When I first glanced at this GTI, I thought “Oh man, what a clean and stock Mk1 GTI!” The exterior is pristine and retains the beautiful and original Snowflake wheels, with the only subtle modification being European bumpers. Peak inside the doors and under hood, however, and it becomes clear that while it is extremely clean it is certainly no stock or ordinary GTI. A full rollcage has been installed with all but the driver’s seat removed, revealing a GTI that has been extensively and purposefully built as an autocrosser. The chassis reinforcement is necessary thanks to new suspension, brakes, and above all a rebuilt 16V from a Mk2, installed in 1997. It’s lived with a single owner its entire life, an extreme rarity among GTIs. Since the swap, it’s covered about 4k miles, likely most on the autocross course, and has fewer than 100k miles total. The condition, care, and modifications come together to make a beautiful little GTI that will be a hoot on the back roads or around the cones, as long as you’re willing to spend top dollar and drive alone!
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Most 80s cars you see that are worth buying have had a combination of upgrades and degradation that may look just fine but give an underlying impression of “used car.” Every once in a while we get to see an icon in its purest form, and this 1984 Rabbit L is a shining example. Original-spec tires make an i3’s motorcycle wheels look like steamrollers. Chrome shines on every trimpiece. The tiny 1.6-liter four barely has any dust on it, let alone oil or grime. It all looks like a museum piece, or perhaps a classic military show item.
The latter isn’t too far from the truth as this Rabbit has spent nearly its entire life with a military doctor’s family. It clearly received the utmost attention throughout its three decades, and now the seller has given it a thorough refresh, making what is quite possibly the nicest, basic, decidedly-not-a-GTI Mk1 Rabbit.
Click for details: 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit L on eBay
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It’s a bit sad that there is such a huge generation gap when it comes to the letter “i”. Teaching college level students, were I to write the lower case letter “i” up on the board and ask the meaning, immediate answers of “iPhone”, “iPod” or “iPad” would pop up. Perhaps some of the more clever individuals would associate it with “intelligent”. Apple has transformed the meaning of the lower case letter “i” for entire generations of people who will grow up not knowing what it means to my generation. For example, were I to write the word “carburetor” on the board and ask the meaning, outside of some motorcycle enthusiasts and perhaps a few into older cars, I’m willing to bet very few would know what the word meant, likely associating it with carbonated beverages before internal combustion engines. But in the 1970s and 1980s, “i” was a magical letter which indicated greater performance and improved reliability. It ranged from exotics like the Ferrari 512BBi right through the 2002tii, and while some of the systems were less dependable than others, by the time we got to Bosch’s continuous injection system, German cars were universally the best running, most dependable cars you could get into. In fact, one could argue that most of the success of the German car industry boils down to not their legendary build quality nor the advanced designs they pioneered, but the dependability of the fuel injection system. “i” meant a higher level of performance, and instead of simply being a necessity for every teen to mindlessly separate from society it was a way to indicate you had arrived, and you had arrived in style thanks to your fuel injected cars. Audis sported “Fuel Injected” badges proudly up through 1985; Mercedes-Benz attached an “e” for Einspritzung to nearly every model, while virtually every BMW sported an “i” badge for several generations, and some still do. But enthusiasts of the Volkswagen front point to one very special “i” which followed the Grand Turismo letters on the Mk.1 Golf chassis as the most classic hot hatch the market has ever seen:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Volkswagen GTi on eBay
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Last night, I watched a “Throwback” Motorweek which reviewed the then-new top-tier twin-turbocharged Japanese sport coupes. It pitted the height of the market cars against each other – the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4, the Toyota Supra Turbo, the Mazda RX-7 and the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo in a head to head. It’s hard to believe only a year or two after that segment aired, all of those cars would have disappeared from the U.S. market. While vestiges of them have returned, we’re still generally left without that glut of fast Japanese GT cruisers that were available in the early 1990s. It reminded me of another segment that all but disappeared around the same time; the sports economy coupe. True, cars like the Scion TC live on, but remember when there were 11 or 12 different small coupes you could buy? Like the “HYBRID!”s of their day, each offered shouty colored badges about what made them special; a DOCH here, a 16 valve there, or if you were really, really cool, you had a TURBO badge somewhere on your car. Preferably, multiple places. I remember fondly my friend in high school’s Plymouth Sundance Turbo; it might as well have been a Ferrari to us. While Volkswagen never went that far, they did continue to offer their version of a sport coupe, the Scirocco, through the late 80s. Still sporting its Giugiaro-inspired but Karmann-stolen all-angles design proudly, the Scirocco had a bit of a mystique as all Volkswagen coupes had that it was the best of the class, even if by the numbers it wasn’t:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Volkswagen Scirocco 16V on eBay
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When I think about simplifying my life, one of my largest hurdles is what would I ever do with the E28 M5? Acquiring it realized a major life goal, and I still love it every day, but as life goes on will I always have the means to give it the (financial) love it deserves? When I imagine a world where I could do without its sound, rarity, story, looks… where was I? Oh, right. If I could let go of the things that are unique to the M5, a Mk1 GTI is where I’d head. Yes, it would still be an 80s German toy, which is not exactly “simple” to most, but it would provide legendary driving enjoyment without requiring regular valve adjustments and insanely priced out-of-production parts.
While GTIs have been steadily gaining in value, for the moment they’re still within reason. This extremely clean example received a new paint job last year, matching classic silver with some serious blue accents that provide an interesting counterpoint to the typical red striping. The hood stripe doesn’t quite do it for me, but I absolutely love how rally’d-out it looks from behind with the painted rear window surround and “Rabbit” mudflaps. It has a few needs that should be attended to sooner than later – but this GTI is an ideal candidate for some inexpensive home-wrenching and some massively rewarding driving.
