5th gear votes the new Golf GTI as car of the year

hi how do i check ?

littlekev said

Speaking about the mk 5 i drove it last week at knockhill and loved it, i like the way it has the tartan seats and the silver dash surrounds like the original mk 1. I tried my hardest to tail the thing out round the corners but it just wouldn't move. Some might say this spoils the fun in driving but from a safety point of view it is great!!!!
Only wish i could afford the ?20,000 for one and it would have to be dsg

the mk5 looks excellent but i cant help thinking is it worth the money, compared to the cost of the mk1 when it was launched. the mk1 was affordable for every one the new gti seems to be out pricing itself. ok ok so wages etc have got up inflation etc but do you think its good value

Posting links on behalf of 3piece!

Check out his Silver Campaign - very nice!

http://oceansidevw.fpic.co.uk/p4101933.html

http://oceansidevw.fpic.co.uk/p4101934.html

http://oceansidevw.fpic.co.uk/p4101914.html

The day will come when the MK 1 GTIs value will exceed the MK 5 GTI. The MK 5 may look pretty and handle just as well as the MK 1 ;-) but the classic MK1 will be the long term winner :-)

I have to admit to looking forward to a drive of the Mk5 GTI, but I can't see that it or any of the other marks of the Golf can truely be regarded as classics. Only the mk1 Golf GTI did the trailblazing for the hot hatch concept, and only the mk1 Golf restored VW fortunes after the collapse of the Beetle. Everything else has been a variation on a theme, sometimes better, sometimes worse, but not really original thought.

Cheers,

Drew.

Whilst the Mk5 sounds very good, it is, as others have said merely a good implementation of a tried and tested formula that all the manufacturers are using nowadays to a greater or lesser degree.

One of the things that makes the Mk1 Gti sought after, and a true "classic" is that not only is it a great drive with a distinctive look, but also that as Drew said it kick started the whole FWD hot hatch market.

This is the reason that it is becoming collectable. I am not sure the Mk5 will become a classic in the same way. One of the main problems with a lot of new cars and their potential future classic status is that it will be very hard for an enthusiast to keep them on the road after their "design life" is exceeded. Most of them contain very complex electronics / airbags and other features that are just not user repairable.

This is likely to make restoring a car like this expensive, not to mention difficult.

Chris

I still have an old alpine white Datsun 240z and is the most sought after z series Datsun out of this range, 240z,260z,280z,300z. The 240z series is the first version and is the mk1 of Datsuns. The value has recently rocketed from 3k to 11k! So it is my opinion that the MK1 Golf will always be the one to go for, sure the MK5 is" I must have one" but give it a few years and the it will end up in the skip.

3PIECE ,  that is a VERY!!  nice car youve got there i think ive seen it in a mag somewhere am i right :?:

hi volksacre, thanks ,has popped up in mags is picture in last golf + mag getting blitzed up strip at santa pod mind he has got 20vt 4wd launch control +nos

http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/NewGolfGTi2005/01/

I like this bit the best from the above link:

"When I was living in Fulham, back in the early Eighties, there were two types of people. Those with Golf GTis, and Aussie barmen who got ?1.86 an our for pulling our pints. If you had a car, you had a GTi, preferably in Lhasa Green with a hint of Val D'Is?re mud up the doors". ;-)

Well, I guess Jeremy likes it a bit then….  :wink: . Still, he does admit to being biased at the start of the article.

This made me laugh:

"When I was living in Fulham, back in the early Eighties, there were two types of people. Those with Golf GTis, and Aussie barmen who got ?1.86 an our for pulling our pints. If you had a car, you had a GTi, preferably in Lhasa Green with a hint of Val D'Is?re mud up the doors."

…. now where did I put that pot of Val D'Is?re mud……

Chris

Hehe - snap!!!! That was the quote that stood out for me too  

I love the colour lhasa, however I'm starting to take to red, could be because the mk5 gti that was featured 5th gear was in red.

Yeah, Mars Red is, some would say, the definitive Mk1 GTi colour.

I guess I just like metallics better, and they tend to stand the test of time better without fading due to the clear topcoat mostly I think.

I remember years ago (back in about '87), one of the guys I used to work with had a pretty well used Mk1 1600 in Mars red that I used to get a lift in occasionally. It always sounded great and he really drove it like it was supposed to be driven - hard  8O . At the time I had a really knackered rubber bumper MGB, which always felt severly slow after a lift in his car  :roll: .

Chris

Nice try ehh?
Guess you will never part with that sought after lhasa campaign ;-)

 - nah my Campaign is a "keeper" i hope - as long as I don't manage to have an accident in it like I did with my other car  :roll:  That was also supposed to be a long term keeper, but now could shortly be a large cube of scrap.

As well as being great fun to drive the Campaign should be quite a financially sound car from a depreciation point of view too.

Chris

Chris,

You're onto a winner with your lhasa campaign, hold on tight ;-)


I changed my red springs today for the standard gti springs, what a difference!!!! but noticed a flat tyre on the rear. I went to the local tyre garage and had a good chat with the chap that was repairing the tyre, he said his 64,000 mile Datsun sunny that was mint condition was worth 8k! not sure he was having me on but those cars where common as dirt in the 80's. Could the MK1 Golf rocket in price?

I'm hanging on to my lhasa.

Hehe - well maybe SOMEONE would give him ?8K for it, but certainly not me, and I doubt it would be valued at that to be honest. I mean its still a Datsun Sunny after all…. rare or not  :wink:

Mate of mine had a custard yellow estate version of the Sunny as his first car (this would have been in about '85). The thing was a pile of doggy do and had a terminal case of tinworm. In fact I think his was almost 2 tone by the time it (thankfully) expired  

I guess there is always someone willing to restore a poor car back to pristine condition, but sometimes I do wonder why they bother. A fully restored Austin Allegro is still an Allegro, and even the most die hard of enthusiasts has to admit they were pretty poor cars when new….. still each to his own.

Chris

I wouldn't give him 10p for that Datsun sunny, I never told him that though.. LOL.. but he did add that very few Datsun sunnys remain on the roads as most of them have been scrapped through rust problems. As I can recall the Datsun Sunny was one of the best sellers in the early 80s.

Food for thought!