Golf Karmann Cabrio 1.6 GL SOLD :(

***£800 as I really REALLY need the money. ****

****Ok, massive price drop to £900 £800 as the clutch started slipping. Easy enough to sort out and I might do it next week if I find some money (the price will go back up to £1100 if I change the clutch)****


The car is still perfectly drivable!

I sadly have to sell my Volkswagen Golf Karmann Cabrio. It has over 6 months MOT and Tax until the end of August so it's ready to drive away. The car has been my daily driver since September 2010 and I've been doing around 1000 miles a month through the snow and rain in the Welsh hills where I used to live. It's now located in North Bristol where I moved last month and still drive it every day.

History.

The Golf was originally bought in Germany in 1986 by an officer of Welsh Guards stationing in Bergen, West Germany. It was right hand drive from new and had a few extras including a rare colour (Aero-blue) and a set of nice 'Snowflake' alloys (also quite rare in Britain). I still have the original detailed bill of sale from Autohaus Schmidt und Sohne in Bergen listing all the extras and the price of 22353,72 German Marks. After around 12 months of driving around Autobahns and serving his time in the Army the original buyer came back to Britain and drove it here for few years until he got banned from driving. Then the car got sold to his uncle who happily drove it for the next few years until it needed some work done to it and that's when he sold it to a young enthusiast called Simon (not his real name) in 1997. Simon had a lot of work done to the car (receipts available) and he drove it around until 1999. March 1999 was the last owner's change stated on the logbook when I came to buy it and there's no written history after that point. The person who I bought it of got it on 02/08/2010, put it through a quick service and it passed it's MOT few days later. He bought it strictly for profit from someone he knew and told me that the car was dry stored and not used for many years. This partially explains the gap from 1999 to 2010. After I bought it I did a lot of small repairs and subtle modifications to make sure the car was reliable enough to take me to work every day and it did its job and gave me a lot of pleasure from driving. I had big plans for the Summer including a lot of shows and a road trip around Europe but my circumstances changed and I moved to Bristol. Now I'm looking for a job and running out of money so the Golf will have to go. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to track it and buy it back…

Engine

The engine is fantastic! At the moment the mileage is at 140500, it starts every time and runs nice and smooth. It's a 1.6 carb engine that originally came with a Pierburg/Solex 2e2 carburettor that used an automatic choke system. That was a bit problematic so I managed to source a Weber 32/34 DMTL in great condition and it's simply excellent! It improved throttle response, added few MPG's and increased power slightly. Generally it made the car a lot more reliable and added a manual choke. The carburettor was also professionally tuned by a garage ran by a big Golf Mk1 enthusiast. As I was using the car I ran into some problems with the fuel system. Typically for a Golf the fuel filler pipe corroded inside and let some rust flakes in the fuel tank (1 out of 2 MOT advisories). This caused some blockages and the car to cut out few times. Since then I repaired the problem temporarily by cleaning out the tank and installing an extra fuel filter in between the fuel pump and a swirl pot. The car is not cutting out any more but the fuel filler neck will need to be changed at some point (it's seriously not that bad). The cost of a brand new pipe is £30-40 and it's really easy to replace but as I said I have no money at the moment. Recently it had a full cooling system flush and was filled with a high quality antifreeze. There is evidence of repair to the top of the radiator but I'm happy to say there are no leaks at all. I also changed the spark plugs and HT leads. Plugs are 'new old stock' Nippon / Denso four electrode ones and HT leads are O.E. quality Kerr Nelson. The car was originally fitted with electronic ignition and the control module recently failed. This was a pattern item and I replaced it with an original VW part what made the car run even smoother than before. I also added an extra heatsink to the module in order to prevent it from failing in the future and changed the rotor arm. Useful information to add is that because of the car's manufacturing year (1986) the engine is the same as in Golfs, Jettas and Sciroccos MK2 so there's no problem with the parts and they come a lot cheaper than the ones for the early MK1s although many parts are interchangeable.

Gearbox

It's a really good point of the car. It's a 5 speed but not just a normal one. It's a 4+E gearbox, similar to the one that was featured previously in a Golf Formel E (the VW's economical option). It's got longer ratios, higher torques and improves fuel economy. It still has 5 gears but the 5th is for cruising at higher speeds. I find that when I'm driving around town I rarely use 5th as even in 4th I can happily do speeds even up to 60mph. The mystery of 5th or 'E' for Economy is that at 60-70mph it cruises in low revs (2000-3000 rpm) saving you petrol and keeping the noise down. The box in my golf is in excelent condition. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it and in the last few months I drained it and filled it with high quality Castrol gearbox oil. Of course it's not that smooth when started up on -10 degrees winter morning but after warming up to a normal driving temperature it's flawless.

Brakes

They work. They stop the car like they should without pulling to any side. There's plenty of life left in the pads and discs. Rear drums (self adjusting) used to stick ever so slightly for the first few days I owned it (remember - the car was stored for years) but they adjusted themselves and never caused a problem. The handbrake works and does not stick. I had to park the car on a very steep hill many times over night and it held it no problem. I also had a few emergency stops on Welsh single lane roads and they never let me down.

Suspension and Steering

When I got the car the original suspension was not very good. Rear shocks were shot and I wasn't sure how long the fronts would last. I also thought the car was far too high for my liking so I bought a set of brand new Raceland coilover suspension together with new top mounts all round. I lowered the car by around 50mm. After installing the coilovers I took it to a garage to adjust camber angle, set tracking and check the suspension. Everything was done on a super precise Hawkeye laser machine and cost me a fortune but now I can practically let go of the steering wheel at 60 (not recommended) and it will go straight. The handling is sublime! The car goes into corners like it's stuck to the road and there's very little body roll. It's a massive improvement over stock suspension which was 'boating' quite a lot. Obviously the car lost a bit on ride comfort but it's definitely not as bad as some people say. In fact I was positively surprised! The only things to remember are to avoid potholes and not go too fast over speed bumps. Steering is nice and tight (obviously it doesn't have power steering) and as I said it doesn't pull to any side. The only problem is that the off side CV boot is gone and it's the second and last advisory on the MOT certificate. There are absolutely no symptoms of this but I advise sorting it out in the near future.

Exterior and Wheels

The body is very solid. Underneath there's no rust. All the sills are clean and there's absolutely no rot. The only problematic area is the off side front wing which was changed and sprayed (very good colour match!) due to the second owner scratching it. Unfortunately it was a poor quality pattern wing and it corroded quite badly on the bottom. Luckily these are still quite cheap, easy to find and very easy to replace (I'm in the process of sorting an original one out for £30, will update if I manage to get it). Also the paint (as I mentioned - Aero Blue) is still easily available from VW and on the internet (I believe the code is LY5R but will have to double check). Apart from the wing there are very few small spots and chips but nothing serious. The car is 25 years old so the body can't be perfect. The most important thing is that it doesn't require any welding and it's a very solid car. The bumpers are not perfect but they're solid and don't look bad at all. It also has some rather nice GTI style wheelarch covers that look really good (I believe they were there since new). When I was looking for a Golf Cabrio I was determined not to get a Clipper as I really hate the bodykit (and there's usually a lot of rust hiding underneath it as it's impossible to clean). My Golf has a great retro look to it with all the chrome details and that's why I liked it so much. This also brings me to another small issue. The black/chrome strip on the driver's door fell of when I closed the door one day and then someone drove over it. There are brand new trim clips on the door (+ few spare) and I have the strip. I think it's repairable but again, parts like this are very cheap and easy to find so it's probably better to source one from somewhere (I was offered a full set of 6 once for £20! but that was when I didn't need them, typical…). The bootlid also misses a strut which I tried to replace but bought one that was too long. This is an expense of about £10. Front spot lights are pretty new and original Hella ones that I painted yellow (Amber Light - special paint for this purpose) but the colour can be easily removed using cellulose thinners if wanted. As for the wheels they are rather rare. They were available in the UK but mostly on Sciroccos and on Golfs as an option (not sure about this one but I saw them on couple). They are commonly called 'Snowflakes' but I think they were properly called Scala and are rather light. Somewhere along the lines someone painted them grey which I didn't like but now got used to them. My plan was to sandblast them, detail the insides of the spokes in black and polish the rest (if you google VW Snowflake alloys you'll know what I mean). They have some light curbing but nothing major. All tyres have plenty of tread but two front ones have few cracks in the side walls (they're a bit old).

Roof

The most 'fun' part of the Cabrio is the roof or rather possibility of removing it when it's not raining. The important thing is that it doesn't leak. Since I've had the car it has always been parked outside. It was in a garage when I bought it and it wasn't until the first rainy day that I realised that the roof handles leak a bit. I immediately managed to source new gaskets and I'm happy to say it stayed dry over winter so it's all good. The roof is vinyl and it's quite old (pre 2000). Although it doesn't leak it could probably do with some adjustment or maybe even change in the future as it has few little cracks on the edges. There are absolutely no holes in the outer sheet. The roof is of course manual and it's very easy and quick to put it down or up. It will need some lubrication (WD40 or similar) on the hinges as at the moment it's quite stiff after being up all winter (I've put it down few time since I wrote this ad and it's perfectly allright now - yay for the sunny February days!). I also have a white / cream tonneau cover for it when folded. I must say it's an awesome feeling driving this car with the roof down on a sunny day. To be honest I enjoy driving like this in any weather apart from rain!

Interior and Car Audio

Interior on the golf despite the age still looks really nice. It's blue, like the rest of the car and so is the carpet and door cards. Unfortunately the driver's seat is not doing too well. Lower off side bolster is shot and the fabric on both upper and lower bolster is ripped. It didn't bother me too much as I'm not very big so the seat supports me quite well anyway. It's possible to find a seat like this if you have a look around breakers and eBay but my plan was to get a passenger seat from Germany (they tend to be much less used). All the rest of the seats are in excellent condition. There are few marks on them but nothing too visible. Tops of both door cards have few cracks on them. I was told that it's very common for the cabrios (because of the sun) and there are replacement available (probably even brand new). Rear bench looks like it's not been used at all. I threw some universal floor mats in the car too and they will come with it. The dashboard is very clean and polishes quite well. Everything is there and everything works. I changed most of the backlight bulbs, rewired few switches and made sure that backlight dimming works as well. I also installed 3 gauges in the centre console. There's oil temperature, battery voltage and oil pressure. Unfortunately I didn't have money to buy a sender for the oil pressure gauge (£20) but I will explain which one to buy and how to fit it (easy job). Other two work as they should and I can safely say that the engine temperature is always spot on (around 80C) and the battery charges well. The Golf will also come with my retro stereo. It's a JVC unit that plays cassettes but there's also a JVC 12CD changer hidden under the passenger's seat. I have also made an AUX connection so you can connect your iPod, iPhone or other MP3 player of your choice. There are small Pioneer speakers in the side of the centre console which means that the door cards are left untouched. There are also rather good Alpine 6x9's in the parcel shelf and everything works and sounds great. This setup doesn't tempt thieves and has functionality of a modern stereo with quite a retro look which is exactly what I wanted.

Security

The Golf has an aftermarket immobiliser fitted. It's got 2 fobs and a certificate of installation by a professional car security specialist for insurance purposes. It's very well installed, well hidden and functions as it should. I also have a spare key for the car. Both keys open all locks.

Overall

The car is in very decent condition and ready to drive. Due to the age and engine (1.6 non-GTi) it is extremely cheap to insure (I can suggest few good companies) and also cheap to run (up to around 40mpg!). Yes, it's got few minor faults but it is 25 years old and for a car that age it's absolutely amazing anyway! It's perfect to drive around and fix it step by step as the parts are still widely available and quite cheap (I will suggest few sources to the new owner). The prices of these cars are only going up so it's an investment too, you can't lose out. I really don't want to sell it but my situation now is getting quite serious so the new owner will get themselves a true bargain before it even starts getting warm outside. At the moment I lowered the price considerably because I will not be able to afford Tax at the end of February and really REALLY don't want to take it off the road!

Please e-mail me or call if you have any questions, offers or want to view the car:

Mike
mobile: O79126O562O (usually poor signal but leave a message or text and I'll call back)

e-mail: mykey AT gmail DOT com (pretty much instant response as I check it very often)

Thanks for taking your time to read it all!

PRICE: £900 as the clutch started slipping

Picture time!










Last month I contacted the dealership in Germany that sold this car 25 years ago. I got hold of a guy that was handling Armed Forces sales in the 1980's and he was very happy to hear that one of the cars he sold is still on the road and doing great. He also sent me a little gift to put on the Golf. Here's the picture

I also asked if they can source any period dealership stickers but was told that they definitely won't be able to track any down Interestingly I was told that all UK cars had to have the stickers taken off before exporting as it was a clear indication that the owner of the car was an army officer and therefore in danger of terrorist attack!