There are some obvious links to yesterday’s ’86 Golf in this 1990 Cabriolet. Beyond both being Volkswagens and based upon the Golf platform, they both have low mileage. Above and beyond that, they’re also both the base models of the lineup for their respective year.
In 1990, the Cabriolet was broken into three trim levels; base Cabriolet, the “Best Seller” we looked at recently, and the triple white “Boutique” model at the top. All shared the basic underpinnings with the 94 horsepower Digifant 2H 1.8 liter inline-4 and 5-speed AUG (010 3-speed automatic was optional) and 9.4″ front vented rotors and rear drums. The only differences came in the Boutique’s leather interior and wheel options; the Best Seller having the teardrop 14″ alloys in all silver, while the Boutique’s insets were color-matched white. You could also opt for package P24 in the Best Seller, which gave you both air conditioning and cruise control. Option package P60 in the normal Cabriolet only got you the first option – outside of color, the only selection you could make for the 1990 model year to the base model. In place of 14″ alloys, you instead got 14″ steel wheels with trim rings shared with the 1990-1992 Jetta.
But just because this model isn’t a higher-specification model doesn’t make it desirable, because here condition, color and mileage trump all other considerations: