The summer of 1985 was a time of transition for me. For the first time of my life, I was on the verge of real life – which included two things: a real job and an adult level of money. By the time of my May graduation, I had the job offer in my pocket and needed to start study for the bar exam that would be offered in July.
All of my COAL writing to this point was about cars, and certainly not about girls. I liked them and all, and went on the occasional date, but none of those dates flicked any switches, certainly not the kind to pull my mind away from cars. So my time that summer was spent at work, settling into my first solo apartment, studying for the bar exam, and looking at/driving every new car I could think of.
I began that summer with two cars – I still owned the Scamper, and also assumed full ownership of the New Yorker. The Scamper was sold right away but the New Yorker took me on the rounds of car dealers. I was still a Mopar guy in my heart, but Lee Iacocca’s New Chrysler Corporation was not turning out the kind of thing that called my name. I tried to gin up enthusiasm for the Daytona/Laser or the turbocharged sport sedans like the LeBaron GTS/Dodge Lancer. I had a minor crush on the BMW 325 (until I caught sight of the price sticker), then the Mustang GT and even a Saab 900 Turbo. I even looked (briefly) into a Cavalier Type 10. Say what you will, I was open to a lot of things – except my favored big, traditional models. Those were all underpowered and stale and did not tempt me at all.
I was in a quandary about what to choose until one day while driving along a residential street. It was there that the answer came to me in a brilliant, silver flash: Driving towards me from other direction was a car that I had forgotten all about – it was a silver VW Rabbit GTI. Eureka!
I had really liked the Rabbit GTI when it came out. My sister had owned a late 70s gasoline Rabbit that was a hoot to drive, and the GTI seemed to add power and spirit to a basic car that already had plenty of both. I knew the Rabbit had just been replaced, and was happy when research indicated that the new Golf was still offered as a GTI. I liked the car’s simplicity, its Germanic feel, and the crank steel sunroof. I liked that option choices were limited, and that you couldn’t get things like power windows and such. This was important because I knew that once I chose my first new car I would keep it forever.
Up to this point I had been through six cars in eight years, and each of them had involved great efforts to reverse the effects of time, miles and the elements. What most would consider ordinary car ownership seemed to me at the time to be gross neglect that hastened the death of an otherwise perfectly good car. I would be different – I would choose well and then maintain my new ride fastidiously so that it would last indefinitely.
I started to get more serious. Color choice would be easy, as there were only three options: Silver (which I disliked), a really hot orangey-red (which I hated) and black (there ya’ go). The dealer happened to have a black one on the lot and I liked it. A lot. But I held off as I awaited the envelope from the State Board of Law Examiners that would determine which of two fates awaited me: bar passage (and the successful life it would bring with it) or information on when I could re-take the exam (something so horrifying I could scarcely even think about it). By October I had received the much-anticipated envelope – and it contained a congratulations and information on the swearing-in ceremony. It was right about then that the Chrysler looked like it was going on another of its “You never spend money on me” rants, and I got serious and dickered my way to a deal on the black GTI.
My first new car. This, not the start of a legal career, was the summit – the place I had been headed for almost the entirety of my 26 years. The journey was over, because I had reached the promised land, and it had a big Volkswagen sign out front. I met with Wade Brown – I don’t know why I still remember the salesman’s name. He was around my age and we worked together pretty well. But I was not an easy customer. First, I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted the black one that I had test driven. Except for the seats. These cars came with seats in “a handsome grey fabric with a choice of contrasting red or grey striping”, according to the brochure. I liked the gray (or “grey” in VW speak) and disliked the red.
How the other car ended up.
I know, everyone here is going to say that the red-striped seats looked way better. Wade Brown said that everyone loved the red stripes. But I was buying a German car, not an Italian car. German cars (even those built in Pennsylvania) were supposed to be businesslike and not call undue attention to themselves. I knew this, having grown up in heavily German-influenced city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. This car needed the gray stripes. Besides, red seats were more likely to fade in my forever car.
The black car on the lot had the red-striped seats. A red car on the lot had the gray-striped seats. I wanted them switched. Wade said OK. Then he and I entered a marathon bargaining session that lasted until about 45 minutes after their 9 pm closing time. This was what I did for a living, so I actually kind of enjoyed it. We FINALLY got to the number where I was willing to buy the car, but I had at least one moment of weakness where I agreed to the Rusty Jones rustproofing and paint treatments at some point during the heat of battle. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. But those things might be worthwhile in my forever car.
It was not, by the way, an inexpensive car. For some perspective, my mother bought a very nicely equipped Crown Victoria two or three months prior and it’s sticker price was around $14k. A figure I considered obscene for a Ford, by the way. My decadently equipped New Yorker had barely stickered over $10k eight years earlier, so yes – sticker shock was a thing. The GTI’s sticker (also nicely equipped, but without things like power windows and seats) was over $12k. A similarly equipped Cavalier Type 10 would have been around $7 or 8k. Yes, I somehow found myself transformed into a yuppie. Or maybe Yuppie-Lite. I was not buying leasing the BMW but was in a VW showroom instead. But close enough.
This was the car that turned me into an adult (kind of). For the first time in my life, I had sought and picked out a brand new car that was EXACTLY what I wanted, and now I had it. I had a warranty and no worry about old things breaking or having to fix them myself. Rust was now a thing to laugh at on other people’s cars. I recall how I loved the Eagle GT tires that gripped the road like nothing I had experienced. On dry roads, I mean, because with a touch of rain or a dusting of snow they turned into something with all the traction of curling stones on ice. And that were soft enough that they required replacement about a year in. I loved the torquey engine with the 5 speed stick, and remembered how much I had missed shifting my own gears. One thing I did not love was the obnoxious orange “upshift light”. Another thing I didn’t love was that my car suddenly became a magnet for ne’er-do-wells. Like the evening a neighbor pounded on my door to inform me that someone had broken into it in my building’s garage. The would-be thieves smashed the driver side window and did their best to get the radio out, but only managed to make a real mess of the dash. I loved how my GTI was so much more fun to drive than the Golf loaner I got during repairs.
This and two other photos were taken at my sister’s farm, probably the same weekend I got the car. Their black 81 diesel Rabbit is in the background.
The highs were glorious. My sister lived about two hours northwest from me, in a rural area with some freshly paved highways that just begged me to unleash all 100 of the wild horses. Every young guy wants to know how fast his car will go, especially if it is a car crammed full of Fahrvergnugen. The answer, in my case, was 114 mph. The GTI felt fabulous at that speed – every bit as sure as the New Yorker had felt at triple digit velocity, but in a different way. Fortunately there was no law enforcement nearby. Or tractors, for that matter. Want to know something really amazing? I have never been pulled over for speeding. Not once. Just watch though, having now published this fact, I will spend ten hours in the next year stopped along the side of roads while officers of the law run my plates and issue tickets.
This car actually made me a little aggressive with the cops. Like the time one whizzed by me at over 80 mph on the (still) 55 mph interstate highway. I sped up and followed him. I knew how this worked. I knew that police departments kept dispatch logs. I knew that he had no lights or sirens going, and it appeared that he had a wife and kids in the car, so the chance that he was on an actual police run was about zero. So I knew that if he was going to stop me, two of us were going to get tickets, or at least I was going to do everything in my power to to make sure that any ticket he might write me would be costly for him. The combination of youth and litigation experience can embolden a young man. When he moved to the other lane, slowed down and wagged his finger as he stared at me, my innate conservatism returned and I broke it off so that nobody got a ticket that day.
The GTI took me on my first solo road trip to the east coast to visit some relatives in Philadelphia and New Jersey and a law school roommate in Connecticut. It was a great road car, with supportive and comfortable seats – though it could have used a 6th gear on the highway. It also taught me why people on congested, rush-hour freeways tend to avoid manual transmissions.
This car also saw my dating life pick up. (Imagine that!) I spent part of that time with the GTI driving to and from the west side of Indianapolis to see the girl I had met. I guess that turned out to be a good “test relationship” because after several months things seemed to stagnate and both of us decided that there should have been more there. So my car offered me some solace on some long drives after we broke up. And it also made me thankful that I was not driving the yellow 79 Cutlass aeroback sedan she was stuck with every day. Another result of the breakup was a future COAL, the first time I bought a vehicle purely for fun and not to drive every day.
I really liked the car. Unlike the New Yorker, everything was right most of the time and the car was a driving pleasure that made me feel successful. But my time with the GTI would not be the trouble-free experience I had imagined, with quite a few more warranty repairs than I had expected. Some of that was my own fault – my apartment building was a block and a half of city thoroughfare from my office, and because I drove frequently during my days (and billed for my time) a walk to get the car was a waste – so I drove that 1.5 blocks twice a day. I had not expected to get a new muffler under VW’s 2 year unlimited mile warranty, but, yeah.
The dash light came on couple of times which resulted in warranty repairs to the fuel injection system. I didn’t ask more questions – I had a warranty and didn’t need to know the details. It was a new car, so I shouldn’t have to think about those things, right? The biggest problem came about a year into ownership, a nagging water leak in the body that the dealer could not seem to find and fix. After the garage break-in I had taken to parking outside, and after every rain the carpet in the rear floor on the drivers side would be soaked. I was reminded of the advice I had heard from my mother after her hard-learned experience with the 1961 Oldsmobile – “Never buy a new car in its first year.” Apparently that still applied.
I had also reminded myself that owning a black car was no picnic. 10 minutes after a wash it showed every single water spot. An hour after a wash it was getting dusty. Unless it rained, and then it showed the remains of road spray. And remember that Rusty Jones paint sealant? Wade Brown’s statement that “You’ll never need to wax it” proved untrue because I noticed that the GTI had built up a nice little case of road film, or whatever that stuff is that builds up on the paint despite regular washing. There is nothing more beautiful than a black car – for about 1% of its life.
In September of 1987 I was approaching the end of my warranty. But I was only halfway through the coupons in my payment book (remember those?) and far, far short of “forever”. Now my $271.31/month (I have no idea why I remember that number) would be supplemented by whatever additional costs I would run up at the VW dealer or other “foreign car mechanic” of my choice. I had amassed a quarter-inch thick manila folder of service receipts in the first two years and saw no reason why that trend should change as time and miles continued to add up. This issue was made bigger now that I had become a homeowner with a second, much larger payment book.
I had also been drawn back to my old-car roots. The words of a classic car auctioneer I had once heard kept ringing in my ears. When a really nice old car had only drawn a very modest bid, he tried to pump up interest by shouting “At that price you can drive it for a year and throw it out!” I fired up my calculator and figured out that between the 2 years of depreciation and the interest I had paid on my car loan, the GTI had cost me $6,000 for the privilege of ownership over two years – not including any operating costs at all. Surely I could do better, I thought to myself. Besides, I had proved to myself that owning a new car was not that different from owning an older car. Perfection and car ownership are two circles that don’t intersect on a Venn diagram. And yes, I took way too long to learn this truth.
The GTI seemed to represent a distinct but short period of my life when I was in the phase of trying to make an impression. I had spent my youth as a very un-athletic kid and my four years as an undergrad eating and drinking as much of everything as I pleased. My roommate Dan had a motto – anything worth doing is worth doing to excess. It was a motto that would not serve him well as the years passed, and they hadn’t served me all that well either. My first year of law school saw me lose 50 pounds (from 195 to 145) and a new circle of friends had me paying more attention to my appearance. By 1987 I had had settled into a healthy weight and had mastered the “dress to impress” lifestyle in my wardrobe, my house and my car. But I had come to conclude that a lot of those life-changes had been about other people and not about me. I loved the house and was happy with the wardrobe, but wondered why there couldn’t be more with the car.
I had also grown more comfortable in my own skin as I settled into adult life, so that the only person I felt the need to please with my cars was me. I came to recognize that, as much as I liked and enjoyed the GTI, I lacked the emotional attachment I had experienced with all of my prior cars. Part of that was probably simple maturity and a life with more to fill it than just cars. But part of it was that I wanted more of a connection with my car than the GTI had given me. This breakup was kind of like the one with my girlfriend – it wasn’t anybody’s fault, we just weren’t right for each other.
Now I had a mission. I was out to find an interesting old car that I could turn into a fun and unique (but thrifty) daily driver. I found one and then put the GTI up for sale. A young guy who appeared to be on the verge of starting a professional life was ready to graduate from a really rusty beater of a 76-ish Cutlass loved it and a deal was struck. He was preparing to enter the yuppie life just as I was preparing to leave it. So after just two years, my first new car (and my last for another two decades) would join the previous 7 in life’s rear view mirror.
Great COAL about growing up and following the American Dream. The GTI was a nice car in its day. While you were driving a GTI I had a 79 Plymouth Horizon that was a bright orange. It was a hand me down from my Dad. I got into an accident with it then I bought a 78 Chevette 5 Door. Loved your Scamp. I had a 66 Dodge Dart and later a 75 Dart. Your story resonated with me as I was a little younger than you and followed a similar path with liking older cars and losing weight. Thanks for telling us your story and looking forward to the next chapter!
Another interesting chapter. Those serial car philanderers think they can quit cold turkey and somehow settle down, not likely.
Never driven a GTI, but I have been impressed with the modern VWs I’ve ridden in. However my stock answer for a young person who wants a German car is: Driving a German car, wonderful. Owning a German car, often not wonderful.
I think it was the water leak that was the killer for me. I understood wet carpet in a 1959 Plymouth. I did not understand it in a nearly-new Volkswagen.
I had a water leak in my 2007 Rabbit too that I couldn’t trace. The floors were getting wet in the passenger rear footwell. It later started getting wet in the front passenger footwell also, then suddenly the driver’s footwell and even in the glovebox. I took it in for service. Culprit? The sunroof. What? The seal looked fine and it was dry all around the opening. I’d never felt a drop from above. But unbeknownst to me, there is a big, long, elaborate network of drain hoses that lead away from the sunroof opening, and they tend to clog especially on Mk5’s that are parked under trees and collect pollen and gunk that falls from them, causing water to spill all over the place. I didn’t even particularly want a sunroof, but the only 4-door Rabbit with a stick shift I could find when I needed a new car (and couldn’t wait for a special order) had a sunroof so I ponied up $1,000 for an option I rarely use.
It was also Sage Green, an odd shade of grey with a hint of green, when I preferred United Gray (yes, now with an “a”). All of my previous cars I had also accepted in a color that wasn’t my first choice, and this was starting to feel like a parable for my life – I was always settling for things (and sometimes people) I didn’t really want. I showed the brochure color chart to the girl who lived in the apartment above mine in the quadplex (Alexis, who I kinda liked) and she immediately said “get the green!” very enthusiastically, which made me in turn feel good about taking home a new car in her favorite color. Thanks, Alexis; years later I still thought of you whenever I walked out to my car. I now way prefer the subtle yet non-greyscale Sage Green that’s so rare nowadays over the gray I originally wanted.
An excellent chapter (as usual)! There’s much here that I connect with. My first brand new car was also a VW Rabbit (1984) that I purchased at close to your age. I too was a thorough researcher, passionate negotiator, and also remember the name of the salesman – Joe Oczkowski at Westfield VW. Of course, that may also be because I still have a stack of his business cards that he pressed into my hand (and placed in the new owners folder) which I was supposed to “give to my friends”…part of the price I guess for making him go through several hours of back and forth with “his manager on my behalf”. I kind of figured that was his job.
My final product was less of a car – some may say the nearly polar opposite of – than your GTI, which truth be told is what I would really rather have had. But my white Diesel L did get the Rusty Jones treatment as well (never wax….HA!!!!). And as you said about your sister’s Rabbit, they were all a hoot to drive.
Your story about the garage break-in and attempted stolen radio highlights a chapter in automotive history (the 80s and into the 90s I think) where stealing car radios was both a thing, and preventing such theft seemed to become a focus for manufacturers (and aftermarket accessory providers). I don’t know if ultimately the theft-prevention business worked, or that people inclined to being thieves just got sick of having a growing stack of yanked out radios that no one wanted to buy, but ultimately that crime trend ebbed. Unfortunately not before also inspiring the installation of a massive wave of aftermarket car alarms…to the detriment of neighbors nationwide at 2am when the damn things would go off all by themselves. I wonder if the water leak in your GTI had anything to do with repairs to the dash. My Rabbit’s dash creaked like a wooden ship eventually…but that could also have been due to less than attentive quality control at the Westmoreland factory.
I also love the reveal that this important car in your life was so different from what came before. I think I would have had you pegged for some reason as a Mopar guy before I started reading this COAL series, but now I see that there’s much more…and now a VW! Vive la différence! Can’t wait to hear what comes next.
By the time this series is over there will probably have been a little something for everyone in variety of cars that will be featured.
You are right, and now I cannot think of the last time I heard of a car stereo being stolen. I still remember how thoroughly they trashed the dash, how they still didn’t get the radio, and that it still even worked.
When a red light runner trashed one of my cars about 20 years ago, I was given one visit to go to the yard where my car resided for one last goodbye and to retrieve personal items. It was a wintry day and I had but a screwdriver and wrench with me. License plates, booklets, maps, tapes or CDs were retrieved, and one last item remained. The stereo that was less that a year old. I unhooked wires in the back, and then pretty much laid waste to the dash in freeing the stereo deck. I thought about the speakers, but enough was enough.
The only petty car theft I hear of any more is burglars gaining access to car interiors looking for cell phones, chargers, or loose change.
An enjoyable read. It seems like every VW of this era I’ve ever ridden in or driven had some janky toggle switches fabed up to run various functions of the car (engine cooling fan for example). I’ve been going down the road in one more than once and had smoke start pouring out from under the dash. Scary.
Fun cars. Nightmare to own. I’m partial to the Jetta myself, but every time one has come up, I’ve talked myself out of it. My teacher bought a new, or nearly new, Jetta in about 1989. I loved that car, but experience has taught me to stay away.
My GTI had its issues, but it was far from a nightmare. I have seen others owning this series from the mid 80s and having a pretty good experience – certainly by the standards of lower-priced European stuff of the era.
I really should’ve known better. My sincere apologies.
Nice write-up. It’s hard to know what a forever-car might look like when one makes a purchase. I actually have a friend that bought a new Golf (not a GTI) in 1985 and kept it to this day as a daily driver. He lives in a town where it’s possible to walk or take the bus, so the Golf doesn’t get a ton of use anymore. Today, its paint looks pretty chalky, and I’m pretty sure that it, too, leaks when it rains, but it still runs good, and it’s clear that he’s never going to trade it in if he’s gone this long with it. So there are people out there who stuck it out with this car and made it through the years.
Looking back, how stupid was the idea of a “forever car” in my midwestern climate where rust never sleeps. I think my faith in products like Ziebart (or Rusty Jones, in my case) was stronger than it is now.
My parents’ 1982 Phoenix was Ziebarted and I think it hurt rather than helped. The rustproofing sprayed inside the doors and hatch caused the drain holes to mostly plug up, which prevented rain from exiting, which made them rust. The car was replaced by a ’88 Mazda 626 Turbo; which almost halved 0-60 times (as well as noise) from the Iron Duke-powered Phoenix.
Ah, the full story emerges! As you know, I had one of these as well, a silver ’86 in my case with the same gray seats but the bolsters and darkest gray stripes were darker in my recollection. I too got it soon after college except mine was a few years old with 60k miles. Overall if was quite reliable over the next two years and another 60k (!) miles until it met its end against the side of an out of control Lincoln Town Car that entered my lane.
The trick may be to get them somewhat used once the foibles, if there are any, are worked out of them by someone else, then they seem to go for quite some time.
And yes, the highway gearing…while the close ratio box was great for spirited driving, the 3500rpm at 70mph sorely called out the need for another gear. On the other hand, the need to downshift for hills was a foreign concept.
And mine was broken into as well, via the small non-venting vent window in the front. In my case they just rifled through the car and took some CDs that were laying around, my radio was already a pull-out design by that time and thankfully not in the car. I don’t think any ’80s VW escaped that experience, if it wasn’t the front vent window, then it was the rear small one on Jettas or the door handle was pried off…
Oh well, in retrospect it was a great car for that time of my life, with some very memorable drives, and I remember it fondly. Every drive was fun, and it set me on my way to a lot of other great cars over the years.
I was trying to remember, and recalled 3000 rpm cruising at somewhere around 60-65mph. But after driving my mother’s Crown Vic on a trip, a car that could not pull itself up any kind of grade without downshifting and revving just as high, it was not terrible.
Strangely, they left my vent window alone and busted out the main window. Had it been the vent window, my dealer’s body shop guy would not have felt the need to slide the big piece of glass back and forth across my roof panel, right in sight as I stood next to the car to open the door. A tense discussion was had, and my instructions were to do everything they could do short of painting it. The scratches buffed out probably 85%. It was just one more lesson that “s*** happens” no matter how well you take care of something.
I also bought an ’86, though I seem to differ in that I’ve tended to hold onto my cars awhile, I had the ’86 until 2001 (a bit after I bought my current car, a 2000 Golf). I’ve only owned 5 cars in 48 years as a driver and 3 of them have been VWs (had a ’78 Scirocco when I bought the GTi). Only owned one of them at a time (mostly, some overlap when I sold the prior car, haven’t yet traded in a car). Never had my GTi broken into, though they did on my Scirocco (though they never tried the “remove the rear backlight and stow it underneath the car” way of getting into it. My GTi was silver, with silver striped seats, as is my Golf (checked seats instead) whereas my Scirocco was “champagne edition” so whatever color that equates to (kind of a tan or gold) with vinyl seats.
I spent the most time I ever have (or ever plan to) looking at cars before I bought the GTi. I think I was also trying to figure out which kind of car was “right” for me, I recall testing 2 passenger cars (Toyota MR2, Bertone X1/9), regular sedans (626, Mitsubishi Gallant, and even a wagon (Ford Taurus MT5)…which regrettably was the only American car I tried….part of that though might have been because I’d been a driver for Hertz less than 10 years before, which at the time specialized in Fords and domestic vehicles, so although cars changed quite a bit in those 10 years, I’d at least driven them.
Since I had the ’86 awhile, I got to know it well, and probably did the most work on it of any of my cars. It was a generally reliable car, but with “personality” that responded well to maintenance, but even then needed extra attention. Some of it was actually unneeded…I went through a really long (10 visits!) period where the shop thought my rear alignment was off, which in the end turned out to be a problem with the calibration of their equipment…of course the stub axle wasn’t really adjustable but they did try to shim it, resulting in the fasting wearing tire (bought new P600’s and they were worn (unevenly) in 5000 miles. Guess I should have checked the alignment myself.
I never ran into the infamous self-machining problem in the close-ratio gearbox, but did have a fouled clutch due to transmission fluid, I replaced the clutch and the seals. I had a “conceptual problem” where I ended up putting the transaxle into and out of the car maybe 5 times before I realized I’d actually gotten it right to begin with, and didn’t have the clutch adjustment figured out right. Anyhow, that’s probably one reason you felt it needed more gearing, if the spacing is closer. In fact, my current Golf isn’t a good highway car, having a very high final drive, and I particularly dislike the 2nd to 3rd gap which I use a lot (most of my driving is in town, which I guess is why I don’t mind it isn’t a good highway car).
Anyhow, the GTI was particularly unsuited for me when I got in a bicycle accident 30 years ago (got hit by a car) and broke several bones, my GTi was pretty stripped, it had air conditioning, but no power anything else (save for brakes) and with the then wide “60 series” P 600’s it was a chore to drive while recuperating from the accident….but I kept it another 9 years after that.
It was hit in the front parking lot at work years later, they totalled it out, but the damage was actually minimal, and I bought it back. The A/C condensor was normally at an angle, but I think the adjustor though it should be straight, and I think over estimated the damage (though it takes little to total a then 14 year old car). I went to a wrecking yard and got new fender, radiator core support , bumper metal (my vinyl bumper cover was fine so I reused it) and did some straightening of bolt holes that no longer lined up, and kept it for another year or so (not sure why now, but I did).
Lots of problems with alternator brushes (pulsating headlights) on the Motorola alternator…but easy to get replacement brush/voltage regulator assembly, I got pretty quick at doing it.
One problem endimic to the A2 VW was weatherstripping, I live in sunbelt and all the salvage yards had cars that had bad or worse parts than my own. The door weatherstripping is attached to a rubber piece that goes up the A pillar all the way back to the hatch, and since I couldn’t find it locally, I ordered one from a salvage yard up north, it looked like a giant hockey stick when it arrived (with stiffener to keep the soft metal from bending) But at least no more leaks into the passenger compartment. I have had the clogged sunroof pipes problem causing my carpet to be wet, but that wasn’t the problem in this case.
Have been reluctantly looking for a replacement for my Golf, which unfortunately will need to be an automatic, as no one else can drive my car in my family, and I’ve had a few medical issues where that’s a big disadvantage…I’ve changed my driving style quite a bit since 1986 such that I’m more of a grandfather driver, you’ll see everyone passing me as I spend most of my time in the right lane now…which is kind of interesting, I’m really looking for an exact replacement for my Golf, as a hatchback fan, they only offer the GTi now, which really no longer suits my age or style unlike 36 years ago. Guess I’m long past being the target market for anything, probably because I hold onto stuff way too long and don’t like being pushed to buy anything…I like to figure out what I want and don’t want to be sold.
I won’t try to claim my VW’s have been trouble free, as they haven’t but I guess I think they’re worth the bother, I just like driving them and I guess for me they are pretty durable as I’ve kept them around awhile and have tolerated the relatively few times that they’ve let me down. My Dad’s VW was a ’59 Beetle, but he actually drove even older examples when he was in the Army after WWII, apparently they issued him them frequently instead of a Jeep…he also drove REO trucks.
In general ;
German cars require more ‘touching’ than do other countries vehicles .
This is separate from breakdowns and needing repairs .
I don’t mind and so love my elderly VW Beetle and 38 year old 408,000 mile Mercedes Diesel taxi…..
Good luck finding a GTI, hopefully in the correct color .
-Nate
My closest encounter with a (first gen) GTI was on a backroad from Racine, WI up to Milwaukee. I was in my used ’80 Citation X-11 and we went at it. I just nosed him with my 125 wheezy hp 2.8L V6. Fortunately no curves were involved or I’m sure I would have been seeing his tail lights!
The first gen GTI was and is a fine looking design; wonder why?? Thank a certain Italian, IIRC.
However, I did learn the same le$$on about costly German car repairs with 2 older Porsches. No more German cars since!
Nice writeup!! 🙂 Look forward to your next-longer lasting?-car. DFO
I agree that the first gen GTI’s look was almost perfect. There was something about the 1985 redesign that removed a little of the crispness of the original, and I liked the Rabbit’s wheels much better. However, the trade-off was in added refinement.
Great story, Mr Cavanaugh… thanks!
I well recall my early career (Chem E… no sweating the bar) and trying to figure my car situation. In my cars, I was a serial used Opel owner (a Manta and two 1900 Sportwagons). When the GTI debuted I test drove one and was lustful but didn’t want to borrow the funds; I’ve remained debt-averse to this day… buying many new cars since 1980 but financing only the first few. I also stayed away from my German objects of desire, not wanting to have the high costs beyond the purchase price.
Anyway, when I retired ten years ago (a bit early at 56) I replaced my company Infiniti (2007 G35S, manual gearbox) with a Mk6 GTI and am now driving a Mk7.5. Surprisingly, neither has had any issues at all. I sort of feel like I’ve reached automotive Eden but it was a long wait!
I have been curious about how the new ones drive. I maintain a teeny tiny flame for something in the “pocket rocket” genre.
I think the bar has moved some, as my Honda Fit has 15hp more than the GTI did in 1985. If I had the manual transmission, the driving experience might not be too far removed.
You might want to give a new one a test ride, but leave your checkbook at home unless you’re ready to buy.
Around town it’s one of those cars that’s always telling you to go-go-go. On the highway it’s similar; my wife has speeding tickets to prove it. The ride/handling balance is spot on, even without the adjustable dampers. The gearshift is very precise… although Honda may be even better in that regard… and the clutch very smooth. It’s as quick as I could ever want. For me (about 6’2″ and 34″ inseam), the seats and space are great.
I love the car on long trips, unless I’m hauling a lot of stuff plus people. A combo golf/hunting/fishing jaunt for a couple of weeks is a snap, but add a dog or two and I’m using one of our wagons.
A downside to the Mk8’s… I’ve read that the interior has been cheapened up, and is overloaded with annoying haptic touch controls. Those controls alone might turn me off on a new one, but I understand they drive even better than mine.
Wow, I just looked at VW’s website. At 2.5x the power of my old car, it must be a real handful. But from what you say, a really fun handful. And they have doubled the warranty to 4 years.
Your VW seems a natural to be on the heels of the Scamp and the New Yorker…it’s the smaller size of the Scamp combined with the solidity and oomph of the Chrysler.
Having zero experience with VWs of that era, it was enjoyable to read about your experiences with the GTI. Having read a few reviews about current GTIs it appears the zest is still there but with another 30-odd years of development.
I’m glad you’ve owned so many cars because I am enjoying this series immensely.
“I’m glad you’ve owned so many cars because I am enjoying this series immensely.” – Happy to help! 🙂
I think the newer versions have picked up a moderate amount of weight but have made up for it with generous uppage of horsepower. 100 net horsepower was impressive in a car of that size in 1985, but is considered not fit for the most basic econobox today.
I find it amazing how our COALS seem to hit on similar things. Like a 50 pound weight loss. Mine was intentional and good, yours was unintentional and bad. And I have not read ahead and had no idea that would be something you would have experienced.
I’ve never had an A2 Golf or Jetta, but they’ve sometimes been on the shortlist. Traditional American lead sleds are definitely not my thing, so I’m surprised that (finally) our tastes overlap!
Our 2001 Passat GLX V6 5 speed was a beautiful, nicely appointed, leather soaked rocket ship; it was a joy to drive.
But owning it (even when under the relatively short warranty period) was like dating Beth Dutton. I could never quite relax dreading the next outlandish and expensive outburst or breakdown.
Comparing German vehicle ownership to Beth Dutton – classic! Highs and lows galore with the threat of lows eventually outweighing the highs. There’s a reason that so many German vehicles are leased…
“dreading the next outlandish and expensive outburst or breakdown.”
Fortunately, the GTI was preceded by the New Yorker, a car far more unpredictable and diva-like than anything I experienced with it. Setting expectations is the key, I guess. 🙂
I suspect you’re the only person who switched from a New Yorker Brougham to a GTI. But as a member of the relatively small cohort of people who like both big, traditional American cars and quick, agile German cars, I understand 100%!
I loved these GTIs and drove a few of them. However, I was never in a financial position to own a new one, and I considered their reliability questionable enough to avoid buying one used. (Yes, I bought a used Saab instead, so I guess I wasn’t too bright in that regard.)
I agree with you on the red-striped seats – way too flashy for my tastes. And on the black car frustrations… I’ve owned one black car and I swear, never again.
Back in the 1980s, my mother worked as a secretary at a law firm, and a few of the younger attorneys there drove GTIs. They all seemed to be the attorneys with the nicest personalities too, and how treated the non-professional staff decently.
Oh, one other thing about GTIs and my time here at CC. Back in 2014 I was considering starting to write for Curbside, which had become my favorite website. One day I found this 1987 GTI in a parking lot and took some pictures with the intention of writing it up… but later one realized that I took far too few pictures for what’s really ideal for a CC write-up. But I still have the pictures I took, one of which is below:
Haha, and one of even fewer who experienced a performance upgrade moving from a 4 bbl 440 to a 4 cylinder VW.
I will confess to being a car-profiler, and back then the biggest, um, let’s go with jerks, were driving BMWs. As a car guy, I really liked the 3 series BMWs, but the practical person in me saw that I was getting 97% (if not more) of the performance of a 318i for a whole lot less money.
+1 on the clean black car comment.
We do share an automotive (and otherwise) thriftiness. I’ve often wondered what I would have bought for my daily driver if I hadn’t had the luxury of company-paid cars during my yuppie era. It would have been an interesting test of two competing pulls.
Never drove a gen2 GTI but did have some seat time in a Gen1; what a ball. The ultimate Energizer Rabbit. And yes, the gearing was oriented to sport, not highway cruising.
My xB reminds me more than a wee bit of the gen1/gen2 Golfs, right down to its gearing. And with 103 hp, its performance is probably in the same ballpark. I did see 110 once, but its boxy body is not conducive to high speeds.
I get the same feeling with my Fit. The Sport trim gave it some decent rubber and it outpowers my old GTI by 15 ponies, which was the same margin between the standard Golf and the GTI in the mid 80s, if memory serves. I have gotten wiser as I have gotten older and have never tried to find the Fit’s top end.
Would have envied you in 1985…couldn’t stretch to a full yuppie GTI, though badly wanted one. In late 85 I contained myself to an 86 Golf…2 door, 5 speed, AC. My first lease…4 years, 18 miles/year limit, for about $130 month with nothing down. I recall the list being around $8,500. In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed my 66,000 miles…the most mileage I’ve racked up on any car. Convinced myself it was an unbadged little borther to a yuppified GTI and I never regretted it. Other than an occasionally surgy idle, and a battery that cracked open on a long trip, I had no issues.
Would have happily signed up for another VW, but after 4 years the 1990 Golf/Jetta hadn’t advanced at all. Some had adopted 16 valve engines, but they no torque at low revs and had to be annoyingly wound out in normal drving. VW failed to stay in touch with what US consumers wanted in those years (not sure they’ve caught up 30+ years later). Of course, we also had a Le Car at the same time, so maybe I was out of touch with what consumers wanted. That said, we’ve had 4 VW’s in the family over the years, all sticks…a perfectly practical 93 Passat GL that we used in Europe for a year, a 99 Beetle that my wife insisted on that we kept for a year, and a slightly used front-heavy 2003 Jetta VR6 for my son. None felt as good to me as this generation of Golf.
I really thought VW was on a roll in 1985 and was nailing down a niche of the German driving experience on a budget. But they never sealed the deal with the American consumer on this niche and I never really figured out what market they were trying to chase over the next several years.
indeed…the product quickly went from aspirational to pedestrian. And calling whatever they wanted to be “Fahrvergnugen” didn’t exactly clarify the situation.
Yeah, at the time I thought the “Fahvergnugen” thing was sillly…but you know, nearly 40 years later, we all still reference it and know what it means. Well, to the extent that it means anything. Or everything. Seems like a rather perfect bit of marketing.
Great write up on a first “adult car” that didn’t seem like you were giving up on life. All of the highs with the threat of VW maintenance lows. I love it!
I was a confirmed VW guy back then. Started out with a 77 Rabbit…nice car but not quite sporty enough so I traded it on a new 80 Scirocco S. I loved that car and was going to keep it for a longer time but then I test drove a new 83 GTI, wow! More power! So I got one. Boy was that car ever fun driving all over British Columbia, Alberta, Washington and Idaho. I never had any problems with it but highway driving was a little noisy even if you never had to downshift on hills. I traded that on a new 86 GTI…a bit better highway cruiser and slightly more room…again nothing ever went wrong while I had I it.
My future wife showed up with an 87 Jetta Wolfsburg that she had bought used. Nice car also that had so much room and a huge trunk too.
We stayed away from VW for a while until we bought a new 13 Golf TDI Highline manual 6 speed. Now that car was peak VW! Power, torque and unbeatable fuel economy all in one package. VW bought it back from us because of Dieselgate for what we paid for it 5 years earlier. We really miss that car a lot. We got an 18 Golf Alltrack manual with the buyback.
All of these VWs were trouble free for the most part and they were all white except for the light blue 77 and white silver Alltrack.
Corners: you really ran the VW gamut! My son had the great experience of a manual All-Track wagon… and the sad experience of selling it (< 20,000 miles!) when he was given a company car. I nearly bought it just on principle… didn't have a need but wanted it to stay in the family!
I really liked the Scirocco too, but 1985 was into the 2nd gen that I found a bit of a let-down. They were also really pricey compared to the GTI (which was pricey enough). The combination of a strong dollar and the import restrictions made sure that there were no bargains in this segment.
Back in the mid Eighties the GTI was such a hot ticket. They had an aura of urban cool and handling ability. I was an Opel fan at the time, and the 2.0L Kadett GSI 16v Superboss, unique to South Africa, may have been faster but didn’t have the cachet or build quality of the GTI. Here in SA the GTI is still very aspirational [and still a magnet for ne’er-do-wells]. Interestingly, with the rollout of the Golf 8 we are only getting the GTI, none of the rest of the Golf range, while back in the Eighties the Golf was one of SA’s best sellers. That honour has passed to the Polo, which is Golf 2 sized really.
I had an ’86 GTI, also in black. I don’t remember any red in the seats, they were light gray/dark gray striped IIRC.
I bought it in 1991 from a church friend of my Mom’s, who had babied it for all of its then 40k-mile life.
I LOVED that car. I drove it from my home in DC to NYC and back, and down to see friends in Florida too many times to count.
Yes, I had a break-in too. They smashed out the right rear window to gain access and took the radio cleanly with no other damage. I figured it was bound to happen since I had left it parked on the street in Brooklyn at the time. We taped up some plastic, but it was a cold and noisy trip home to DC that day! The window was easily replaced and I replaced the radio with a pull-out type which I made sure to always pull out.
Never had any major problems with it, it always started and ran. The problems I had were more of the annoyance type: the A/C was tempermental on its best day. It was never strong and would just decide to stop working one day, pouring fog out of the vents, and then days later it would work fine.
After about a year, I was moving permanently to NYC (I thought at the time) and sold the GTI to my Mom. She kept it for several years and the miles kept piling on. She did have to replace the exhaust system, which cost $$, but other than that, never had big problems.
It was the ancillaries that would go bad. The A/C finally crapped out for good one day. The windshield washer pump broke. At about 120,000 miles, the odometer stopped working.
Mom is a good record-keeper and always logged her gas fill-ups along with the mileage from the trip-odometer. Best estimates put the mileage around 320,000 by the time she sold it on to a young guy who was a VW enthusiast.
In retrospect, I wish I had kept it!
There was a lot to like, that’s for certain. I remember the weak a/c too, and how there was a noticeable temp difference in the air blowing out of the vents depending on whether the system was set for fresh air or recirculation – which was something I had never experienced on US a/c systems of the era.
I have owned many marquees in my 40 years of driving, never a VW though, but the GTI has always remained one of all time favorite cars and one I’d like to own before we go to predominant electrification. I would either lease (which I have not done in 20 years) or a CPO with a great warranty with the expectation that I was not purchasing Toyota reliability. There is definitely something, then and now, about the solidity and feel of VWs.
A quick VW story . College roommate bought a Golf in 1988 at VW dealer in Grand Rapids in part because it was the only dealer that would issue him credit. Steering rack went out at 24k miles and it took 6 weeks to get parts and all they had was rebuilts. Engine had valve issues and the dealer/VW mysteriously took it back after 2 years.
Only new car I’ve purchased was a white 1986 GTI, from Wes Behel VW in Sunnyvale, CA. No power steering, no AC, no radio. Loved it, no problems until reluctantly loaned to a coworker upon urgent request. Heard “crunch” noise as he jammed it into reverse, then sped off. Upon his return, I noticed unhealthy noise from the gearbox, which dealer fortunately repaired under warranty. First aftermarket radio stolen via smashed small non vent window. Replaced that unit with a pull-out, which I then took with me everywhere … except once. Sure enough, they pulled that one out, too. Replaced it, then moved to Calgary 3 years later. No more problems, and car served us well for several more years.
Now I’ve put in the dishwasher the fork and spoon I ate up this COAL post with…
Did you try not parking in the sun, like the song says?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PvuNAoG0XY&t=18s
This in the attached pic isn’t one, but these Hella “Colour Design” taillights were available for the Mk2 Golf-GTI cars—in green, blue, yellow, red, and “silver”, as I recall. I find no guidance about them in the song, though.
Your reliability experience, with the steadily-growing folder of repair work orders and repeated dealership shrugs at a problem, reminds me of our ’90 Jetta. I always liked that four-round-buttons steering wheel you appear to have had; it seemed much sportier than the weird one our Jetta had.
Haha, that video really dredges up the full mid 80s experience, doesn’t it. And yes, they do look better in the shade. That photo reminds me of how easy it always was to ID the 85, which was the only Mk II in the US to lack the high mount brake light. We also got the sticker bragging about the Motor Trend COTY award.
That was a really good steering wheel (for its era, anyhow) and I remember the four big buttons.
I never knew there were any interior color options for the Mk2 GTI; thought they were all gray with red stripes. Quite unlike the Mk1 GTI that offered either burgundy red (fully color-keyed throughout interior) with dark blue pinstripes in the seats, or dark blue full interior with red pinstripes on the seats. Even though the Mk2 was a better car in most ways, I’ve always preferred the original, and the almost all-red interior (my first choice) is part of the reason why. Funny, everyone seems to think the original GTI had plaid seats. I think they did in Europe, but in the US we got the Pennsylvania-built cars with the red or blue velour with stripes. The only appearance of plaid seats in a US-market VW back then was in the 1984 Jetta GLI, the first year for the GLI and last of the Mk1 generation. Then the now-retro plaid showed up in the Mk5 GTI in 2006 and has been used ever since on GTIs that don’t have leather seats.
I test-drove two used Rabbit GTIs circa 1986 (though barely in my price range at $6,000 ask) and one very fun-to-drive ’78 Rabbit C gas/stick four-door that belonged to my friend’s girlfriend before finding a loaded-with-options $2,600 J2000 LE that cost over $11,000 new just four years earlier.
The velour seats was the one thing that I didn’t really like about the Rabbit GTI, though the color interior was a plus.
In about 1992 I came () this close to buying a new VW Corrado. It was an unsold leftover at the end of the model year and I was going to get a pretty good deal. But I hedged because it was an automatic, and stayed with my Chevy. Given VW’s spotty reliability in those days I probably made the right choice.
I suspect an automatic would have leeched most of the fun out of it.
I briefly owned a MKII GTI, black and yes, they were fun drivers but German cars in general require constant touching .
Great when you’re a young Mechanic, less so when you just want to turn the key and go .
I found even the basic Rabbit’s to be fun drivers similar if completely different than Beetles were .
-Nate
The closest I’ve go to a “new” car is the 11 month old, 90 mile Alfa Romeo Giulietta that I bought 4.5 years ago and I don’t see myself changing for some time yet. The colour and spec are what I’d have gone for off the Alfa spec and options lists (ie red, and no options).
For a European, a Golf 2 with square or rectangular lights is a bit of a “does not compute Captain” moment, FWIW. Rectangular lights on the Jetta, never seen square lights.
Enjoyed reading your GTI experience, the close ratio 9A code transmission was annoying at highway speeds, my ’86 GL Jetta with its wide ratio trans turns about 2250 RPM at 65, a lot more relaxing, but the close ratio unit really helps out with acceleration. Its possible to change fifth gear by pulling the end cap with trans installed, but I would imagine that leaves a huge gap between 4th and 5th.
If your GTI had a sunroof I would suspect plugged or disconnected/broken drain tubes was the cause of the water leak, another common leak would occur when the plastic rain shield behind the door panel would become unattached due to glue failure, a common leak at the bottom of the door trim panel. But on a 2 door that wouldn’t flood the rear floor.
Bought mine used at 100k miles, now at around 305k indicated, my odometer drive gear broke and I took the speedo to be repaired about a year later, probably about 10k miles weren’t recorded during this time. Since I lived in no salt areas I got 30 years of use out of it, engine, trans, steering rack and pump all still original, still runs well but its top speed is about 90, it would hit (eventually) 110 MPH when I got it in ’91. It struggles to get past about 4000 RPM now. It still runs smoothly and shifts well, it now needs a front wheel bearing, front wishbone bushings and rear brakes shoes and tires.
I was going to drive my truck full time, a 2004 Titan bought new, only has 18k miles, I don’t drive much so the 13-14 MPG around town is no big problem when its only about 1k miles a year. The Jetta finally gets its well deserved retirement. But then my nephews friend wanted to sell his 2013 Mazda3 to me for $1000, and I wasn’t about to pass up a deal like that, and having a second car cuts my insurance rate, it has 102k miles on it and came with new tires and battery. I replaced a O2 sensor to fix a check engine light, changed the ATF fluid twice, cleaned throttle body and MAS sensor and she runs great, 5 speed auto, 2.0 148 HP is a real powerhouse compared to the 90 HP (when new) 1.8 Jetta, even though the Mazda weighs about 700 pounds more. It has same size gas tank (14.5 gal) and gets the same MPG, 25-35 town/hwy. Handles great, rear independent vs. twist beam, 4 wheel disc with modern safety equipment is all nice to have. AC is nice and cold, Jetta AC was always powerful as well, it slowly faded out about 5 years ago, may just need recharge.
If I get 30 years out of this car I’ll be 96😁!