Tweaked the thread title a little... will in time still be about my own plans, but until they get some momentum thought some more general MK1 Zender goodness is in order - When I first began getting interested in Zender stuff there was a similar thread on VWVortex. The Jetta below belonged to someone in Finland or the like that I think had, had it from new, but my recollection's not that great. There were other shots of it, the interior etc., but these are the only ones I saved. It was just as amazing inside. Not quite everything is Zender, apart from the obvious wheels, the bonnet scoop looks like the Kamei one. It's going to take me a while to refresh my memory, so don't want to wrongly say what kit is on this car, but I've a few catalogues so easily found out.
I've resurrected a collection of Zender catalogues, plus a dealer / trade binder which is a particularly good source for part number references. If anyone is needing to double check anything, can't promise I'll be able to help, but it'll do no harm asking. Zender sports / stars (sterns) and turbo wheels came in a multitude of different fitments and it can be a nightmare trying to work out what spec. a particular set are unless you have access to the part number / catalogue.
Not MK1, but might interest some of you anyhow. Big 1/5th scale dealer showroom model of a MK2 with Z60 bodykit. The smaller blue model is 1/18th scale and the smallest 1/43rd., just to give you an idea of size Picked this up in Germany many years ago... they do still turn up, but unfortunately are nearly always repainted and / or converted to remote control. There was also a Z600 version (a more extreme body kitted MK2) and a Mercedes 190 model both to the same scale, not managed to track either down yet. The Z60/600 both pre-date the Rallye and are rumoured to be VW's inspiration behind that cars look.
There's a very old thread on the MK1OC I started way back in 2013 and lead to some great posts / images. These are the only one's of the original helios blue GTIE cars still showing there... I know there were quite a few others and that I saved them too, but not only are they gone from the forum, neither can I find the copies. There's two main cars LBD 376Y that features below and A175 HAD the car in the original post at the beginning of this thread. LDB I think is one in the same as the GT100 registered car you see in some GTIE literature and the June 1983 copy of Hot Car magazine (will scan post that up sometime soon) Here's a cut'n'paste of what 'Mortz' wrote about LDB - "Ahhh it's nice to see some fresh pictures of the old girl…..i have more memories than pictures! For those who would like to hear them….here they are I 1st laid eyes on LBD376Y when i was 16 years of age…( im now 40) at the time friends were a good few years older than I , one mate had a mk1 GTI in White with a BBS kits with BBS wheels…god we did some pullin in that golf :-)….anyways i heard that one of my mates mates just bought a mk1 golf with some wicked looking kit on it and went like stink…i 1st bumped into LBD in Margam ( South Wales) and thought OMG!…what an amazing looking GTI……it was gleaming!….looked so aggresive with a purposeful looking stance….in modern day termenology ( it looked the bo**ocks ) i used to see LBD so often but only got to sat in it once as passaenger but knew this was summit special. I remember being devastated at one point as LBD recieved a nudge from the rear on the M4 by a lorry and spun her round into another vehicle…..requiring a new front end….new Zender kit front and rear with some jig treatment to straighten her out….the repair was never recorded/ insurance as the owner at the time had a well paid job, i remember going to see it during state of repair….ohh i felt sooo sick!…..anyways a few weeks later she was back on the road… Contrary to what some people report it still has the correct RE2000 conversion….no it does not..during my friends ownership it went pop!…sending its internals across the M4 motorway…. a standard replacement was soon bought not long after….he kep't the knackered engine in his sheed for a while, it is now resting under his mams patio and has been for many many years. The steering wheel that currently sits on LBD although is a GTI engineering wheel…the original was a 3 spoke style which was sold to my mate mark who owned the white GTI BBS kitted golf. Ownership of LBD was then transfered to his step dad to continue its daily use as my mate worked away a lot on the build of the channel tunnel ( yes back in the day! ). His Step dad worked at Port Talbot Steel works at the time and drove it in and out there for a few years and pretty much wrecked it ( body work suffered )….I remember his step dad attempted to smarten it up by having a full re-spray in some horrid green colour….suffice to say it did not stay green for long and was sprayed back to Helios blue. I tried to buy it a few times when i was a couple of years older but his step dad would not sell it. So i took my eye off the ball for a few years and restored some other stuff. I later found out he sold it to someone in Pontypridd, i was never to see it again" and... "Indeed GT100 and LBD are the same vehicle 100% GT100 is just a show plate….LBD was owned by Brian London the Boxer who commisioned GTI Engineering to complete the re-work…this is what i was advised back in the day…..Brian london is definaltey a connection……my mates mum's attic has a folder full of receipts n stuff of LBD i have know this for many years….LBD has not been on the road since last owner change back in 2008…so one of 3 things are going on….one 1 it's just sitting in someone's garage….2 it's being slowly restored or 3 it's scrapped…..not confident no 3 has happended with any luck"
Great history and quality photo with the Nova and mk1 together haha - when did you last see a Nova on the road eh?
You know, I haven't read what Mortz wrote since the time of his post on the MK1OC. I've a horrible feeling (for him at any rate) I may have the Z20 bodykit from LBD and what that means for the car. My forum name was 'bacardincoke' back then (haven't touched a drop in years), which may explain why my memory of things from then are a little cloudy! If I'm right the guy I bought it from was either based in Wales or maybe Cornwall, though he may also have been selling it for someone else? He had a Zender Turbo wheeled Scirrocco possibly, quite a well known owner / car and you used to see piccies of it quite regularly on different forums at the time? It's complete and not in too bad nick (and obviously helios blue)... been up in the garage loft for years now, but might drag it out soon and check for green paint beneath, though I think I'd have picked up on that before now.
Some of their catalogues show seats covered in 'Zender' logo'd material, but short of a miracle that was never going to be possible so settled on repro. Recaro Spectrum stuff instead. Do love the orange striped version, but maybe just too much on a dark blue car.
This is the 0.01% I have yet to get, need a third gauge. The catalogue image shows one for Amps, but they're not ideally suited to a 'modern' car, a Voltmeter would be preferrable. The gauge panel is very slightly angled to point them at the driver, and if you look hard enough it does make a slight difference, but hardly worth the effort.
These images are from the June 1983 Hot Car feature. They were on the inter-web, though I've the magazine somewhere, but can't put my hand on it at the moment to scan it properly. From what was wriiten above it appears to be LBD but with Richard Lloyds personal plate on it.
More web images... The two-tone LBD car has the Z2 kit on with the more rounded arches (which I think are just a little less wide than the Z20). The front, rear valance / bumper covers and possibly the side skirts are the same on each kit. The two tone car without a number plate and the VED 88 car are square arched Z20's. (From what I can find, BD on a pre-2001 plate seems to refer to Northampton, which I believe tallies with their Silverstone address)
After a bit of trawling it's possible 'GTXTRA' is the member I thought sold me the kit, he's a Scirocco on Turbo wheels. Have tried messaging him, but he was last online in August of this year... if anyone knows him, maybe they could get him to sign in?
Exhaust tips from what I originally thought was the Maserati Biturbo, but the more I look into it, it's possible they're from the Alfa GTV6 instead. I say that because there's four of them and they came in two pairs, attached to separate forked end pipes. The cars presently got a standard Bosal set up and it's pure luck that the Zender tips inner diameter allows them to slip snuggly over the top because of that size reducing perforated sleeve. The first image makes the tip look to be sitting very far out, but in reality it's not too bad... it's partly because there's no bumper in shot to give context and anyhow the Z20 rear valance and bumper cover also extends things further.
Retrieved the 2 x grilles from the loft for a trial fit. The helios blue one that came with the kit does fit, but of the two this is the better. (No sign of the other having previously been green) You can just about see the offside headlight / spotlight 'bucket' lurking behind, essential for fitting both. Couldn't get the nearside 'bucket' to properly slot in at all, I suspect Zender intended them to be trimmed to suit the particular car they were being fitted to and not being originally from this one some fettling's required. Easily doable, but going to leave that to when I'm fitting things in earnest, not just playing around. The inner lamps are spotlights and 17.5cm / 7" diameter. The standard VW head lights are retained. Zender seem to have used off the shelf Hella spots that at the time were fitted to some DAF lorries and Scania buses amongst others. Surprisingly you can still get them new.
The inners spots and holding bucket in a bit more detail... the inner light sits forward of the standard headlight slightly, but being a much slimmer design things even up when fitted. If you're after some, you should be able to source them using the Hella reference numbers shown in the image of the paper label. It was only when I was looking again that I noticed they're for H1 bulbs, hence that metal adapter plate pressed into where the bulb goes.
I have a massive Zender catalogue which I picked up at the first gti international which was held at Silverstone. It had loads of colour photos of kits for loads of different makes eg Mercedes,Audi etc. German writing but a cool memento! I will try and find it in my stash! I also have gti engineering brochures etc! Great days. Me and mates in my mk1 golf diesel ogling all the GTi's!
GTIE and Zender seem to be intertwined if you're from the UK, can't properly get into one without the other too. If you find the catalogue be careful, you might get smitten!
