The first car - A foray into manhood.

[Shelby 427 1965]

It's a big thing, is the first car.

And, as any of you that looked at my Mk.2 Golf build know, I know what I wanted.

A Mk.2 Golf, in Tornado Red.

And after a long time of scouring the internet, finally I found one that was cheap.

And it wasn't just a Mk.2 Golf. It was a GTI. A godsend, surely.

We picked it up today, and I'm in love. It's a project car and it needs work, but I've another year before I'm legally allowed to get a licence. I plan on having it pristine by then. Won't be long! I'll be documenting the restoration the whole way through, I'll keep you guys posted. I'll take some more pics tomorrow showing all the bad points.

I'm still working on a name. I'm thinking Rapid Roy after a favourite Croce tune of mine.

15 and I've got my first 1:1 scale restoration on the go. Happy times ahead!!

Edited May 26, 2013 by Shelby 427 1965

[sjordan2]

Looks great. My wife had its predecessor, a Rabbit, which was virtually bulletproof and lasted for years. A fun drive, very responsive.

[my name is nobody]

Congratulations! something you will always remember.

my daughter will be fifteen in a couple of weeks.......she has already passed drivers education

and will be able to drive by herself in the fall....I bought her a car recently, and its alot of fun to

work on and tinker with.............good luck with your volkswagon!

[Ace-Garageguy]

She looks great...congratulations on going after and getting what you really wanted. My first, at 18, was a '62 VW bug. It also got a full rebuild, and eventually a Porsche 356SC engine.

Looking forward to seeing the restoration progress on yours.

[cobraman]

Congrats ! Those are cool little cars. Looking forward to watching your progress. Good luck !

[MachinistMark]

Looks good

[JM485]

Congrats man, looks really cool. I remember how excited I was when I got my 86 Toyota pickup about 2 1/2 years ago for my first car. It was my dad's before it was mine and I had wanted it ever since I knew what a truck was. I just had to do a major overhaul on the motor but now that it's done it should have a ton of miles left in it! Enjoy the VW and good luck with the restoration.

[Nacho Z]

Congrats Tomo!! Just about any car, when it is your first car, is a good thing. How much better when it is the car you wanted! Good luck with the restoration and keep us posted on your progress.

[Shelby 427 1965]

Thanks everyone, it's very muchly appreciated!!

[MachinistMark]

I bought a reg cab step side 4x4 chev half ton as my first car. Black, 305, loved it. Got to be too much on fuel and had to sell. Bought a cavalier. Finally got a fun car again with the purchase of my trans am. Thrilled.

[BubbaJoe]

BIG CONGRATS....you look very proud and you should be. it's a huge step getting your own set of wheels.thats a sweet ride!!!!

[1972coronet]

Congratulations , Tomo !

Do yourself a solid and take lots of photos of not only your car , but you with it .

My first car was a 1972 Dart Swinger . Factory EV2 Hemi Orange with white interior ; 318 V8 , 904 , etc. , etc.

I bought it for $800.00 on 29th August 1989 from the son of its original owner . Believe it or not , eight hundred dollars was quite a bit of coin for a Dart ( or Duster , etc. ) in 1989 !! But , it was worth every penny .

Say , did that t-shirt you're wearing come with your car or did you buy it in anticipation of buying a Golf at some point ?

[Nxr]

My first and current car is a 2005 Ford Escape, not something to show off but that thing never ever gave me problems just changed oil and checked brakes and its been great. Congratulations on the GTI that car looks very good.

[Shelby 427 1965]

Thank you all for the lovely comments!

John - That comment about photos of me WITH it - Thank you for that. I've never looked on things like that before. It'd be nice to look back on photos 50 years from now like my parents do and see myself too. And no, I've had that shirt for years! Always been a fan of Mk1/2 Golfs

Thanks again, I really didn't expect such a repsonse!

Edited May 26, 2013 by Shelby 427 1965

[1972coronet]

John - That comment about photos of me WITH it - Thank you for that. I've never looked on things like that before. It'd be nice to look back on photos 50 years from now like my parents do and see myself too.

Believe me , they're priceless !

I've got pics of my special feline companion , Buddy (R.I.P. , 12-APR-1986 - 02-JUL-1992) , sitting on the hood bonnet . You can't buy those kinds of things !

[Nacho Z]

Tomo, John is absolutely spot on with his advice about taking pictures. In this day and age it seems like just about everything has a camera in it so taking pictures should not be a problem. I only have three or four pictures of my first car, none of them very good. I really wish I had more pictures of that car. And Tomo you can apply this advice to more things than just your car. People, pets, places, etc. Shoot, I wish I had pictures of all of the bicycles I had as a kid, as well as toys, models and so on. Things are very clear and crisp in your memory now but give it a few decades and the memories and images in your mind will not be so sharp. (Holy cow, I really do sound like an old man, don't I? )

[Deathgoblin]

I wish I had pictures of my first car. I had a 1972 Buick Skylark 2-door hardtop. Good memories, though.

[BKcustoms]

Congratulations! I'm sure you'll have a great time with the restoration. (I'm about to finish my Regal and It's been a great experience!)

[CrazyGirl]

ah Yut ,,,,,,,,, have a blast with your new auto !!

[Shelby 427 1965]

Thanks everyone, means a lot!!

[gtx6970]

There will be dozens of cars come and go in your lifetime,,,,,,, but only 1 first.

Enjoy it and the good times it provides

[CrazyGirl]

I remember my first car , it was not even a car , like an idiot I got a Honda 175 and drove that for a year , all year long , and wow talk about cold in the winter time

[MikeyB08]

I'm excited to see what your going to do and how far it's going to go. Trust me, you will never stop working on it though. My first car a 1994 Suzuki Swift GA Hatchback that my grandfather gave me. Me and my father ended up painting it Ocean Blue with 3 silver strips (2 outside thin stripes and 1 wide in the center) and was outlined with lime green pin stripping. I also put 17' Hart Rims on the car (given my young age they rubbed really bad with every turn and bump ).

Even thought I look back at it now and realize that I could have used the money in a smarter way, I still appreciate what I was going for and will always remember my first car.

That being said, I am jealous that you have a VW. I would love to have a 95 Jetta.

[Shelby 427 1965]

Thanks everyone!

All washed today, so I can get a fair few of what I'm working with. Not toooo shabby. Really shows how bad that driver door is though. I'll be getting a new one, they're fairly cheap.

It's at a bad angle to take pics of the back, but when it gets moved onto solid ground I'll show you the rear. It ain't great, but I got a brand new bootlid that just needs painted in the Tornado Red.

Cheers!

[Shelby 427 1965]

And now.. the bad bits. The documentation of the build. Enough hiding all the shame!

First is the interior. I have vacuumed and cleaned it all out, so this is the best it'll get. It's not bad, it needs a new drivers seat at the very least. I plan on getting a different style wheel (nothing boy racy, there's just another Volkswagen steering wheel from either the 16V or the Mk.1 Golf, I can't remember which, that I really like), a radio, new driver side mat and replacing the golf ball shifter with a new one as the numbers aren't on this one anymore. I plan on making it fairly factory fresh (I'm keeping that wheel for when I sell it!) as it won't cost or take much to do so and it'll be worth a lot more. The boot's open, that's the parcel shelf with the holes for speakers.

Now, really it's pointless showing this as I've already got a brand spanking new boot with the car that just needs painted in the correct colour, but hey this is how I got the car. A common place for them to go, around where the numberplate should be. Hole goes straight into the boot. Lovely.

The vinyl trim is coming off on this side. As you can see the pics were taken pre-wash!

The grill at this point was ill-fitting, although as you can see in the pics I just posted I've mostly fixed this.

This pic doesn't show it, but this door is bad. The paint's faded and its rusted at the bottom, some of it has been touched over but you can really see it up close. Considering they're so cheap, I'm just buying a new door.

The window seals are damaged and have been botchily repaired. Thankfully it did serve it's purpose and the problem was tackled early on - the interior is fine.

And of course, the bumpers are wrong. Being an '89 car, it should have the small bumpers, like Revell's model kit. So I'll be sorting that too.

Overall, it's not TOO much to take on for a first project, and I'm sure I'll manage. It's a long road, but I've plenty of time!

Thanks for readin'