VW Golf GTi Mk1 (1983) - Owner Stories #3

Mike once again takes us on a drive in one of his regularly used classics, this time a 1983 Golf GTi mk1, the cult hot hatch.
If you have an interesting car, and would like to tell me about it on camera, ping me a message on [e-mail]. We can make a short film like this one and lunch is on me!
Check out the other videos in this series on the 'Owner Stories' playlist.
0:00 Coming up...
0:27 Intro
1:42 History of this Golf
2:55 Interruption...
3:57 Classic status
4:24 Mechanical overview
5:47 Heading out
6:36 Comparison to other classics
8:08 Comparison to other Golfs
9:00 Performance
10:27 Sounds and driving fun
12:10 Interest in the car
13:20 Restoration work
14:47 Ride & brakes
15:59 Practicality
17:25 Comfort
18:00 Sunroof
18:48 Coffee by the river
19:53 Gearbox & exhaust
20:50 Outro

[@stephenhargreaves381]

Golf mk1s put a smile on your face when driving , had mine for 30 years , love it to bits !

[@NightfallDrives]

Glad to hear, it seems to be a car people hold onto, and certainly was a lot of fun

[@uptone12111]

I had the Scirocco in Question but always loved my friends 84 Gti

[@NightfallDrives]

Both a lot of fun, the Scirocco still seems an attainable classic

[@skinnyGra]

Great Vid .. Mike certainly knows his car and the pedigree of the mk1 .Thanks for producing and sharing Doug..👍🏻

[@NightfallDrives]

Thank you very much for watching! Your comment encapsulates my approach, i.e. give owners a platform to share their expertise & enthusiasm 😎👍

[@skinnyGra]

Made my morning viewing!..Also laughter was made with the Detectorist clip..😎👌🏻

[@NightfallDrives]

Glad to hear - haha I do like to shoehorn in a Detectorists reference if I can, I managed to on the TR7 video as well, of course 😆

[@cushtyrodders]

love the vw golf, has a special place in my heart :) from a new subscriber and your biggest Belgian fan ;)

[@NightfallDrives]

Thanks very much for the overseas sub! They often seem to be first cars, with lots of memories 😉👍

[@jeffskillman6161]

Had my Mk1 GTI since 1988 and it's great fun to drive and own. The main problem with noise on the motorways is the low gearing in 5th which means 3,500 rpm at 70 mph as opposed to c.2,000 rpm in a modern car. Some people have fitted a 6 speed box with a high top gear which would be a good retro fit. Still quicker than most standard hatches. Have a cable operated throttle gives it great throttle response and it has a nice induction rear. Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@NightfallDrives]

Thanks very much Jeff 👍 Nice to hear of another one held onto for so long. Which 6 speed gearbox do people usually drop in?

[@shamlordloxley8959]

Awesome Video 😎

[@NightfallDrives]

Thanks Sham, much appreciated!

[@carolfidler5505]

Great vid.nice car and a knowledgeable owner!

[@NightfallDrives]

Indeed, Mike may also have a bit more knowledge to share with us in future too...

[@carolfidler5505]

Sounds nice.

[@markdempsey4763]

Great video, such fun great sounding cars, I have a 1982 1.6.

[@NightfallDrives]

Thanks Mark, absolutely agree, these are great fun. Nice to hear you're still running one. Lovely old school soundtrack, which I've kind-of replicated on my MX5...

[@shaunbromley8445]

Nice but on black cars rear window surround was painted black not vinyl wrapped. Unless the Campaign was different. BTW a Campaign was called Pirelli model in Germany. And all Campaigns are A reg.

[@NightfallDrives]

Interesting, I assume Mike's ended up on a Y plate because shipping would have delayed UK cars past when the UK A reg began.

[@jeffskillman6161]

All colours including Lhasa green and Helios blue had the black decal whereas black cars had no decal at all but had an extra silver pin stripe under the waistline trim.

[@russelltolley7947]

I had a campaign for 25 years until 3 years ago. I've got a set of bilsteins if you're interested.

[@NightfallDrives]

Thanks Russell, I’ll let Mike know 👍

[@NightfallDrives]

Russell, Mike's interested to know what you've got, drop me an email if you like and I'll get you in touch 👍 [e-mail]

[@squealingtyres]

👍

[@GTFour]

Did you not even get a go lol

[@NightfallDrives]

Thanks for the thought, but the series is deliberately all about the owner's perspective. Since filming this though, I now have insurance to allow some drives, as seen in later videos 😎👍

[@Schlipperschlopper]

Sadly from 2030 on all combustion cars including classics will be banned from public streets in entire EU and Scandinavia :-( In Germany the Green Peoples Party gave order to shorten fuel supply from 2025 on by reducing all conventional fuel stations to only one state operated central gas station per city or county. Now they want to slow down all the gas station fuel pumps from 20 litre per minute to 2 litre per minute...From 2027 on in the EU certain car spare parts will be banned too....as exhaust systems, turbo chargers and even some engine and gearbox oils...California and New York will do the same from 2027 on.... So no investments should be done in oil burning cars any longer....They even created a new kind of crime here, called emissions and smoke crime....:-((

[@NightfallDrives]

Classics like this may eventually be difficult to run regularly, but there is reason to be hopeful perhaps from synthetic & sustainably produced liquid fuels. See Seb Vettel's appearance in Mansell's Williams at Silverstone this year, or Harry's video below. There may be a future for internal combustion yet, and I hope this future arrives quickly. kzbin.info/www/bejne/moCUg5yKeL95fMk

[@NightfallDrives]

Reason to be hopeful - more on this from Sam: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oanWdauQos6Xqsk