Whatever you
do in life, somebody will have done it before you. And yup, somebody
else will do it after you. So placing your own personal mark on anything
can be a tricky balance – you’ll find it somewhere between jumping from
the roof of a 10-storey building and gently dipping a toe.
When
it comes to cars, everybody loves a project, from a full strip down to a
fine tune. But what if you fall in love with somebody else’s work? Does
that mean you have to leave it as is? Does it hell! The real trick is
making your own mark and improving the DNA… Older cars always take you back a little bit. Maybe not all
the way to the late-’70s, early-’80s when the Mk1 Volkswagen Golf GTI
pretty much created a genre. But the design cues that echo across the
decades from back then always mentally transport you to another time.
It’s what makes working with a classic so much more pleasurable, but
risky for me at the same time. You have to get it just right. Richard
‘Fish’ Fisher from Chicago is a lover of all things automotive. I
genuinely couldn’t pin him down to a specific model or marque if I
tried, and trust me – I don’t want to. I like people who just likecars, four
wheels and an engine. Hell, sometimes they don’t even have to have four
wheels… Or an engine for that matter. I’ve been known to melt over a
pile of parts. I’ve shown you another of Fish’s cars
before, as a member of Chicago’s Risky Devil clan you’d think he’s only
about street drifting and illicit midnight meets. But shh… don’t tell
anybody – they’re into all sorts of cars! No, really. And although the
BRZ is modern and Japanese the ethos is the same: well observed and well
executed. There’s more where these came from too, but that will have to
wait for another time to show you the rest of the garage. This
Golf is something else though, and Fish is the first to admit it came
to him looking very similar to how it does now. A case of almost, but
not quite. The
’79 had been fully rebuilt in to the GTI clone you see here by Thomas
Fries, having originally rolled out of the dealership as a diesel engine
powered sunroof model. With factory white paint, it had seen nearly
three decades of abuse in Pennsylvania before the transformation began. The
theory being to give the Golf a European feel, with any modifications
being limited to those that fitted with the factory look. I find that
amusing given that this isn’t a genuine GTI, but that’s also the reason I
guess Thomas wanted everything so proper – to add to the illusion.
Remember what I said about how you have to be careful with what you do? Rare electric Recaros work much better than big winged bucket seats, right? And
the overall finished article is stunning. The workmanship is really
lovely and as the only Mk1 Golf I’ve ever owned was a Mars Red GTI, I’m
loving this right now. But don’t think Fish hasn’t had any input. I mean, why would we think it was worthy of a feature if it was a straight up buy out? Because
Fish has done something that very few people succeed at. He’s taken an
already built and some might say ‘finished project’ and made it his own.
And if you didn’t notice a difference between those last two pictures,
look again and I’ll see you in the next chapter…
CHAPTER TWO
Down, Down
It’s
the age-old case of man falls for an ex-magazine feature car and buys
it. But the whole automotive experience is always better when you add
something yourself to a project, and this is where it can all go wrong. Thankfully not here though, because Fish has been very selective about what he wanted to bring to the project. He found Air Lift Performance
a few years ago now and since then pretty much everything he drives has
been treated to one of their cutting-edge air suspension systems. But
the trouble was they didn’t make a kit for the Mk1 Golf, so what’s a
Fish supposed to do? Deliver the Mk1 a couple of hundred miles away to
Lancing, that’s what. This way the development team in the workshop
could get busy and create a bespoke kit which Air Lift could then market
to everyone. The
kit runs a VIAIR 380C compressor, four-gallon tank and 1/4-inch air
lines which feed out to the four corners. It’s all mounted on a quick
release panel in the trunk area, so it’s relatively unobtrusive and
there’s certainly enough space back there for a couple of overnight bags
or autojumble finds from a show. You can also see the battery hidden
away because Thomas wanted a clean engine bay. And
clean is a word that I keep wanting to use when looking at this build,
because as a GTI clone it’s immaculate. The small tail light rear end
adds to the simple lines of the Mk1. Plus here it genuinely looks like a
Photoshop lowering job! Or is that just me? I
could talk all day about how much I like this VW. First there’s the
era, then the styling, but for me it’s also that the air suspension
means you can have that feel of originality that makes people in gas
stations say ‘I used to have one like that’… Then air it out and have
that satisfying look back over the shoulder feeling. The
whole kit is based around Air Lift’s AutoPilot V2, so at the front
there are double bellow progressive rate air springs, with progressive
rate sleeve air springs at the rear. This makes it the most advanced
pressure-based air suspension control system on the market at the
moment. The
big draw of air suspension for me is the fact you can sit it this low,
then load up with four people and not worry about tyres rubbing like you
would with coilovers or other more traditional suspension systems. You
can program up to eight different settings that will respond with a
press of the button, plus I really like that you can hide the controller
too, because it keeps the cabin feeling like it’s a small German time
machine, ready to skip back to the mid-80s. Thomas sourced different
parts from all over America and even Europe to get the perfect mix of OE
and aftermarket, the non-standard centre console coming from a Scirocco
of similar era. It
was under the bonnet that he let himself get a little buck wild though,
and this was a big draw for Fish. As you may have noticed so far, the
closer you look at what appears to be a simple build, the more you see…
FINAL CHAPTER
Best Of The Rest
Now
I’m not a fan of chrome, but if I’m being completely honest with you
it’s because I haven’t got the dedication to keep it clean. But sat
against the vibrant red PPG paint finish, doesn’t it look sharp here?
There’s more to this 2.0L motor than the finish though, as it’s a 16V
that’s been balanced and the head has been ported and polished. There’s a
lumpier Techtonics cam and some other performance upgrades you can read
about in the tech spec. Again, it’s been kept old school with those
twin Webers dominating the view – no throttle bodies or carbon here my
friends. So although I don’t want to be responsible for cleaning it, I’m still a fan of what’s going on here. With
the bonnet closed and the engine off it’s only a set auxillary gauges
mounted by the driver’s side A-pillar that tell you anything is
potentially different. These
gorgeously-original GTI clocks were sourced and fitted up top too. I
can’t think that VW would have encouraged their buyers to rev a diesel
motor to 6,250rpm! Throughout
the build there are hints and clues as to what’s going on, Thomas’s
original rebuild and attention to detail being perfectly complimented by
Fish’s own approach of subtle change, but only if it’s worthy. So
where as Thomas had fitted BBS RMs in 15-inch flavour, instead of going
for some wild fitment or a new wave style, Fish has gone for the same
design BBS wheels, but slightly larger at 16-inch diameter. Sure, it’s
only an inch, but it would have been so easy to make a bold statement
where only a subtle one was needed. As it stands the Golf appeals to everybody. It can be a timeless cruiser, track day tool, classic homage or proud show car. Now
with this feature there’s another stamp in the history book to pass on.
So at first it might not have appeared as the most groundbreaking
build, but what it does so well for me is show the progression that a
project can have. How it can be linked to different people and places,
each of whom help it become more than before.
To which end, I
don’t know what I’d do if it was mine. A 20v turbo? Too much maybe…
Predictable even? It’ll be interesting to see what happens next in the
life of this Golf. One thing is for sure, it’s looking like a bright
future from here.
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