keeping it simple

mk4rs

Words: Josh Rainwater / Photos: Ronald Veth

Greeting and salutations. This week we are presenting to you a neat little Golf from across the way. This fourth gen Golf comes to us all the way from the Netherlands.  Up until a few years ago, the Dutch have had little notoriety in the world wide car scene and have rarely gained any acclamation outside of a regional level. That is quickly changing and they are rapidly making up for lost time, mostly with throwback Mk1s and pre-E36 BMWs. This Golf may not fall into that classic category quite yet but nevertheless it is no slouch in the VAG scene anywhere.

I think one of the most common fallacies held by the car community today is that the only way to gain any attention from the media, photographers, or judges is to extensively modify every aspect of your car. As if your car didn’t support that diamond tucked ostrich skin Recaro A8 seats, then it wouldn’t get any coverage. For myself, I really appreciate the understated cars that get passed over. The cars that don’t need neon colored wheels or silly painter’s tape gimmicks. I like the cars, like this Golf, that speak 1000 subtle volumes. This Golf just beckons a second, third, and even forth look to identify the inconspicuous features that really do make this car a work.
Of course with this car being from Europe, it came factory equipped with all the cool little tidbits that we were never obliged. The shortened euro bumpers and blue aspherical mirrors are always hot ticket items stateside. It even features a set of Hella red tail lights that keeps the eye from being distracted by a set of multiple colored lenses. One of the most overlooked OE parts that it has is the European glass headlight lenses. They not only last much longer that their plastic counter parts but are also the secret to how most showstopping Mk4 keep their bulb lenses from being affected by the hazing that plagues the Mk4s. This Golf is also sporting the standard base model lip that is rarely seen outside of your base model Golfs.

Mirrors and headlights are all nice touches but the most pronounced and eye-catching part is by far are those fender flairs. All four have been drastically pulled and extended. It’s not so drastic that they draw from the whole car but just aggressive enough that they could nearly pass as being factory original. Modifying any body is a very risky measure and more times often than not, can go South and destroy the character of the car. In the case of owner Rob, it is undoubtedly an aesthetic ’value-added’ modification that payed out in dividends. It not only looks great but also serves a functional purpose of letting you tuck some major rubber under those wheel wheels.

Just another proof positive reason why wide body is best body.

The modern quandary facing any stance-seeking auto owner is that illustrious quest to achieve the perfect fitment while being functional enough to preserve the bodywork. This makes it that much more of a balancing act knowing you have a lot of time and fiberglass invested in a project. After a rogue pothole chews up a fender, most owners could scrape by with a 30 minute scrapyard excursion to pull another one. This car however, isn’t so lucky so it is that much more important that the form/function equilibrium be maintained. When your talking about sandwiching the fender between an inner wheel lip and a tire bead, sometimes millimeters isn’t even the correct scale to refer to. I’m talkin microns homie!

The 25 year old also opted to replace the stock interior with a nice OEM upgrade. The car was slightly updated to an R32 interior. Although coming from the same body style car, the R32 interior feature much more aggressive, race inspired front seats. They are more heavily bolstered than any other seat available and were manufactured by Konig, strangely enough. They have also been retrimmed in a suede type material that could easily pass as OEM to the unsuspecting eye. The Audi TT shifter boot and Stig air freshener were both neat touches as well.

Rob has owned the car for 5 years now and was more that happy to speak to us about his creation. He boasts that it was originally slated to be a normal, stock Golf but somewhere along the way he got sidetracked. He claims his plans just changed over time but I still like to believe he, like nearly all of us, was infected by some virus that turns us into brainless, car-modding zombies. Either way, his work paid off in not only the eyes of us here at Euromedian, but also in his own eyes.

You see, when we interview a prospective feature’s owner, we ask them to assign a number between one and ten to their overall happiness on the outcome of the project. The usual answer is either 6 or 7. Rob said that his satisfaction thus far was easily a nine and that he was extremely pleased with the wheels and paint. He also was happy at how well the car exhibits the Euro and US tuning styles that you see more and more of. If money were no object he says he would like to redo the interior and work on the engine bay as well.

Overall I really like the car. It may not be extremely modified but it goes to show you what a little bit of paint, bodywork, suspension and wheels can get you. I would be more than happy to add this car to my collection any day.


  •  SPECS: 1999 Volkswagen Golf MKIV
  • Engine: 1.8T 20V with 150 BHP
  • Suspension: Custom made front struts with Koni inserts, Firestone rear bags, Eibach camberkit  up front
  • Interior: Full R32 interior with jubi GTI headliner/ABC pillars, Audi TT shifter
  • Wheels: 18″ BBS RS polished
  • Exterior: Porsche Topaz Brown Metallic, shaved antenna, hatch release, front plate recess, Mini Cooper S fuel Cap, pulled and molded fenders, Hella red tail lights
Thanks:  The person that got me into modifying, Richard, who has helped me out a lot the past years.

Thanks to Richard, I met Neleward. Neleward is the guy responsible for all the bodywork. Without him the car
wouldn’t have made it into this stage. He’s taught me an awfull lot as well!