Words: Josh Rainwater | Edited: Aaron Ok | Photos: James Wallace
In the watercooled Volkswagen tuning scene around the world, nothing is more revered than the MK1 GTi. No other model has had more of an influence on modern trends and fads while at the same time, being so deeply rooted in a rich motorsport heritage. It’s a car that has a mind all its own and refuses to fade into obscurity. There is always a great amount of respect owed to their owners, not only for having the patience to deal with such a fickle, outdated platform, but also for having the vision to create something innovative, untried, and fresh. Tackling the marque with a MK5 mindset will leave you broken-hearted and ultimately broke. Period. These cars have a mind all their own, and it takes an owner with an equally strong mind to push practicality aside and actively undertake restoring a MK1.
Maybe I am a bit biased when it comes to the early watercooled cars, but I feel that the MK1 GTi is the epitome of what a 1980s sport compact hatchback should look like. Sleek appearance, solid platform, lightweight, and nimble suspension. There are few cars have had the legacy to span four decades of production.
I think the reason they look so classy but undated is the fact that there are so many different styling combinations you can go with all while using nothing but O.E. parts. Any model of car can have parts custom-made to fit it, whether it’s a body modification like an air dam or an interior modification like a dash swap. MK1s on the other hand can not only do this but you can style these cars using nothing but part bins from other model MK1s. Say you want a bumper. Well you can get a euro chrome bumper, plastic euro bumper, Cabriolet clipper kit, a North American GTi bumper, or even an NA bumper and cut it down. This doesn’t even include all the little minor differences among the bumpers or all of the dealer options like Kamei and BBS bits. There is literally an endless combinations of O.E. parts to choose from.
The owner of this beautiful ’79, John Walter, had to have felt the same when he picked up this one of a kind creation. The car was purchased in 1999 for a paltry sum of 360 euros. Despite the vehicle looking pristine today, it bears little resemblance to how it looked 12 years ago. It has undoubtedly been a labor of love with untold hours and days poured into making it not only one of the nicest vehicles I have ever written about, but also one of the sharpest MK1s on the planet.
The first two years after the initial purchase was spent just cleaning , welding problematic spots, and addressing all of the usual A1 bugs. I can speak from personal experience and say that when you get into restoring an old car, not just a MK1 in particular, it’s not usually the big things that get into the pocket; it’s all the little $10 and $20 parts that wreak havoc on your pocketbook and nerves. I have had to miss a couple of meals due to not having enough money allotted for ‘unexpected breakdowns.’ After a while you begin to expect them and when you go a week without one, you feel on edge and out of place. It’s the same feeling when you are tip-toeing through a haunted house waiting for a monster to jump out.
In 2003 John finished the car…Or so he thought.
In March of 2003, with the help of an uncle, he tore down and rebuilt the original 1.8l 8v DX motor. Said engine put out a punishing 110 hp to the crank. Later that year he installed a set of MK3 black leather seats. The seats are an affordable upgrade that really do add a touch of sportiness to a worn interior. You can pick up a set relatively easily and the seats can be retrofitted into a MK1 in less than a day.
I have owned a few cars, most of which I felt no real need to bolt on any performance adders. The Mk1 is not one of those cars. John had the same sentiment and in 2004, he swapped out the 8v for another 8v. This one just happened to have a supercharger and carried the name G60. It also put down 225 hp which was well over double the output of the previous engine.
The next 4 years were spent chasing down more power for the G60. John sourced and installed a bench-flowed, cross-flow head from an Audi 1.6L A3. Why did he do this you ask? Well I would say ‘MOAR PAWR’ but he actually did it for aesthetics. He lamented, “I first had a G60-T with the original G60 head but than you can’t see the turbo, so I decided to build a cross-flow [head].” More power was just the icing on the cake.
By 2008 he had reached the pinnacle of power with 288 hp and 287 lbs-tq. Both very respectable figures considering this is a street driven, supercharged 8v, weighing in at no more than 2200 lbs. On top of that, all of this power is harnessed with daily driver reliability, which is a hard feat with nearly every MK1. It seems like you could replace every nut, bolt, and component on an old car but by the time you’re finished, you have to start all over again. John has navigated his way around this by installing newer technology, like the KMS standalone engine management.
By the time 2010 rolled around, John was very adept at pulling and rebuilding engines. So when it came time to rework the engine, that’s exactly what he did. He plucked the motor from it’s nest and did a complete rebuild on it. Before plopping it back in the bay, he mated the G60 to a 02A 16v Corrado gearbox.
Now we arrive to 2011 with this gorgeously stunning Diamond Silver Metallic Golf1. Words cannot express how perfect this car looks. I would honestly be afraid to know how many countless days, nights, birthdays, and anniversaries were spent polishing and perfecting the most minor of details. The pristine fit and finish reveals that this was far from a novice build and that Mr. Walter really did have his head on straight when he crafted this beauty. Everything from the chrome euro bumpers to the shaved hatch to the polished OG BBS 001s flows together perfectly. I honestly wish that I was into Volkswagens when I was a wee lad because a poster of this car would of definitely been hanging above my bed. John claims he has over 20,000 euros invested into the car, not including the hours spent wrenching on it. That makes it one of the cleanest and most expensive builds we have featured yet.
The European long tail conversion is a mod rarely seen stateside but luckily for John, this was OEM to the car. The all-red lenses look perfect on there as well. Also, what show car would be complete without a stainless turn-up tip? They always look great and are a small throwback to the trumpet exhausts that are popular among the aircooled guys. The defroster-less rear glass is also an extremely rare option. I know that stateside, it was only offered for 3 years on the most basic-modeled Rabbits. The are extremely sought after and look phenomenal.
The peanut butter LS Recaro Power buckets are not only practical because they give the driver better posture, but they also look amazing in everything they are installed in. This first gen is no exception to the rule either. Whoever said black and brown don’t mix obviously never saw the interior of this car. To add to the mojo the car exhibits, matching leather door cards and shift boot were added as well. Many times, owners will go overboard trying to ‘accent’ every piece of trim in the interior. So much so that the colors no longer compliment each other and actually clash in a major way. This could not only look distasteful for the interior but also subtract from the entire car as a whole.
Another first that I just noticed is that the car has a ridiculously amount of nooks and storage. The upper and lower glove boxes are a pretty cool idea, not to mention the lower glove box is a pretty rare piece in and of itself. It also has gear selector, cubbie hole, lower dash kick plate storage bin, and the lower ashtray nook, which appears to have a speaker installed in it. If only it had some type of stow-n-go setup where the seats folded into the floor, it would be set.
Lastly, we have the most important aspect of any car, the engine. Without this, it would be nothing more that a carriage. This A1 is sporting a beautiful crossflow G60-T. Everything has been polished to a diamond-like luster, which is a perfect match for the Diamond Silver Metallic coded paint. The paint itself has such a shine to it that it difficult to see where engine starts and engine bay begins. Many people stop at the visible surface parts but John took it as far as even polishing the transmission casing. I’m honestly sure that it wasn’t this clean when it rolled of the assembly line in 1979. The sheet metal itself is not overly shaved or filled. It actually looks very OEM+ and very well could have been something that came from the factory. To the layperson, this bay, other than it being extremely polished, could come off as being stock. I really like that look and I’m glad that someone has the skill to build it in this manner.
The engine put out not only good but reliable, consistent power thanks to KMS-mp25 standalone, MHI turbo, and 440cc injectors. This pushes the car to a recklessly exhilarating top speed of 155 mph. For those that don’t know, 100 mph in a MK1 is lunacy, so I can only imagine what those 81 extra fps would feel like.
The Low-Down:
- 1979 Volkswagen Golf GTi from Holland
- Dk-53-GY
- Originally purchased 1/1979
- 4 previous owners.
Engine:
- Engine size in cc (original and overbore capacities):
- 1781 cc PG G60
- 1.6L Audi A3 crossflow head
- MHI turbo
- KMS-mp25 SEM
- 440cc injectors
- Passat radiator
- Audi TT cooling fan
- Custom 304 stanless steel round 70 mm intake manifold
- Audi 200 gas valve
- Custom exhaust manifold made of 321 stainless steel 40mm diameter runners
- 76mm stainless steel downpipe
- MSD plug wires
- Bosch spark plugs
- 02A transmission from a 16v Corrado
Brakes:
- G60 22mm master cylinder
- 16v Corrado brake servo
- G60 calipers
- 280 mm Zimmerman rotors
- Pagid Racing black pads
- Golf 2 16v rear brakes
Suspension:
- H&R coilovers
- Bilstein struts
- Polyurethane bushings
- Control arms were sand blasted, flame galvanized, powder coated
Exterior:
- New door sills, two floor pans, inner wings, drivers side outer wing, rear valance
- Shaved rear tow hook and hatch
- Entire body was sandblasted, galvanized, primered, and painted
- Painted Diamond Silver Metallic Clear (L97A)
Wheels/Tires:
- BBS RS 001 15×7 front, 15×8 rear
- Front tires are Nankang 185/45-15 and rear tires are Toyo T1S 195/45-15
Interior
- Front seats are Corrado Power Recaro’s
- Rear seat is from a golf 3 4-door and al compleet with new brown leather
- Golf 2 16v clock and VDO for the pressure,oil temp,and oil pressure gauge
- ICE/stereo equipment:
- JVC deck, original rear speakers (I listen to the motor)
- Battery relocated to the rear
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Thanks: I would like to thank Frans and Ria Manders for using their garage during the first 3 years, my uncle Harry for the bodywork, Sioss for sand blasting and powder coating, Van Lith for the paint job, Smits for the interior and Carlo Hulsen from HTT for the engine. Thanks!!!