Water Cooled VW's Not So Cool These Days

[Meiang]

It was easy to drive a really cool water cooled VW in the early 1980's.

Todays VW's just can't be made to stand out from the crowd no matter what you do to them - everything looks the same now.

Here is me with my Golf back in 1984 (I'm on the left).

My Golf was a 1980 model with the following mods:
- BBS Full Flare Kit.
- RIAL 15x6 Rims with Yokohama 205/60 A008 Tyres.
- Bilstein shock absorbers.
- Pioneer Centrate Audio System (With CD Player - Remember this is 1984 - CD's released just the year before - I still have the original receipt more than US$1200 for the head unit).
- Boston Accoustics split system speakers at the front.
- Jenson 6x9 speakers at the rear.
- Nakamichi amps front and rear.
- Recaro front seats.
- Momo steering wheel and gear lever knob.
- GTI fill in reflector between the tail lights.
- Car repainted an Audi colour - Indiana Metalic Red

Oh to be a student again with nothing to spend money on other than cars and going out having fun.

[TDCTDI]

That one would be really cool today (especially in this country with RHD). Just recreate it (unless you still have it) & don't worry about the current crap.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[vwjunkie3]

Very cool Golf sir!!

Love the look of it!! Had a Royal Red 84 GTI with a BBS body kit (still have)
and 15x7 Gold BBS wheels (still have these also) Alpine head unit, Nakamichi amps and old school alarm system.

Will create the car again someday!!

Again VERY COOL!!

[ps2375]

Too bad no real speed parts on it. Take the excess wight out of it, drop it an inch and those seats will be worth it.

I drove my 1980 Rabbit from 92' till 2014 when it was rear-ended. It was more work and less show, but had some nice stuff under the hood.

[HeidelbergJohn4.0]

In 1980, a Golf/ GTI like that certainly didn't stand out from the crowd around here. Those kits and wheels were dime a dozen.

There's plenty to be done to Passats, Jettas and Golfs. Is it as easy as bolting on flares and wheels, no, but that's not exclusive to VW's.

The 80 golf was a box. It was kinda hard to find something bolt on that didn't fit at least ok.
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71 LWB Manx style dunebuggy
71 Beetle
71 Volksrod
Machette Speedster
2012 Passat TDI SE (sadly sitting in a buyback parking lot somewhere waiting for it's heart to be ripped out.)

[59RAIDER]

Holy Shit its Napoleon and Pedro with the Canned Heat Mobile !

[crsmp5]

mine 1990-1993... used it to build my caddy in 94... had full gti interior and all.. was a 1.6na diesel though.. 91k on clock in fall 90.. 256k in 93.. had lotsa good time in high school.. parts off it are still in use on my cars today..
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[url=http://cdn2.driiive.com/7037.jpg]Click to view image[/url]

[TDCTDI]

My '77 diesel, now TDI.

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[crsmp5]

but thats a new pic.. i figured a nice 90/91 photo helped topic...

my coupe in 98...

how i ran it this year... and the tdi swap i got for it in 2010 went to my kubvan.. but i have all the pieces to build a tdi for it this season..

yes the shit i drive has character vs boring
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[url=http://cdn2.driiive.com/7037.jpg]Click to view image[/url]

[TDCTDI]

Ooh, I wants both!
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Volktales]

The new ones don't do much for me at this time. Back in 1992 I couldn't care less about the new ones then either. But my friend did and I spent a lot of time in his Tornado Red 8 valve GTI. So for some reason, years later I bought one of these...

Another friend had it sitting around, so I bought it and did a mechanical restoration on it. Haven't used it since 2008, but that will change as it will be officially 25 years old in a few days and qualify for collector plate status! Then it is time to hit the car shows with one of the last remaining unmodified Mk 2's in original Canadian specification... It will be fun again...
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1974 "Restfalia" Camper 2000 cc EFI 2001-
1970 Beetle first car, rotten, yard art 1985-
1966 Sunroof Beetle, restored 1998-
1964 Ghia, ongoing project 2007-
1962 Beetle Beryl,original paint survivor 2012-
1970 Savannah Beige Beetle 2012-
1992 16v GTI, 100% stock 2006-
1991 "Terseo", wife's old daily 1995-
1969 Chevrolet CST/10 (family owned since new)
1965 Gold Corvair Monza 2021-
1966 and 1965 Monza 2022-

[ach60]

I did the whole Mk1, Mk2 mod thing, I went back to Aircooled.
I waited a extra year for the 1.8t in a New Beetle
My NB is 2nd left, God I loved that car. Photo is at the VW Classic
I put all the bad ass parts on it, and I was really fun!
It was the last water cooled car I modified.
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Good Luck
Al

[cub]

http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/eurp-1304-1977-volkswagen-rabbit-mk1/

That's mine. Owned it since 2004...been in VW's for 33 years and water cooled for almost 30 years.

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I love old cars

[Omaha]

Some can look good. This was my NB TDI a couple summers ago, thought it looked OK. Got a new wheel/tire combo coming this Spring

[runamoc]

Nobody mistakes my Mk1 Rabbit Diesel Deluxe as a new car.

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Daily driver: '69 Baja owned 44 yrs - Plan B: '81 Rabbit Diesel LS Deluxe - Plan C: '72 Ghia
Yard Art: 2 Sandrails
Outback: '69 Ghia - '68,'69,'70,'72 Beetle - '84 Scirocco, GTI - Pair of '02 Golfs-
VW Wiring = It's just wires

[TDCTDI]

Apparently something happened to my Rabbit pic, so here it is, again.

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Karmannut]

I doubt my 17 Habanero Orange Beetle will be mistaken for any other car but the Jetta and Passat (YAWN) another story! I parked beside a Passat awhile back called it an Impala till i got out of the car couldn't believe it was a VW
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Rupert- 64 Sea Blue Beetle with 66 Dove Lodgette tent
Bunny- 84 grey Rabbit Convertible
Pepper-18 Habanero Orange Beetle SE Premium
Air and Water do mix!

[kingkarmann]

I still think VW makes a stand out Water Pumper.
Here's my GTI Autobahn posing with her sister.
And......
I've kept the GTI totally stock!

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"Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”

Mike Gerson

What is your "Bespoke Reality"?

[Glenn]

I tried a watercooled VW when it was time to replace my Audi 5000. But it proved unreliable with constant leaks every every hose and seal. I can tell you I used my extended warranty to its fullest. I don't think it went more than 6 months over 12 years without being in a shop. I replaced it with a Accord and in the 13 years since getting it its not had a single repair related to a broken or non-wear item.

The Passat was a great looking and handling car... just not reliable.

The day I sold it... not bad looking for a12 year old car that was never garaged.

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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

[Chris Walden]

I had an '86 Quantum GL5 (used) with the Audi 2.1 liter 5 cylinder and manual trans. Nice car. Fairly reliable as I recall. And, as with the Type 4 before it, it loved to have a curve thrown in its path. Unfortunately it ran over a bridge abutment (ahem) and that was the end of that. Then I bought a (pre-owned) '99 passat. Audi V6 and tiptronic (never mind; just leave it in auto) Beautiful car. Elegant interior and a very comfortable place to sit while attacking my favorite back roads. But, as Glenn noted, terminally flawed. We estimated later that it was in the shop on average every 3 months for EXPENSIVE repairs. We probably spent over 6 grand in unscheduled maintenance in the less than 2 rears that we owned it. I swore off VW's FOREVER! Then, 3 years ago I got the bug (sorry) again and purchased a '12 Golf 2 dr. 5 cylinder, 5 speed. 50 thousand miles later and it has not only proven completely reliable (one check engine light--a sensor replaced under warranty), but also reliably puts a smile on my face while carving up my favorite back roads.