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May 13, 2015 12:52:13 GMT
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Oh yeah, and I also stuffed the front with mesh, got a private plate, then bolted it over two of the yellow GTI foglights (that weren't wired in anyway). The folly of youth, etc. 13-03-2011 15;26;45 by dbizzle_, on Flickr I loved that car. Had a lot of adventures in it. Eventually chopped it in for a Citroen ZX 2.0i Volcane. Good times. (n.b. the filenames would suggest that these photos were taken in 2011 - I think this was actually about 2002-2003ish)
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Last Edit: May 13, 2015 12:55:33 GMT by dbizzle
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May 13, 2015 12:56:37 GMT
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Is that a Bullitt in the background dbizzle?
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berendd
Europe
why do I need 3 keys for one car?
Posts: 1,449
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May 13, 2015 12:57:04 GMT
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I Think this whole beetle and golf being popular stuff has to do with them being above average on everything rather than the best in one aspect.
If you ask random people about what they would want from a car theres allways more than one answer
You could think of reliability, power, practicality, handling, looks, etc
The golf does all of these just above average and thus makes the best compromise for a lot of people, a Fiat Strada would maybe excel on handling but does the other aspecs below average for most people.
As VW made all their products just above average on multiple aspects they've been selling lots of them, so there lots of them about as a classic car and there's your reason for being so popular now.
Another aspect that is helping a lot of car owner into VW enthousiasm is that most of their models are based on LEGO, engine swaps are generally easy, and modifying them is even easier.
also people like to be part of a movement so when there's a movement allready there and joining in is relatively easy people will follow.
This also accounts for retrorides, this is not a place where peopla are drooling over a modified Golf but rr'ers would be more interested in a Fiat Strada or a Talbot Tagora being modified as that's what this movement is all about.
For me VW's are not excelling in any aspect and this makes them a bit boring.
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pOG
Posted a lot
SHATNER'S BASSOON
Posts: 1,340
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May 13, 2015 13:01:25 GMT
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The VW Golf I owned (mk3) was... terrible. I'd still have another one because Golfs are cool. ^This^ I owned a Golf. It was purchased as a stop-gap between BMW's E36 & E46. OK, so it was £500, so what would you EXPECT at that price... Not sure, but I know it was dreadful in every way imaginable. Horrible ride, wobbly handling, and a 1.6-litre engine that managed to combine dreadfully slow with hopelessly thirsty. Spartan, nasty cheap interior. These are all traits which would have been inherent when new, so why anyone would pay a premium over a similar *something* I cannot comprehend. (I'm prepared to overlook the trim that fell off, the windows that worked when they felt like it, the botched elctricals and the fact that it broke down on me on several occasions as it was 15 years old, though I'd hoped that the fabled VW reliability would be ensured by it being low-miles, FSH and purchased from a local VW 'expert') But if someone offered me a nice Mk1, Mk2 or original Caddy? Yup, I'd bite their arm off to swipe the keys.
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May 13, 2015 13:01:56 GMT
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Is that a Bullitt in the background dbizzle? Ha ha, yes it is! My dad built it when I was a teenager. To get slightly back on topic, that 309 led me into owning quite a few French cars over the years. I was never a VW man (aside from the Scirocco Scala I had when I was 21); I appropriated that 309 from my mum - it was hers, but I lowered it, she didn't want to drive it any more, she signed the V5 over to me! Then I owned these: 13-03-2011 16;33;10 by dbizzle_, on Flickr ...then another 19 16v, then five different 205 GTIs. I've had absolutely loads of different Fords too, but never a Golf. Which is weird, because I really like Golfs. Maybe I should buy one... ***NINJA EDIT***Having said I've never had a Golf, I had a MkI SEAT Leon Cupra 20VT for a couple of years, and I've had a MkI Skoda Octavia vRS for the last eighteen months. They're just Golfs with different badges.
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Last Edit: May 13, 2015 16:29:49 GMT by dbizzle
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May 13, 2015 13:02:11 GMT
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I've had 3 mk1s (2 GTis and a driver) and a mk2 (1.3gl) great cars at the time...bear in mind they were only 4 or 5 years old when I owned them had a 205 GTi which build wise was like a biscuit tin compared to the vws best of the bunch I owned back then was an '83 plate Audi 80 sport, proper quick and refined ( a golf GTi with 4 doors and a boot ) Would I have another Golf? Yes I would if they weren't scene taxed to death and sold for what I believe them to be actually worth My current daily cost me about a quarter of the equivalent Golf ( in pretty much any spec ). A lot to be said for a Porsche 924
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EmDee
Club Retro Rides Member
Committer of Autrocities.
Posts: 5,922
Club RR Member Number: 108
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GOLF's, I just don't get it!EmDee
@emdee
Club Retro Rides Member 108
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May 13, 2015 14:13:32 GMT
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I guess the only way to find out, is to dive into ownership. I'd love a big-bumper 16v I really like Golfs. Maybe I should buy one...
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MK2VR6
Posted a lot
Mk2 Golf GTi 90 Spec
Posts: 3,328
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May 13, 2015 14:43:01 GMT
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The Volkswagen Golf, i just don't get it, i don't see the appeal, i don't see why everyone wants one. I'm glad you don't get it. I hate* my 2.8 mk2 and deeply regret* owning several mk1s and 2s over the years. I thoroughly recommend you don't* look at the photo of my old snotter*, taken earlier today.
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GOLF's, I just don't get it!Mercdan68
@forddan68
Club Retro Rides Member 68
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May 13, 2015 14:46:42 GMT
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Eye of the beholder I love w202 mercs seems most people don't ... quite like the look of golfs never owned one tho
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Fraud owners club member 1999 Jaguar s type 1993 ford escort
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May 13, 2015 15:08:34 GMT
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That's interesting - I used to have a 309 (not a GTI, a 1.6GL) and it was faultlessly reliable. Me too!! ... I once drove it through a flood in the Gower the water was up over the bonnet to the bottom of the windows... developed a slight carb fault and if I could have easily found another carb I'd have kept it longer, amazingly reliable car. The VW Golf I owned (mk3) was the least reliable car I've ever had, terrible. I'd still have another one because Golfs are cool. was the golf you had a 1400 mk4? my sister had one recently, One of a batch of cars that was supposed to be recalled for upside down piston rings or something, It never was, And drank alot of oil.... Shes got my old mk3 tdi now, does silly amount of miles on her commute everyday between hampshire and kent, and just keeps going. On the 309 side of things, One of those cars ive allways wanted, But never got around to, Should realy at some point, 205gti with a different look and a boot
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86mike
Part of things
Posts: 453
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May 13, 2015 16:25:41 GMT
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I think the popularity is because the Golf GTI would tend to be a persons first good "fast" car so there is a sentimental attachment. I had a tidy mk2 GTI once but i had owned "better" faster cars before it and so I thought it was at best a poor hatchback, the same could be said for my 205 GTI experience, I owned it at the wrong time in my car owning life and in comparison to what had gone before it was the most disappointing car I have ever driven.
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May 13, 2015 16:26:42 GMT
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I don't like golfs, they are generaly over rated, unreliable and have awful brakes, and as a professional spanner monkey I have driven loads. However I have driven a couple that really made me sit up and take notice, a properly nice mk2 gti 8v 5dr, it went well, stopped well and went round corners well - unlike every other mk2 I had driven up to that point - it also didnt rattle or squeak and looked good too. My brother in law had a GTI TDi aniversary mk5 (I think) And that went like a bomb, and then the turbo whent like a bomb and cost a fortune to repair! And recently I drove an 05 GTI DSG. I was very impressed - I had an 05 1.6 as a company hack for a bit and hated it but this was in a different league.
I think in the main they trade off the name and the reputation of the top of the range models and the rest are rather nasty, but that is just my opinion. Wouldnt life be boring if every one agreed with me.
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May 13, 2015 18:17:32 GMT
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I liked the comment about VW Golf's being built to last - early Mk1s were terrible for rust. ... They surely were, most of them at least, but which competitor wasn´t? Some say it´s because of east german steel used in them. I´d say it´s because of bad rust protection, which got improved with the mk2. Same with passat b1 and b2. Both second generations still were no perfect cars, but better as the competitors in many ways, especially in rust prevention. That rust protection is true for the BMW 3 series as well, the mk1 Golf era E21 rotted far easier than the mk2 era E30. Guess the Germans made big advances in optimising their rust proofing in the early 80s, if it's true about cheap East German steel they probably needed to.
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May 13, 2015 21:39:20 GMT
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I think that this probably just about sums up why Golfs are so popular Watercooled vws were surely better then those aircooled ones in many ways. Especially the gti had enough power right from the production line, you did not have to find a specialist to get a powerful car for lots of money. So it really helped the watercooled versions becoming popular, if not already some kind of cool. But other than the image of reliability watercooled vws did not inherit the coolness image from the aircooled branch. Maybe the GTI had its fan base quite early, but all the other w-cooled cars did not. The coolness factor of them grew slowly, especially young drivers found them more and more appealing. If a gti wasn´t affordable a less-powerful golf had to do it. Polos were very fashionable at the end of the 80s and slowly vw fans looked for other vws as well. Some for practical reasons like having kids, others just to have something outstanding. What I want to say, golfs weren´t cool right from the start just because they were vws, they had to achieve their status over the years. But their legendary long-reliabilty made them stand out of their competitor´s crowd. There has been a wondeful variety of competitors, I´d like to see a fiat ritmo, kadetts or old escorts, but where are they today? If more had survived the golf surely wouldn´t be THAT popular today. I Think this whole beetle and golf being popular stuff has to do with them being above average on everything rather than the best in one aspect. If you ask random people about what they would want from a car theres allways more than one answer You could think of reliability, power, practicality, handling, looks, etc The golf does all of these just above average and thus makes the best compromise for a lot of people, a Fiat Strada would maybe excel on handling but does the other aspecs below average for most people. As VW made all their products just above average on multiple aspects they've been selling lots of them, so there lots of them about as a classic car and there's your reason for being so popular now. Another aspect that is helping a lot of car owner into VW enthousiasm is that most of their models are based on LEGO, engine swaps are generally easy, and modifying them is even easier. also people like to be part of a movement so when there's a movement allready there and joining in is relatively easy people will follow. I think the popularity is because the Golf GTI would tend to be a persons first good "fast" car so there is a sentimental attachment. But having said all that, i'm still not wholly convinced that i'd like one, or even enjoy the experience> this is probably NOT because it's a bad car or that there is anything particularly wrong with a Golf. I feel that the problem may lie in the fact that they're so 'bigged up' that it probably wouldn't meet up with my expectations, and it would be a case of you shouldn't meet your heroes. Possibly the only way to overcome this, for me anyway would be to go for a bottom of the line poverty spec model, and enjoy it as such, rahter than jump straight into a GTi, and expect it to be the best thing on four wheels. For me atleast, i think this would also be true... For me VW's are not excelling in any aspect and this makes them a bit boring. I think in the main they trade off the name and the reputation of the top of the range models and the rest are rather nasty, but that is just my opinion. Wouldnt life be boring if every one agreed with me. But, i really do fancy a Caddy, or maybe even an early convertible! Incidentally MK2VR6, lets get a better look at your old snotter!
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May 13, 2015 21:51:11 GMT
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i don't get golfs, I find them dull and over rated. I've work on loads and driven loads but I've never found the appeal. Mk1/2 handle well but that's it. Give me an escort any day.
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whysub
Part of things
Posts: 65
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In 1986 I bought a 1987 Mk1 1600GLS which was good to drive (I had company cars for the previous 8 years). Only had it a year when I had to scrap it as it was as rotten as a pear. Took it into a VW independent to have a broken front spring changed. They rang me and asked me to pop in. Then they showed n me the inner wings had crumbled, the steel in the floor and sills were moth eaten and as thin as crisp packets, completely rotten.
In 2005 I needed a car urgently and a Mk2 Driver came up locally so bought it as thought I would only need it for a few weeks. It needed a good clean but afterwards it looked fantastic-not a spot of rust or rot anywhere. It was fun to drive as it handled really well, and the engine was so smooth. Had it for about a year, then sold it as someone offered me 4 times what I paid for it, by a young bloke who was into the "scene".
I think the availability of tuning and styling parts has a big influence on its popularity. You can buy so much for them whereas the choice and prices for other hot hatches of the era are far fewer.
I need a van, so have a T5 as I can (and have) fitted parts to it to make it look better (and least in my eyes). Parts are plentiful and varied, and they hold their value well, even when taking into account the higher initial purchase price. I'm not into the whole VW lifestyle but do like my van to look good.
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oog
Part of things
Posts: 40
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May 14, 2015 11:25:38 GMT
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I think most people have touched upon the reasons why the Golf is so popular;
Largely reliable and well built Marketed very well in period Classless image GTi was a genuine trendsetter and iconic car Cheap and plentiful parts and tuning bits Huge scene and social group.
I owned many hot hatches from the Golf mk1/2 era, including a Mk2 GTi 16v and the Golf was, quick, refined, was pretty fun to drive and built well. Apart from build quality it wasn't outstanding in any area but did everything well. Yes, My Astra GTE 16v would obliterate most things in a straight line, my S2 RS Turbo always made me chuckle and had a good scene and the Ax GT was just mental (as was the 205) but none of them were the PACKAGE. Only car that ever came close was the Civic VTi, well built, reliable, handled ok and the B16 engine made it a rocket ship.
I'd love to have another Mk2 Golf GTi but the demand has resulted in a value I can't justify....... So I own Cavaliers lol
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haggis
Part of things
Posts: 459
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May 14, 2015 12:25:52 GMT
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I will agree that they are pretty dull, not the best handling, not the best engines and boring to look at.... However in my car history of 6 ford sierras, 5 subaru legacys and countless stuff i cant even remember Ive owned 2 and don't regret them. The 1st one was an A reg 8V rally car bought unseen on ebay. It was basically a standard early GTI with a cage. Though it wasnt fast it had the ability to make you think you were doing warp speed due to its standard short ratio box. I loved this car because it just worked whether it was on the road or in a forest. The 16V golf is my current project(also bought unseen on ebay). It has no attributes of the 1st car. It didnt work when i got it. It still doesnt work properly. Ive had to removed the Kjet injection and fit carbs and the clutch exploded the last time i drove it. However I don't think badly of the car, just the clown who ruined the KJET, ruined the wiring loom, put the timing belt on the wrong tooth and bodged everything on the bloody car. What I'm trying to get at is its not the car thats boring its just the people and the scene culture. Its very similar to the Ford Rs owners club. My mate nearly murdered 2 of them for coming to look at his sierra cosworth he had for sale, not because they wanted to buy it, they just wanted to see the car, find out where it came from and who was selling it. I think you should try a nice standard ish mk2, not one thats been stanced, is entered into shows or thats photographed every week and posted on facebook. If I could afford to build my ideal rally car I would build an ae86, if i won the lottery I would buy an Ex works 3dr cosworth but i cant afford either of these so i stick with the golf i bought off ebay
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whysub
Part of things
Posts: 65
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May 15, 2015 10:23:17 GMT
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In 1986 I bought a 1987 Mk1 1600GLS ... Would you pleasepleaseplease share your secret of timetraveling with me? Stupid fat fingers, tiny keys and being too lazy to check before I post. In was a 1977 Golf back in 1976.
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Last Edit: May 15, 2015 10:24:37 GMT by whysub
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May 15, 2015 11:00:44 GMT
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In was a 1977 Golf back in 1976. That's equally impressive.
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