Info on Mk1 Driver

Does anyone drive a Mk1 Golf Driver. I understand there was a 1300 and 1600 and that they were low insurance GTI lookalikes. What are they like to drive, where they just standard Golfs with GTI trim? Of all the Mk1s I see still driving around or for sale hardly any are Drivers - is it one of the rarer MK1 variants nowadays?

I ran a Driver for 5 years in the late eighties and early nineties. My brother currently runs one (not the same one). Mechanically its the same as the 1300 CL 5 Door, but in a 3 door shell. It has various options to make it look like a GTI, like the plastic wheel arch trims, rev counter and twin headlamps (actually fogs like the campaign). The 1600 was only in MK11 Drivers. We both had/have had good service from ours, but these days like all MK1s rust is the worst enemy and also I wouldn?t like to be going long distances in one everyday with only 4 gears. I used to get anything from sub 30 to 40+ MPG depending on the journey and time of year. The small block engines have a reputation of not being as reliable at the 1500,1600,1800 engines and can suffer from oil pump and oil pressure problems. They do appear on Ebay and autotrader quite regularly.

Mine is/was actually a driver (Before I got bored of the 1300!)

As for being rare - Almost every other non Gti Mk1 I see round here is a Driver!
As mentioned above, they were only available as 1300cc.
They had the plastic arches and stripes like the Gti, though the waistband was a thicker (uglier) version. Not sure if they have the windscreen pillar spoilers as standard, as I had to find some for mine…

Interior trim was very similar to Gti though the seats/cloth was not - Horrid black and white stuff!

Also, note that there were two productions runs of the Driver - in '80 (small rear lights, mostly W reg cars), and again in '83 (usually A reg).

Not many of the earlier ones about - I saw one for sale at the roadside in St Albans in the 90's (it was about 15 years old at the time) and, even at that stage, almost all the metal around the filler neck was gone, leaving the neck attached to the body by only one screw  8O  )

I used to have a Driver five years ago, it was my first car and bought for only ?150! 1300cc , Diamond silver, GTI stripes, a pillar trims, dodgy single wiper conversion.

It was really fun to drive and anyone who didnt know much about golfs thought it was a GTI… and i wasnt one to argue with them, didnt mind being known as GTI boy!  (i was only 19 with an image to uphold)  

I was quite surprised as to how nippy it was, being my first car after driving my dads 2.0i cavalier around!!

I just loved chuckin it about but the brakes were HORRENDOUS!!! i really did scare myself a few times  :?  

The only things i didnt like were the lack of 5th gear, it was tiring on the motorway, and the carb was buggered, towards the end i was only getting 80 miles per TANK!!!
Oh, and the horrible black and white seat material which looked like your granny could have knitted!

To be honest, if i saw one in decent condition for sale, id be interested in buying it, and id recommend it as a good  cheap,simple no nonsense runabout.

Anyway, i could write pages about my lovely lil Driver… i do miss it, but il stop now, i can sense my 1982 GTI calling me for some attention, its feeling neglected! lol

Cheers

Dharmesh

The Series 1 Golf Driver for 1980 Model Year cost ?4347.95 new. The responsive 1272 cc engine gave 0-60 mph in 8.6 s, a top speed of 93 mph yet returned 42.8 mpg at a constant 56 mph (on 2 star petrol). Maximum  power was 60 bhp at 5600 rpm and maximum torque was 95 Nm at 3500 rpm.

Equipment included:
- brushed aluminium instrument panel with rev counter (from the GL)
- passenger storage shelf
- centre console incorporating quartz clock and voltmeter
- black velour carpeting
- front door pockets
- Wolfsburg 3-spoke sports steering wheel
- sports seats
- Golf ball gear knob
- intermittent wiper facility
- 5.5" x 13" steel wheels and 175/70 SR13 tyres
- wheel arch trims and side stripes as on the GTi
- "Golf driver" badging on the front grille and rear

Exterior colours were Mars Red, Mandarin Orange and Santos Green. Limited to 3-door only.

Cheers
Rajan

Cheers

Funny they had two separate production runs. There is a bit about the driver in the Laurence Meredith book on the VW Golf. Its in this book that it claims there was a 1600 carb version produced?

It's an error. The 1272 cc was also fitted to the Series 2 Driver.

Cheers
Rajan

Ive got a driver, any questions just ask, I also have a sales magazine with all info about the driver