Pretty much everyone knows that Volkswagen enthusiasts are a special breed, but even within Volkswagen enthusiasts there are some really devoted fans of a particular sub-model. One such example of this is the Golf Harlequin, seemingly a joke by Volkswagen dealers to get rid of excess body panels. In truth, it’s one of the really neat exercises by a major that reinforces my belief that Volkswagen just does things differently than most other manufacturers. Seriously, could you imagine Mercedes-Benz shipping a bunch of S-Classes out to dealers in different colors and telling them to swap body panels around? The Harlequin Golf was and remains a neat page in Volkswagen history that generally brings a smile to VW fans. So, it’s no surprise that the Harlequins are very sought after, even if they appear all in one color because the dealer was lazy – no joke! But are they sought after enough to warrant a replica?
Tag: 2.0
Recently we’ve had a wave of lightly modified, good condition A1 GTis. Always a popular platform for tuners and back yard mechanics, the GTi for a long time was cheap, modifications were plentiful, and they mostly lived a hard life. Today, finding clean examples will yield you a highly sought after prize; with so few left, the price has been driven up and nice examples are coming out of the woodwork to test the waters. Today we have two modified but clean GTis – will either be to your taste? Let’s look at the cleaner and more original of the two:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Volkswagen GTi on VW Vortex
2 CommentsThe Volkswagen market is fairly fickle these days. Some low mile, original cars go for big bucks; other times, its unlikely modified cars that draw the money. But it seems in general that the 16V Scirocco and original GTi are the two shining stars right now for 1980s Volkswagens. What do you get when you put them together and chop the top off? A 16V Cabriolet, of course! Granted, this isn’t how this car was delivered from the factory, but if you’re looking for the best of three world, perhaps you can enjoy this Cabby modified in the style of OEM:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Volkswagen Cabriolet on eBay
2 CommentsLast 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.