Mk1 Jetta Coupe - Electric Conversion (Eventually)

Hi all,

Just picked up an incredibly tatty and mostly-in-pieces mk1 Jetta coupe. Currently living in Berlin, Germany and recently swapped out my mk1 golf for a mk2. Absolutely hated it, so decided to go on a hunt for something new. Have always loved the way the mk1 jetta coupe looked and it's been a bit of a dream of mine to build one up in a series 1 GTI spec (5.5j steel wheels, tartan cloth interior, early dashboard etc). This popped up on my radar a week or so ago and looked like a good basis for the project. A 14 hour round trip to Düsseldorf later and this is what I ended up:




I have two main objectives with the build:

1. Short term plan is to give the car proper clean and rebuild the car from the parts I have and give the car a thorough de-chavving (not really a fan of the modified look).

2. Longer term I am going  to swap the engine out for an electric motor and battery setup. Probably something like this, which kicks out plenty of power, whilst not being completely OTT. I'm also currently building an electric mini (classic) as a side project, so will be lending pretty heavily from what we are doing with that build. If anyone is interested, our project-hopefully-one-day-a-business is called Cotswold EV.

Mechanically, a previous owner (way back in 1994) swapped out the 1.3 engine for a 1.6 Scirocco mk1 engine (?) and a 5 speed GTI gearbox. The previous owner was really excited about this, but I know very little about Sciroccos so if anyone knows anything, I'd love to hear more.

As well as updating the thread, I am planning to make a video or two along the way to show progress. Thanks! 

Yeah , the problem with leccy vehicles and new cars in general ( for me) is the looks, something like this, or the mini, or a mk1, or any number of older cars with an electric motor would be fine by me..

If it ends up anything like this it will be awesome

Homebuilt Electric E30 BMW 3 Series with a Tesla-GM Powertrain Is the Future of Hot Rods - The Drive
https://www.thedrive.com/news/27744/homebuilt-electric-e30-bmw-3-series-with-a-tesla-gm-powertrain-is-the-future-of-hot-rods

1985 That bimmer is a bit of a beast. This will hopefully be a bit more tame, but also retain all of the handling characteristics of the original car. Aiming for no net weight gain or change to weight distribution. It's a challenge, but hopefully achievable.

Germany is just the best for finding original parts. Picked up a complete S1 Gti interior for an absolute steal. Only downside is that the seats are trimmed in a pretty nasty black corduroy, so will need to be retrimmed in the nicer tartan cloth.



Fairly long way to go to get the interior up to scratch though…