1983 Volkswagen Golf GTi

“ This little legend comes with a fresh MoT. Recent work carried out includes a new fuel tank, fuel sender & pump. This car has an impressive service history. ”
Recent full service included oil change, plugs and leads, coolant changed and brake fluid refreshed and new rear brake lines.

Background
The Volkswagen Golf GTi was the original hot hatchback: There might have been faster and better handling cars before but nothing had ever driven and performed quite as well while also seating five people and their luggage in relative comfort.

That it was also cheap, super-reliable, started and idled fuss-free in even the coldest weather, was as happy to be driven on the ragged edge as it was to amble around the city, and provided class-leading economy were unexpected bonuses. The Golf GTi literally rewrote the book on what a fast, affordable, and sensible sportscar should be.

Unveiled in 1975, the first right-hand-drive cars arrived in the UK in 1979 fitted with a four-speed gearbox. While the early car’s acceleration was very good, the limitations of the close-ratio ‘box were readily apparent at high speed and later models enjoyed a five-speed gearbox. This combination of a long-legged gearbox and free-revving 1600cc fuel-injected engine is thought by many to be the perfect MK1 Golf GTi specification, even if the later 1800cc cars enjoyed a little more mid-range torque and another couple of bhp.

Of course, even the early car’s 110bhp – and the later car’s 112bhp - is plenty in a vehicle that only weighs 840kgs, especially when the lowered and stiffened suspension endows it with the agility of otter in a bath of warm KY jelly.

The interior is funky without trying too hard and the heavily bolstered seats and large rev counter - plus playful touches like the golf ball gear knob and, for some, a red stripe around the dashboard - served as the pattern for all that followed.

As did the car’s exterior, which was discreet to the point of near invisibility – and who’d have thought that all that was required to get out hearts beating faster in the greed-is-good and more-is-always-better eighties was a set of black wheelarch extensions, and a red stripe around the grille?

And no, we know the brakes weren’t up to much but, just like the original Mini, you quickly discovered that you didn’t need to brake half as often in a GTi as you did in other cars…

Overview
With just three former keepers, this Lhasa Green Golf GTi has been in its registered keeper’s hands since 1987. He appears to have looked after it very well, and his curation included what we think were two periods when it was off the road and being refurbished: One was around 2008 and 2013, with the second being between around 2014 and 2025. The online MoT history shows that very few miles were accrued during that time, while the invoices that accompany it show it received some new bits and bobs during those fallow periods.

The seller bought ‘EWL 422Y’ from that gentleman’s estate as a part-finished project. Missing its fuel tank and sender, he replaced the missing items with new ones and recommissioned it with a thorough service.

He then MoT’d it for his own peace of mind too and spent the past six months reliving his youth and marvelling at how right the MKI Golf GTi still feels.

So, if you want to relive your New Romantic days too, why not pop in a Duran Duran cassette and sit back to read about the G.O.A.T.

Estimate: £12,000 - £16,000

View The Current Bid Price HERE