1983 Volkswagen Golf Driver 1.3 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Mk1 magic

Faults:

Nothing that I didn't do myself. The car is not standard (anymore), but in standard form nothing went wrong at all.

General Comments:

With the normal engine fitted this car was not particularly quick. With £500 spent on modifications it is a flying machine!

Handling is not up to GTI standard, but fitting anti-roll bars helps.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th June, 2001

17th Oct 2001, 10:52

Stick some WIDE 185/60 r13 wheels and tyres on - lower it 60 mm and it will handle like a go-kart.

3rd Dec 2004, 02:48

The car in question comes as standard with 175 wide rubber. Lower to this degree will invert the wishbones when the car bottoms out and when they happens they become unpredictable.

I have now owned the above car for some 4 years and have still yet to have any unexpected problems with it (even now its on Twin 40s)

1983 Volkswagen Golf CL 1.3 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Absolutely superb, would buy another one tomorrow if I could find a decent one!!

Faults:

Front pads and discs.

New rear exhaust.

2x front tires.

Front shock absorbers.

Slipping clutch just before it was scrapped (probably due to thrashing in the last week the car was on the road).

Left sill had rusted away (un-beknown to the owner!!)

General Comments:

This car was brillant. Brought for next to nothing, run for a year, failed MOT, then scrapped (unfortunatly owner couldn't afford the repair bill).

Reliability was brilliant, started first time, every time even in cold weather. Acceleration was very quick for a 1.3, unfortunately handling wasn't that great, back end would slide at the first opportunity.

Easy to work on, plenty of space under the bonnet, parts were actually quite cheap, but a hard car to get spares at a scrapyard for.

Would get 45+ MPG on a run, and not much less than that around town.

Very comfortable driving position, plenty of room, and would carry 5 people no problem. Considering the age, the interior had worn well, seats were ripped in places, carpet was very flattened, but the dash and door cards etc were like new.

Bodywork was generally very good for a car of its age, wheel arches etc all original, with no rust at all, even on the bottoms of the doors etc. White paint came up a treat after a T-Cut.

Would love to have kept the car, but it wouldn't have passed an MOT, and needed a lot of work so it was scrapped in June 2000 after clocking up an amazing 15,000 miles in less than a year (just).

I desperately want another one!!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th January, 2001