Dilema, what to do with my Rivage

I really am in two minds of what to do with my 92 Rivage,   this is my third mk1 cabriolet, first one being a clipper approx. 10 years ago was very rough and was just a bit of summer fun,   second one about 5 years ago was a gti which I kept for two years then sold do to moving house,  but I regretted selling ever since so earlier this year I bought my Rivage as a bit of a "barn find"  had been sitting in a dry unit for nearly 4 years covered in rubbish with a blown engine.  I've rebuilt the engine, fully serviced it, tidied it up, and mot'd it,  we are currently using it as weekend / fun car, it's running really well.

The Rivage is very low mileage 87k, with ALL history, original paperwork all mots loads of receipts etc,  it is also very solid,  unfortunately it had already been modified before I got my hands on it, its not beyond reverting back to original.  it has a 16v engine running motorbike carbs (does sound awesome) BBS rep wheels, KW coilovers, and the interior has been retrimmed in black and blue leather!
The bodywork although very solid has A LOT of stone chips,  a few dings here and there, some lacquer peel on the boot, and the bonnet/wing tops have been blown over previously.  So really it could benefit from some paint,  but I'm the kind of person that if a car is rare and has original paint, a few dings and scratches are better than a respray.
Trouble is I really want to fully modify a mk1,  smooth engine bay,  full respray in some sort of different colour, recaros, big engine etc etc but the purist in me doesn't want to do all that to a Rivage that (I saw somewhere) only 170 odd were registered on the road last year, and is still in a good position to be put back to original…  I missed an original blue interior on here a couple months back for £150!

So do I sell as is, and buy a not so rare mk1 to play with….  or do I forget its a Rivage and do what I want?   I've never personally been a fan of blue cars!!

Thanks
Marc

Being a fellow Rivage owner persoanlly as there are so few left I'd get back to standard. I see so many cars that people sell as the Model it's supposed to be but they are so far removed from their originality I can't see how they resemble the proper car in the first place. Then the sellers wack a huge price tag on it. Problem being a purist wouldn't pay the price tag or even bother to offer on it. People say tastefully improved on the original, but taste is subjective. There's a market for everything. I've seen Rivages with white graphics, re-trimmed interiors that are nothing like the OEM, massive bling wheels instead of the Le Castelettes. Steering wheel and gear knob all gone. All detracting from a purist view point. I walked away from a couple Rivages when I was looking because the cost of returning them to near standard wasn't reflected in the price the seller wanted. Plus he'd sold all the good parts for the skull gear knob lol. But my market was for a standard Rivage.

If I was to do a project car I'd just get a cabby GTI and do what I wanted.

However it's personal taste and it's your car.
Should you Mod the car would it only increase the value of my (standard) car to a purist and would it class as one less Rivage on the road if it's a drastic change?
That's only my view point, someone who is into modded cars may not even care it was a Rivage but love what you've done. Horses for Courses as the saying goes. Some might look at my car and say it's boring as it's standard.

I fully 100% agree with everything you have said there,  which is my dilemma!    I want to modify A mk1 golf I just don't want to ruin a rare model,  I have already replaced the aftermarket steering wheel with an original, replaced the clear lights/indicators with original amber and just sourced the correct wing mirrors this week!
Because this is a rare model I'm finding myself spending money on original parts rather than what I really want to do!

Wheels and lowering is something I would do with most cars, (like my M3 I have CSL wheels on it, but I have kept the OEM wheels stored, everything else is original)

I'm leaning towards selling this to somebody who wants to return/keep original and using the sale money to by a basic model to play with,  the low mileage and all the history is worth it.
Really to return this to standard it needs -
- DX engine with inlet manifold
- Blue Rivage seats
- Wheels
- Suspension
- fuel pump
I'm not sure how much that lot would cost, I think the hardest part would be the seats,  but then there will always be keen interest selling off the 16v, the carb and conversion bits, the BBS and the coilovers!

I wouldn't have a clue what to advertise it for as it stands,   I think to buy a fair basic model GTI I would need £2500-3500 browsing adverts!

Appreciate the input, thanks

Do you want to make money? If no do what you like if yes then do what VW did but better, i.e. Perfect paint on engine bay. Perfect gaps lol etc. If you total budget is 3 to 4 k then it is a struggle I would buy the latest gti I could find and make it what ever you like. You will loose a bucket load of £ but if you never sell it and I it for personal pleasure then it does not matter. If you were talking about molesting a campaign then for sure I would say leave well enough alone.


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Oh god I know too well from my younger days (20 years ago) what a bottomless pit modifying can become haha
The figures I mentioned above is what I'd expect to be able to pick up a basic fair working GTI cabby for!
I certainly wouldn't expect to make any money from modifying, I'm sure the only way of making money in cars is in appreciating original classics!

This year is my first year of going back to shows for many years, and I am absolutely loving the look of these minimalist mk1's with the tidy brown interiors, wooden steering wheels etc!

I get that then if that is what you want a ground up rebuild in your own vision then buy a 1.1 golf and  a donor car say a mk4 or similar and add all the bits you want (like engine etc) and then you have a unique car with no guilt of killing a gti. Personally I am not a golf fan (wait for it) I am a golf gti fan tin tops and campaigns are what I love but although I can appreciate a 5 door diesel it is not giving me the buzz of being 22 again (also 20 years ago). If you have time, facilities and skills (all missing from me) then all you need is a good rolling shell as a starting point - no matter what do what makes you happy and proud. Good luck.


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Doesn't matter whether it's a campaign. It's a highly desirable Late rare limited edition Cabriolet.

A good Rivage standard I'd expect to fetch good money.
£5,000 upwards. Really nice examples up to £10,000.
It's about knowing the cabriolet market.

You can pick up Cabbies if you look around and ask about fairly cheap. I spoke to a guy the other day about one. It needs plenty of work. He said he'd take £800 which I thought was a bit expensive considering what needs doing.
If you've got skills and space to take a project on the Sky's the limit..
If the Rivage is nice and standard it should fetch good money allowing you scope to get what you want.
I'd love to do a sleeper cabby project.
Have to be deep red, metallic, pearl, candy etc. Nice Beige leather interior. VW did the classicline model in Bordeaux Red, plus the other Rivage colours. All Rivage spec  beige leather interior, heated seat,power windows, power roof etc.

If you did buy a Gti cabriolet you could remove that cars engine and stick it in the Rivage to make it a bit more original then you have a free engine bay in the Gti to stick in what ever you want?

mark1gls said

If you did buy a Gti cabriolet you could remove that cars engine and stick it in the Rivage to make it a bit more original then you have a free engine bay in the Gti to stick in what ever you want?

Funny I have also thought of this same solution which makes excellent sense,  however my current spare funds are currently being used to resurface / extend our driveway, and recarpet our complete upstairs!!    Not so exciting I know but needs must, therefore I would have to sell the Rivage to fund the project!

I don't know, maybe I'll think about it a little longer, still got a few jobs to do tidying the rivage,  one of which is fitting the original wing mirrors,  does anyone know if they are supposed to be body coloured, or black plastic?

They are body colored mirror housings.

You need proper Rivage decals and stone chip protectors give me a shout.

here's a link to my Rivage project…

https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=projects%2Fyour-mk1-golfs_2%2Fchortles-project-green

Thanks for the info

Thanks, I'll have a read of that later

Interesting comments… to me original is best.. my car has a few stone chips & a little mark here & there, this was how it was bought but it is not resprayed or modded at all. Personally think people who will pay good money for a car & will pay more for the rarity of it being original as in standard to dealer spec. That is pretty much how it is on other make cars.. restored certain classics fetch silly money yes - but they've had silly money spent on them, so recouping so money & a few £ profit. Barn find is too common a term being used nowadays. My 10 pence..


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Deandubya said

Interesting comments… to me original is best.. my car has a few stone chips & a little mark here & there, this was how it was bought but it is not resprayed or modded at all. Personally think people who will pay good money for a car & will pay more for the rarity of it being original as in standard to dealer spec. That is pretty much how it is on other make cars.. restored certain classics fetch silly money yes - but they've had silly money spent on them, so recouping so money & a few £ profit. Barn find is too common a term being used nowadays. My 10 pence..

Yes, take the Series 1 RS Turbos for example,  I had two 20 and 18 years ago and would love another original one,  but pushing 15-20k for an old escort is beyond me!

I agree with the term barn find hence the "   "  for me a barn find is a classic car that has been left in "as new" condition and pretty much forgotten about over the years…   mine was put away with intention of repairing nearly four years ago,  although it was on a farm  

What you say about original paint is the same view I have IF it was a rare classic car I would rather buy a car with a few stone chips / some scratches and original paint, than one that has been resprayed.   However my Rivage looks like it spent the majority of it's 87k behind a gritter or on resurfaced roads!!!

I figure to put mine back to standard will cost me the best part of £1k plus time sourcing parts, deducting whatever I can make back on the parts removed.

If you fancy a swap for a 'normal' MK1 GTI Cab on a F Plate with loads of history that is a good candidate for a 'fun' project let me know, I am more into standard cars and returning them to their original glory.

 

BirchyB0y said

If you fancy a swap for a 'normal' MK1 GTI Cab on a F Plate with loads of history that is a good candidate for a 'fun' project let me know, I am more into standard cars and returning them to their original glory.

Hi BillyBoy
I just had a look at yours, I tell you what, yours and mine combined would almost make 1 very good standard spec Rivage with excellent history!  I think it would just need The Rivage Blue seats…. missed a set for £150 on here!!
I'm still on the fence with what to do with mine, probably going to be a while before I make a decision,  but IF I was to sell I think I would be asking around the £5k area.

I think you know which way to go with it.

Sell it on. Either returned to standard or as is and hope the next owner returns it to standard.

Otherwise you'll have the guilt.

That's why we have so many cars lurking about! The Derby was my first car and completely original when I got it, I've played with it but kept all the original bits so I can return it to standard.

The golfs have all been bought as shells or as ebay broken projects. That way I didn't feel any guilt about doing what I wanted.

Good luck

Ian

Yep,   I've had a good think over the weekend and took it to Alive and Vdubbin show.  I've decided to keep it for this summer,  as it already is and some weekend fun, shows etc,  keeping an eye out here and there with no desperation for any original bits required.

If I happen to get any offers at any shows from anyone wanting to restore as original I'll happily listen to them, then I'll see what is about over the winter and maybe advertise.

Hopefully by then I may have a DX engine and inj system,  and possible the blue rivage seats.
I've already got rid of the nasty steering wheel,  I couldn't believe I bought an original steering wheel for £20 (absolute bargain) and sold the BBS wheel that was in the car on ebay for £195 !!!
I've replace front and side indicators with original ambers, and I have the original rears to go on,  I've just got to figure out reversing the wiring from the aftermarket ones,  I haven't looked yet!

Thanks for all the help and suggestions making my mind up!

Did you put into the arena didn't see another cabby alongside mine  where bouts are you I do have a spare DX engine and it's not siezed no injection system tho


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wilko13 said

Did you put into the arena didn't see another cabby alongside mine  where bouts are you I do have a spare DX engine and it's not siezed no injection system tho

No I didn't put in the arena, just the day parking.  I went for the day on Sunday,   I did see a nice tidy looking white cabby in there though I assume was yours
oooh,  I'm hoping to hold out for a complete lump with injection system still on it, seeing as it's not urgent. unless of course an absolute bargain stares at me!