Hi All - My first car was a ROW Inari Silver 1978 GTI. My dad found it in Germany while out there placing a foreign delivery order on a 1985 Audi. Is was $2k USD. Being that I had only managed to save $1500, I was not allowed to drive it until the balance was paid back. I probably put a million miles on the car backing it out of the garage, washing it in the driveway, and then putting it away (it was very very clean....). I drove/modified (in typical 1980's fashion)/autocrossed the hell out of that car until 1989 when it was wrecked in a street solo event. My understanding is that the body is still sitting in a Durango Colorado junk yard with my name still visibly painted on the door. My next car was a 1985 Mk2 GTI. I played the same games with that car. I loved it, but not as much as the Mk1. Needs changed, and my next vehicles were all trucks. I started collecting cars in the late 1990's. I do recall saying more than once that I really need to add a GTI to the mix, but it never happened. Well, apparently I said this more often than I knew, as my wife picked up on it, resulting in the most wonderful surprise for my 50th birthday - a 1980 Rabbit. I was shocked, as my wife is not in anyway a car person. I call the car a Mk1.5, as it is a Westmoreland US built car. I view the German cars as a true Mk1. The Good: - 1980 with 80k original miles - Almost zero rust! - Oettinger tuned VW based 2.0 16v out of a Mk2 (93k miles) - KW coil overs - brakes upgraded (slotted rotors) - Original paint - Original interior - including an uncut cargo cover, a perfect headliner and a nearly flawless dash pad - 15/7 E30 BBS The less than good: - the car was wrapped - an at home job in beige. It was awful (getting it off was worse) - the previous owner sanded and primed little spots so chips would not be visible after his wrap job (had they not done this, I may have been able to stay with the factory paint) - the car sat ridiculously low - The CIS was relocated to the passenger side (r). It was just sitting there waiting to fall into the alternator - not attached at all. - The injection lines were wrong and just bent to fit. Several had crimps - zip ties and sheet metal screws were everywhere. - Every piece of glass was deeply scratched I have spent the last three years getting things put back together. The last thing that needs to be done are the seats. They go to the trimmer on Sept 7. Here are some pics, including the original 1978 Inari car that started this all off (sorry about the shorts.......). I will post the finished interior in the next month or so. Thanks - Scott S
Hi All - Savagesam - it is actually Tafetta White, which is a Honda color. I wanted something that was a just *touch* brighter/more blue that the original - but not as appliance white as many cars are today. This is a long time color for Honda, and being I plan on driving this car as much as possible, I wanted an off the shelf color that can be touched up easily in the future. I struggled between going white or Inari silver to replicate my original car. Then I remembered that when I had the Inari car, I always wished it was white. It was the 80's, and I just loved the all white cars (front grill, wiper arms, wheels, mirrors, white striped tail lights, etc., etc., all painted white). In full disclosure, when I had the car sprayed, I did have them paint and extra grill and set of wiper arms - you know, just in case......... ; )
Looks great, you’ll have a lot of fun in that! I bet it goes well with the tuned 16v. What seats did the US GTI’s come with?
The US GTI's had the same front sport seats made by Recaro like the rest of the world, but they were only available in blue or maroon with contrasting stripes. Here is a picture: Being that my car is a 1980, it still has the early dash, so my seats are being done in the original tartan fabric from VW Heritage. They will look like this:
seats are done. I built these up using 1980 bases and 1982 back rests. I did this for two reasons: 1. I am getting older, my driving is mellower, and I had no need for the higher bolsters of the sport seats. It is also easier to get in and out. 2. The outer bolsters on the sports seats wear much faster than the flatter seats, and I would like these to last a while I used the 1982 back rests, as I wanted the separate head rests. I still have a set of stock sport seats that I can have re-done if I decide to sell. Really happy with the end results. Both the seat center and bolster fabric came from Heritage. The Recaro badges were left over from another project, so I figured why not use them. Next up, replacing the dash insert and cleaning up some wiring. Getting close!
