richie's mars red '84 gti

so, i have recently become the owner of another mars red gti, this time an '84 model …..





mk2!!!!

it is about as close to a mk1 as you can get, but in a mk2 shell.
this is an april '84 build mars red super early one, with all the right bits there 

apart from the pirelli's, but they wouldn't have stayed anyway!!!  at first glance looks to be a very tidy car, but pics can be decieving!!!!

still has its GTI badges on the wings   with paint flaking off round them….. This is a common feature around the car in various places 


An example of the issues it has!!! - passenger door rusted away and full of filler……


more rough spots all over, but mainly just surface rust and little scabs, but full repaint needed on this one..
but hey, its an over 30 year old car, and another mars red for the garage…. . interior has mk1 layout clocks - with mpg meter up top in the middle, mk1 material seats, an mfa that works!!, quarterlights and mirrors like mk1,  cool as heck!!!

had the seats out and thoroughly vacuumed and scrubbed them and the carpets - they came up well   apart from the holes in the drivers bolster, but that's fixable with some material..


engine bay is as you'd expect for a 30 year old motor, oily and leaky!! but all k-jet and 99% the same as mk1 too….



had to put some stripes on the sides and go for a cruise for some shots, of course!! 



so yeah, next project is on.
plenty of good points on this car:

is mars red.
has the correct early grille.
has the gti badges on wings.
proper small spoiler on front.
its mars red.
plain black bumpers - no red stripe.
mk1 style seat material.
mk1 style clocks.
it is solid, not rotten.
is mot'd till feb 2018.
2nd month of mk2 gti production.

have already replaced the rad and thermostat, and some water hoses to fix it running hot.
stripped and rebuilt the wiper linkage and the gear linkage as both were dry and very sticky.
bolted the front panel in properly!!! stripped and scrubbed the interior.
rebuilt the drivers lock to match the rest - came with 4 keys for some reason…
stuck the side stripes on.

you know this will get the same treatment as the mk1, so much cleaning and updates to come because on the to-do list we have:

needs a cv joint
clutch won't be long.
exhaust rattles. and blows. and is very loud. and the wrong one.
headliner needs re trimming
seat needs doing.
rear top mounts clunk.
passenger door barrel doesn't work.
tracking is out.
boot struts don't work (4ft bit of wood kindly provided by previous uncareful owner)
passenger window doesn't work.
parcel shelf has broken 6x9's hacked into it - probably with a axe by the looks of it.
rear panel needs replacing - again.
full repaint in a while - gonna rock the scabby look for a while.

will get them both out for side by side pics soon!!!! 

One of these early cars was on my wish list a couple of years ago but they were either all too expensive or too rotten.

There is a guy on the Mk2 forum with a B reg early spec in mint condition, saw it last year. I thought Mars Red would have had the red/orange stripes interior, but maybe you got the option of both. I have an early brochure somewhere I will dig out.

Think this might be the car on Piston Heads.

1984 Golf GTI - Page 1 - Readers' Cars - PistonHeads UK


The very first ones had the GTI badge on the other side of the grille but looked so wrong I think many just swapped them over.

Cracking find Rich   I can't remember the last time I saw an A-Reg MK2 GTIn

Hi Richie ,great to see you have got a mk2 ,really just a 10%more mk1 !Very few of those around now.
My first  mk2 was very similar in age to yours with the front wing badges stripey seats shallow spoiler ,and also a single pipe exhaust .Then the first things I did was put a deeper front spoiler on it and twin tail pipe exhaust .Of course if I had it now it would all be turned back .My car was five years old had 140k and the front door was rusty in the  corner despite being only a pup.So if yours needs some love at 30 years old it's no shame . All the best for your plans for it .

RichardHall  that one you have pictured is an absolute minter!!! have been reading about that one…….    
and i'm not sure on the interior also, i have seen both white and black with the red interior, aswell as this interior, and have seen red with both…. maybe it was an option?

also the grille on this one has two little bars, or vertical strips to click the badge into, on the passenger side.. all the other early ones i have seen have the GTI on the drivers side, as you say… it will stay where it is, looks better!!!  

Hairyarse  hey andy!!!!

i have been looking into mk2's in general for a while, and when this super early one came up at a sensible price - in the right colour !!!    it just kinda had to be done!!!! silly thing is, if it was any other colour i wouldn't have bought it !!!
as you say - A plate ones are pretty rare. checked on the work system ref chassis numbers, was built april '84 - apparently RHD mk2 gti production started in march….

ivortheengine that's cool - same as down here. when we were 19 my mate had a B plate white one so remember these from a long time ago !!!    
thanks for the good luck - i may need it with this one!!

so, it turns out the seats aren't mk1 style, they use mk1 material   which is great because it means i can do as i did for the mk1 recaros, and unpick the stitches, wash the cloth and flip it over. brand new again….  


also had the mk1 out today, so parked them side by side for the first time!!




this makes me chuckle for some reason, kinda like odd double vision!    everything is very similar, but slightly different…  

Just looked at my Jan 84 MK2 Brochure and it lists

RED INTERIOR
Mars Red
Alpine White
Atlas Grey

GREY INTERIOR
Black
Diamond Silver

Might have originally been a personal import as many of the last MK1s were and they came in Mars Red with Grey interiors as well.

Good news on the material,in that you can switch round sure they will look as good as the ones you did in your MK1

aah, interesting……

i kinda like the grey interior to be fair, and finding a red one will be very difficult !!  

Looking good mate! Good find👍🏻

Love it!

I do like the early mk2 gtis!


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P0jy said

Love it!

I do like the early mk2 gtis!


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thanks mate!! me too - have fancied one for a while. HAD  to be red though……  

on another note, do you now own UNA???  

richievr said

P0jy said

Love it!

I do like the early mk2 gtis!


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thanks mate!! me too - have fancied one for a while. HAD  to be red though……  

on another note, do you now own UNA???  

Yes I fancied a mk2 type 19 gti after the Nevada, but then UNA came along!.

You know the car?…


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indeed! the old owner is a good friend of mine..
very tidy car you bought, look after her!  

Now that's a great picture! 2 lucky owners.

richievr said

indeed! the old owner is a good friend of mine..
very tidy car you bought, look after her!  

Ah yes, the name rings a bell now. I remember him mentioning you and the mars red tintop that's mint!

I will be looking after UNA for sure!

You should submit that pic as pic of the month!


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Nice to keep the car 'in the family' so to speak  

When this car pulled up outside my house I did a double take and wondered what the hell Rich had put on the mk1 in the way of wheels and why so loud, then realised what he had, have seen this in the flesh, great project dude  

have been chipping away at the job list for the mk2 gradually.

exhaust system replaced with the right single tailpipe one. now it doesn't knock over every bump, which is nice…  
replaced passenger window lifter, so that now works too.
new boot struts so it doesn't land on your head!
sourced an inner boot trim, to cover the wiper linkage.
repainted all the wiper arms.
fitted some clear indicators on the front.

have started to refurb a set of wheels, ready for all new suspension bits to go on soon

nothing exciting, but gradually getting better…

and managed to pick up an nos rear lamp panel….


but none of the bodywork will get done for a while, sorting the mechanical side and missing bits first.

RichardHall said

Just looked at my Jan 84 MK2 Brochure and it lists

RED INTERIOR
Mars Red
Alpine White
Atlas Grey

GREY INTERIOR
Black
Diamond Silver

Might have originally been a personal import as many of the last MK1s were and they came in Mars Red with Grey interiors as well.

Good news on the material,in that you can switch round sure they will look as good as the ones you did in your MK1

RichardHall i think you are right on the personal import side - had this from VW germany :

which confirms it is a very early production car, and not shown, on the rest of the email it says :

country of entry : germany
note: uk mph

and the first registered in uk date is nov '85 on the log book i have received from the dvla.

so it left the factory as a uk, rhd, mph speedo, red car with silver/grey interior. then came to the uk later on..  

Nice bit of history, might help future values being such an early car - you never know.