Words: Josh Rainwater | Photos: Lennart Dijkstra
It seems that up until the last 5 years or so, the North American VAG scene has been behind it’s Western European counterpart. Behind in the sense that we were a bit late to the game when it came to starting trends, performance firsts, and styling direction. I haven’t quite figured out if it was due to the fact that we were usually 1-2 years behind on model lineup or the fact that there is less of a demand for our cars stateside and therefore less local product development. Since its initial production in 1938, it took over 10 years for those first two Type 1′s to reach our shores. I know there was some sort of scuffle between a couple of countries in the 1940s that may have hindered its popularity abroad, but that is another topic for another day.
Anyhow, countries like zie Niedelande are a gold mine of old Volkswagens and this treasure was certainly no exception. The owner, Dutch resident André Dijkstra, has been perfecting this vehicle for 12 years. He scored the car WAAAYYYY back in 1999, before many of us could even drive. On a trip to VW-Mania (now VAG-Fest) in Belgium that year, he and some buddies had spotted the car during a brief pit stop. Whilst the friends argued among themselves as to who had purchasing rights, André confronted the owner himself. Needless to say, the friends never had any chance.
André had always wanted to procure an old Mk1 and even though they were more fruitful over there, most examples were in various states of disrepair or were no longer in their original condition. André was fortunate that the owner knew exactly what he had and wasn’t just another damning owner. He even had sincere intentions of restoring it one day. The owner at the time had even charmed André with the fact that he had originally bought the car for his girlfriend, who just happened to share the same birthday with that car. I’m not sure if that was planned or not but either way the chances of actually finding one were very slim.
About 90% of all the parts on the car are brand new or NOS and it took the entire 5 years of the restoration to collect every part needed for the job. Most of renovation including the extensive cleaning of the remaining 10% of original parts, engine rebuilding, restoration, and part sourcing, all completed by André himself although he credits a local gentleman known only as “Soldier” for the eye-popping paint job.
Something you don’t commonly see on a Mk1, along with the 16″ Ferrari wheels, is tinted glass, in brown no less. For years, I had never seen an old Rabbit with tinted glass that I could actually appreciate; until now. It not only looks stellar and meshes with the brown interior, but it also looks very OEM.
Although the car still looks minty fresh, the car is in it’s 7th year of completion. Seven years ago, many of you were still putting shameful body kits and underglow on your rides. Mr. Dijkstra bought this with the simple intention of retouching the paint and doing the mandatory maintenance required to make it road worthy but as you can see, his priories changed slightly. He is now 37 and still enjoys DRIVING, not trailering, his gem to many regional and international venues.
André describes his creation as an, “Original oldskool style with a little flavour.” He really enjoys the Compmotive TS-Line 3-piece splits which were sourced from a Ferrari 288 GTO. The flamboyant paint job is the first thing that most people notice and it is actually somewhat uncommon itself. The color is known as Viper Green Metallic and was only available on European market bound vehicles.
Something that I have come to notice among nearly all car owners regardless of brand or marque is that they are never completely satisfied with the outcome of their cars. I too fall into this category and know how it feels to constantly want to update this part or modify that part to suite my needs. Dijkstra however, rated his current satisfaction level with the project at 10+, although if money were no issue, he would replace that remaining 10% of original parts with new, hot-off-the-press pieces to get it to 100% perfect condition. André does however lament that he wishes it was a GTi.
The hardest issues associated with this type as well as just about any type of restoration is time and money. Even with an abundance of both, it still requires a bit of patience and diligence when it comes to knowing where to get the right parts for your application. In spite of an endless budget, sometimes you still can’t find what you are looking for.
Many of us get wrapped up in perfecting a project day in and out. Toiling like its a job. We sometime forget that the car is suppose to be ‘fun’, which is exactly how André describes his car.
When asked what his final goal was, he ardently stated, “To keep it in this good condition, drive it as most as possible and show it to other Volkswagen lovers.” You decidedly can’t argue with a man with such wholehearted goals as this.
The interior is strange but invitingly comfortable as well. The color and pattern is reminiscent of a used car salesman’s suit. These early seats were plush and supple because they were stuffed with horse hair and coconut fibers. Another neat piece that is hard to source are the B-pillar grab straps. Later cars had handles so these are a much coveted item.
It’s pretty cool that André wanted to maintain the car’s originality so he kept the original ’010′ automatic 3-speed in the car.
It really is hard to find interior pieces this clean and look like they haven’t seen the light of day or haven’t been soiled by human hands.
The mandatory orange “Spirit of 76″ ball prominently displayed in his ’76.
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Car Specs:
Volkswagen Golf1 GLS 1.6 automatic
Birthday 23th of March 1976
Wheels:
Compomotive TS-line 16×7 front and back from a FERRARI 288 GTO
Suspension:
WEITEC coilovers
Interior:
Scirocco 3 spoke wheel, Scirocco 2 gauge center console
Exterior: Small duckbill, chrome euro bumper, clear front turn signals, brown tinted glass, chrome flag mirrors, deutsche post tail lights