1984 VW Golf MK2 GTI
Discussion
Here's my latest classic, a 1984 MK2 GTI in Mars Red.
I used to own a similar car a few years ago that was later written off and was much missed. When this car was offered to me I knew I had to own it.
Built in May 1984, the car has covered 57K mikes and I am the third owner. The paintwork is all original apart from a couple of small areas.
The first owner had the car for 28 years and looked after it well. The second owner purchased the car at 54K miles and set about refreshing the car mechanically, using all genuine VW parts that he had collected over many years. The engine and gearbox were left in place (I believe it's still on the original clutch) and almost everything else came off the car to be replaced or refurbished in the most meticulous manner with hundreds of photographs. He even sourced a NOS set of period Pirelli P600 tyres for the Pirelli wheels. After a few years and many, many hours of hard graft, the result is a very clean and tidy example, that is like new underneath. The interior is excellent with minimal wear to the seats and carpets and it still has its original Blaupunkt Los Angeles radio cassette player. The car is pretty much standard apart from a GTI Engineering steering wheel and a Votex centre console with 3 additional gauges. The car came with the original parts, plus literally a van load of spares, many of them NOS. The service history is complete, in 2 VW service books,
Built between March and November '84 these early MK2 GTIs aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I find them fascinating due to the number of MK1 GTI traits that they have; vinyl side stripes, plain bumpers, single exhaust, econometer with gear change indicator etc. Another feature of the '84 models were the small GTI badges on the front wings and the GTI grille badge positioned on the offside. Many people that I have met weren't aware that these early mk2 GTIs existed, and I don't think that many have survived in such original condition, so I feel rather fortunate to own this one.
As with any old car, there are a few jobs to do over the winter, the biggest one being the restoration of the original Pirelli alloys and centre caps. I also need to refurbish the radio cassette as it is very temperamental.
I used to own a similar car a few years ago that was later written off and was much missed. When this car was offered to me I knew I had to own it.
Built in May 1984, the car has covered 57K mikes and I am the third owner. The paintwork is all original apart from a couple of small areas.
The first owner had the car for 28 years and looked after it well. The second owner purchased the car at 54K miles and set about refreshing the car mechanically, using all genuine VW parts that he had collected over many years. The engine and gearbox were left in place (I believe it's still on the original clutch) and almost everything else came off the car to be replaced or refurbished in the most meticulous manner with hundreds of photographs. He even sourced a NOS set of period Pirelli P600 tyres for the Pirelli wheels. After a few years and many, many hours of hard graft, the result is a very clean and tidy example, that is like new underneath. The interior is excellent with minimal wear to the seats and carpets and it still has its original Blaupunkt Los Angeles radio cassette player. The car is pretty much standard apart from a GTI Engineering steering wheel and a Votex centre console with 3 additional gauges. The car came with the original parts, plus literally a van load of spares, many of them NOS. The service history is complete, in 2 VW service books,
Built between March and November '84 these early MK2 GTIs aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I find them fascinating due to the number of MK1 GTI traits that they have; vinyl side stripes, plain bumpers, single exhaust, econometer with gear change indicator etc. Another feature of the '84 models were the small GTI badges on the front wings and the GTI grille badge positioned on the offside. Many people that I have met weren't aware that these early mk2 GTIs existed, and I don't think that many have survived in such original condition, so I feel rather fortunate to own this one.
As with any old car, there are a few jobs to do over the winter, the biggest one being the restoration of the original Pirelli alloys and centre caps. I also need to refurbish the radio cassette as it is very temperamental.
theadman said:
That's lovely.
I worked for Volkswagen UK at the time and ran one of the launch press cars (A708 XNH) as a company car once the launch was over. It was identical to yours and just seemed better to drive than any of the subsequent Mk 2s I had.
Wow that’s remarkable. I wonder how many press cars there were? I know of a white one but most seemed to be red. This should bring back a few memories…I worked for Volkswagen UK at the time and ran one of the launch press cars (A708 XNH) as a company car once the launch was over. It was identical to yours and just seemed better to drive than any of the subsequent Mk 2s I had.
The launch cars were all red. I think the white one you mention would have been one of the first press fleet cars...used for ongoing road tests in the media post launch.
The picture of A704 which was retained by the Press Office certainly brings back memories. I took my car on a road trip around Europe. Just chucked the tent and some camping gear in the boot and off we went. It went surprisingly well around the Nurburgring, the limiting factor being my ability rather than the car!
The picture of A704 which was retained by the Press Office certainly brings back memories. I took my car on a road trip around Europe. Just chucked the tent and some camping gear in the boot and off we went. It went surprisingly well around the Nurburgring, the limiting factor being my ability rather than the car!
theadman said:
The launch cars were all red. I think the white one you mention would have been one of the first press fleet cars...used for ongoing road tests in the media post launch.
The picture of A704 which was retained by the Press Office certainly brings back memories. I took my car on a road trip around Europe. Just chucked the tent and some camping gear in the boot and off we went. It went surprisingly well around the Nurburgring, the limiting factor being my ability rather than the car!
Here is a UK press picture of a white one. Note the wiper arm with the spoiler on the passenger side instead of the driver’s side. I assume it hadn’t been swapped over?The picture of A704 which was retained by the Press Office certainly brings back memories. I took my car on a road trip around Europe. Just chucked the tent and some camping gear in the boot and off we went. It went surprisingly well around the Nurburgring, the limiting factor being my ability rather than the car!
Gosh that's a nice MK2, I remember your last mars red one to.
At the last MK2 owners club national meet I think there were 2 maybe 3 1984/85 B and C reg cars, the vast majority are later models and 90spec cars are possibly still the most common.
Me and my bro restored a tornado red 16v and had it back on the road for the first time in nearly a decade and even after many thousands of pounds and hundreds of hours I'm not so sure it's as clean as yours!!
At the last MK2 owners club national meet I think there were 2 maybe 3 1984/85 B and C reg cars, the vast majority are later models and 90spec cars are possibly still the most common.
Me and my bro restored a tornado red 16v and had it back on the road for the first time in nearly a decade and even after many thousands of pounds and hundreds of hours I'm not so sure it's as clean as yours!!
What a beautiful mk2! Lovely car OP, and wonderful to see it kept in that original condition. Bravo!
Classic 8v k-jet. Very nice indeed. Your car also has the wiper/indicator stalks from the mk1 too.
All the early mk2s had left hand wipers in the UK to start with, I think they switched over in 1986 or thereabouts, when the quarterlights were dropped.
I'm curious about the position of the front GTI badge. They were on the passenger side of the car on the mk1, but these early GTIs seem to have it on the drivers side... but they switched back again at some point lot much later. I wonder if there was any thinking behind that.
Cheers,
Drew.
Classic 8v k-jet. Very nice indeed. Your car also has the wiper/indicator stalks from the mk1 too.
All the early mk2s had left hand wipers in the UK to start with, I think they switched over in 1986 or thereabouts, when the quarterlights were dropped.
I'm curious about the position of the front GTI badge. They were on the passenger side of the car on the mk1, but these early GTIs seem to have it on the drivers side... but they switched back again at some point lot much later. I wonder if there was any thinking behind that.
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Friday 4th November 06:32
drewwa said:
What a beautiful mk2! Lovely car OP, and wonderful to see it kept in that original condition. Bravo!
All the early mk2s had left hand wipers in the UK to start with, I think they switched over in 1986 or thereabouts, when the quarterlights were dropped.
Agreed it’s wonderful.All the early mk2s had left hand wipers in the UK to start with, I think they switched over in 1986 or thereabouts, when the quarterlights were dropped.
Late ‘87-early ‘88 for the quarter light/ wiper stuff.
My first 'nice' car as an impecunious 20 something was an identical A reg Mk2. Same colour same seats same wheels. The same;)
I loved driving it, even though it was 10yrs old and tired I thought it was the business. But the dodgy geezer I bought it from in a Kilburn back street had seen me coming, and once the Krause Bond or whatever he had chucked down the bores wore off, I discovered that the engine was toast.
Didn't put me off, bought a later Digifant 8v and enjoyed that too.
I loved driving it, even though it was 10yrs old and tired I thought it was the business. But the dodgy geezer I bought it from in a Kilburn back street had seen me coming, and once the Krause Bond or whatever he had chucked down the bores wore off, I discovered that the engine was toast.
Didn't put me off, bought a later Digifant 8v and enjoyed that too.
MDMA . said:
All the early MK2 GTI’s had them on that side.
The wiper arm spoiler was designed for the driver's side, so on UK models it should be on the other side.
That said, I have seen a few UK cars with the spoiler arm on the passenger side and a couple with 2 spoiler wiper arms.
dontlookdown said:
Found out later that my first Mk 2 was a very early UK car that might have been worth saving as a curiosity, but it was long gone by then. Can't remember the full reg but it was A7XX XNH.
Your car was very probably one of the original 1984 press fleet. They were all Mars Red and I know of A704 XNH and A708 XNH (tested by Autocar, see pic above).Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff