1983 Volkswagen Golf GTI MK1

The Lhasa Green Golf has been owned by the current keeper since Feb 2019, coming from a local dealer where the car was traded in from a local owner. It was originally registered in Germany in 1983, then in the UK in 1986 with 6 previous keepers from new. The second keeper had the car sprayed in Mars red, but the third owner wanted to put the car back to original spec of Lhasa green and did so when completing a full stripped down of the car replacing two front wings and rear wheel arches at the same time.

Unfortunately, the third owner didn’t complete the restoration and the car was passed on to the next owner, where in conjunction with Car SOS and Nine Inch Nails drummer fame Fuzz Townsend the Golf was completed and sold on to the next owner. That owner then traded the car to when the current owner picked it up, bringing the short history lesson to a head. The current owner’s time with the car has seen them consign the car to RPS Witney who specialise in restorations and rally car preparation, for 6 long months whilst they went through the car with a fine-tooth comb, ironing out any kinks in the Golf’s DNA.

The current owner also rolled up their sleeves and put in some elbow grease fixing some issues, like having the seat covers matching as the fronts were different to the rears. Sourcing 5 Pirelli P slots and having them refurbished with new tyres (they are the Mk2 version, so the spare matches the 4 on the car), the indicator stalk has been replaced and the decals on the car were professional applied, including the sides and the rear window. New badges were also purchased and fitted all round. The current owner then did a lot of those niggly jobs that most of us would avoid or live with, such as removing most of the interior and re-sound proofing and cleaning things, respraying the seat frames and replacing many of the plastic covers. Repairing a snapped wire in the driver’s seat so that it now moves forward for rear access, polishing the binnacle covers to remove any scratches and detailing the engine bay.

The owner has gone to extraordinary lengths to get this Golf to showroom standards and comes across as a true perfectionist when it comes to the work done on the car, everything has been done with the goal in mind of having a Golf that looks showroom fresh and we don’t think we’d have to imagine too hard to see the car as it sits now, sat in a VW showroom waiting for its new owner.

If you have already looked through the photos and read the ‘History Highlights’ section of this write up, it will come as no surprise to you that this is a fantastic car maintained and presented to a really high standard. There is very little to point out to you on the exterior (and indeed everywhere else on the car) in terms of areas needing attention. The VW fans are famed for being very thorough in their preparation of their cars and this little Golf is no exception.

Sat in its subtle shade of green you might be forgiven for walking past it if it weren’t for its red pinstripe highlights and those beautiful Pirelli P-slot wheels. The exterior is in fantastic condition, and we would be surprised to find out it had been repainted recently, but as we’re aware it is the original colour and paint. The tyres are in good condition and were new at the start of 2019, the wheels have been refurbed and repainted recently so present in fantastic condition, the trim has all gone through some treatment so is in good order, the car has also had a going over with a fine tooth comb by a specialist garage with any problems ironed out with no regard to financial limitations. In fact, the only thing we could find that wasn’t near factory specification was that the silver paint has rubbed off the ‘Volkswagen’ badge at the back. Now if that’s not a shining appraisal we don’t know what is.

Inside the Golf you’ll be greeted with that gorgeous four spoke steering wheel with the four round indentations that Mk1 Golfs are renowned for, set in front of the dash with its red pin stripe surround special to the GTI version. The ‘golf ball’ gear knob is also a wonderful retro throwback and part of the interior that still lives on today on GTIs (that have manual transmissions of course). As with the outside the interior is in fantastic condition as well and again, we had a hard time doing anything but singing its praises (although that’s not really a hardship). The half leather half fabric seats are in great condition and have been retrimmed and fixed in terms of the foam padding and the tension of the covers. Black and grey fabric design is a nice 70’s highlight made all the more interesting by those striking bright red seatbelts.

The carpets are in good condition as is the headlining with only a small nick in the rear of the headlining on the driver’s side. All the dials work as intended as do all the electricals in the vehicle. There is what looks to be a small section in the driver’s seat back which looks as though it’s been caught on a button or a zip, but it’s so minor we had to get close up to see what it was, take a look for yourself in the photo gallery.

Overall the interior is in fantastic condition and even the door steps have no signs of scratches or scuffs with everything else looking to have been brought back to its best during the current owner’s time with the car.

Before we head underneath the car itself, let’s talk about the boot and the engine bay. Boot first and it’s in great shape too, there is a cover for the spare wheel and metal work and the suspension turrets/wheel arches are in good condition too with little to no paint work missing, chipped or scratched. Under the floor cover the boot metalwork is much the same with no visible corrosion or damage, scratches or paint missing. The spare wheel is full size and matches the rest of the set, again having been refurbished, it’s in great condition.

In the engine bay then and no surprises for guessing that it’s just as clean and well maintained in here too. The unit is clean and there are no signs of any leaks, the electricals and plumbing all look to either be recently new, or well-maintained with no obvious cracked wires or split pipes. The suspension turrets as well look fresh and free from obvious corrosion and again looking at the state of the metal work you’d think it had been resprayed recently as there are no paint chips, scratches or damage from what we can see.

Right so lastly underneath the car and of course, there is no shock that it’s just as good a condition as the rest of the little hot hatch. Properly undersealed and taken care of, the underside of this car is set to endure many a British winters (and even summers), there is no damage from what we can see, no chips or sealant missing, and it’s nice to see the KW suspension peeking out from behind the wheels. There is very little corrosion anywhere except on some of the components directly in the firing line of any loose stones and even then, its less than usual levels. The exhaust is also a shining fitting underneath that makes the car sound glorious. We can see why this little hot hatch won over so many people.

The Golf has 6 former keepers and an enormous stack of history and paperwork for all the work done to create this absolutely stunning hot hatch. The car has had a significant amount of financial investment over the years and more recently in 2019 for some tidying up work to ensure the Golf was returned and continued to be at its absolute best for the current owner and the new one. A specialist engineering shop called RPS (Rally Preparation Services) carried out a thorough mechanical, body and road test on the vehicle to pinpoint and dig out any minor issues it had to stop it from being 100%. The extensive and impressive examination is documented in the history file (144 man hours resulting in a £15K spent since owned). The HPI report seems to state that the car was perhaps an insurance write off at some point but if you have any doubts about the work RPS do please give their website a look to see the level of perfection they strive for.

The Golf comes with its V5 as well as a set of keys and some mechanical diagrams and the VW Heritage parts company’s brochure to help you should anything go wrong with the car. It would also be prudent to give a brief summary here of what work the car has had during its time with RPS Witney, given in bullet point list below

- New exhaust

- Upgraded Brake master cylinder, servo, reservoir & pads to MK2 versions

- New Wheel bearings

- New Head Gasket

- Fix seat, replace foam and reupholster

- New kenwood stereo

- New centre console with voltage & oil temp VDO gages wired to ignition plus analogue clock wired to battery

- Compression of cylinders 1 & 2 were lower, the recommendation was that although these were just out of the recommended tolerance of 10% and with no immediate cause for concern, it may be signs of a potential issue. RPS were swift and precise in sorting the issue along with a full service to the car. Leaving the engine well within tolerances and giving it renewed longevity.

Any other significant invoices are summarised below.

- Pirtek – 23/12/14 – hoses and fittings

- Wolverhampton TPS – 09/10/08 – gaskets and bolts

- Euro car parts – 06/10/08 – engine mounting

- Geartech – 10/10/08 – gearbox repair

- Brown Brothers – 10/10/08 – paint

- GSF car parts – 13/11/14 – cambelt kit, oil and air filter, water pump, spark plugs and brake shoes

- VWheritage – 31/10/14 – dipstick guide, anti-roll bar clamp, front top strut mount, miscellaneous trim, clips and fittings

- VWheritage – 28/10/14 – sill trims, gearbox linkage bushing, lower spoiler both sides, grille outers, waistline and lower trims

- VWheritage – 09/06/14 – accelerator cable, fuel tank, petrol tank

- VWheritage – 23/05/14 – gearbox mount, rocker covers, head stud kit

- ATP – 03/11/14 – petrol pump

- Crescent Tyres – 05/03/19 – New tyres, 185/60 x14 Nexen HD

- RPS – 01/09/19 – anti-roll bar clamps and clips, mask and paint recesses on alloy wheels and paint in satin black, cam follower shims, reverse switch, gearbox drive cup seal, hardware

- RPS – 01/07/19 – cylinder head gasket set, rotor arm, distributor cap, drive belt, spark plugs, bulbs, deinstallation of TOAD alarm system, refit tail glass

- RPS – 01/10/19 – seat repair, reversing switch repair, brake pads, shims

- RPS – 01/11/19 – diagnostics on horn, ignition and front spotlights

- RPS – 22/11/19 – oil seals intermediate shaft, clutch cable, rocker cover gasket

- RPS – 02/11/19 – brake master cylinder, brake servo, brake fluid reservoir, brake pipes and unions, wheel bearing kit, re-paint road wheels due to heat damage caused by now rectified brake issue.

Carrying on from our introduction to the VW Golf GTI, there is plenty to like and when a car comes along that has had so much time, money and effort lavished upon it such as this, it really shows and will never fail to win people over. This is a wonderful car from what we’ve seen and its certainly won us over, it also represents a fantastic opportunity to own one of the models that acted as genesis for the hot hatches we know and love today and the start of one of the most successful vehicles in the world, surely one to keep for a very long time.

Our estimate for this car is £15,000 - £20,000.

Viewing is always encouraged. This particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays between 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.