Its Not Easy Being Green…

Words: Nicholas Farrington / Photos: James Green

Let’s face it; we can all say that we are all guilty of naming our cars. Our buddy Ian Lockley over in the UK is guilty as charged like the rest of us. He named his gorgeous MKV GTI; Kermit, and for good reason I suppose.  I would say that the paint job is the biggest hint as to why he named his car that. When the MKV was introduced in 2006, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the car had tons of potential; it was just hard to see because of it being such a new platform. Well 6 years after its release, it seems to be the most popular tuning platform in the VW community to date, it captured the spirit of the original GTI, but it sure looked different than previous platforms. Mr. Lockley produced a quality car, and here is its tale.

BBS RS, the only way to impress!

 



Ian Lockley happens to be the lucky chap who owns this gorgeous GTI. When Ian isn’t showing off his work of art, he spends his time working as an HGV mechanic, and spending time with his girlfriend Janet. The man hours, labor and attention to detail are far from a mediocre; from the color matched cage and odd color choice; it just works. Lockley’s car has a very “euro” style to it to say the least. From the BBS RS wheels, air-ride, complete respray in a non OEM color, and motorsport/luxury inspired interior, this GTI surely impresses its audience. 

As he put it, “keyboard warriors” are his biggest critics.

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From the untrained eye, this car looks like most other bagged GTI’s, but its extended fender arches is what sets it out from the crowd.

Ian stated that his MK5 was the first one in the United Kingdom to rock this look. Now, a closer look can tell that a lot of time, and hard work went into molding the arches to perfectly house his BBS wheels; almost as if they were meant to be there. Aside from the gorgeous wheels and body work, there is something else that grabs your attention… the color; which is quite amazing. It is far from being an OEM color for Volkswagen, but it sure does look pretty, and goes really well with the theme of the car.

But it wasn’t only the exterior that Ian was concerned about, he made it known that his interior was attended to also. It’s quite noticeable from the RECARO racing buckets, the OMP racing harnesses, carbon fiber accents, roll cage, and MOMO racing steering wheel. All these parts were not just installed in the car, and call it a day; Ian made sure everything matched perfectly. He had the RECARO’s wrapped in black leather, and finished off with suede centers, and he had the door cars wrapped to match the seats. As you head to rear of the GTI, you’ll notice no rear seats, a 5 gallon air tank and compressors to get this bad boy sitting pretty.

It seems as if Ian didn’t miss any steps with this Volkswagen. Everything seems so proper on this car; so kudos to Ian. It isn’t everyday that we stumble across cars that have been touched upon in all areas, and more.

But Ian was not the only person who dedicated lots of time into the car. Ian would like to thank TUK Customs for help building the car. As he put it, “keyboard warriors” are his biggest critics. At some point, everyone building a nice car has dealt with one of those, but it takes a strong person to forget the nay-sayers, and stick to your guns.

From here, Ian only intends on making the car better and to bring it to the next level (which we can’t wait to see), and if money were no object, he would hand the car over to Greg Howell; a painter from the UK so that he can work his magic on it.

As Ian always says “BBS RS, the only way to impress!”