 valve version. It wasn’t a total poseur, though – Volkswagen made an attempt to differentiate the entry level GTi from the standard Golf. With 105 horsepower on tap (5 more than the standard Golf) and a 5-speed close-ratio gearbox, they channeled a bit of the original A1 GTi even if they didn’t sing up high like the 16Vs did. There were other subtle differences between the 16V and 8V; externally, they looked very similar except that the 16Vs wore appropriate 16V insignia front and rear and on the slimmed down side moldings. The 16Vs also got the larger and wider BBS RM multi-piece wheels with wider flares, while the 8V model wore the 14″ “Teardrop” alloys that had previously been the signature of the 16V. Both now wore roof mounted antenna and integrated, color coded rear spoiler with 3rd brake lights and color coded mirrors, along with the aforementioned 4-headlight grill, deeper rocker panels and integrated foglights. The 16V got beefier Recaro Trophy seats, while the 8V was equipped with the standard sport seats. Both wore the same sport suspension. And, both models now had the passive restraint “running mouse” belts. Today we’ve got one of each to look at, so let’s start with the big brother:
