The automotive industry feels like it's reached a tipping point where older cars are way more interesting than new ones. So if you own an Mk1 Golf in mint condition, keep it, take care of it, save it for your grandkids.
The first-generation Golf came out over 45 years ago and is one of the most iconic shapes ever produced by the German automotive industry. It was supposed to replace the Beetle and take VW into the modern era but achieved so much more than that.
Most people think of the Mk1 GTI as the first hot hatch. Of course, a car built so many years ago isn't as sharp to drive as today's models, but there's a lot of people willing to spend Porsche money for a restomod, and we're betting some of them will be inspired by this rendering from Brad Builds.
It looks ready to go racing, though VW didn't do much of that with the early models. The Mk2 Golf looked almost identical but had a much more interesting derivative. We're talking about the Golf Rallye, a homologation special built so they could compete with Lancia.
It had a more powerful engine, AWD to cope with the extra power, a new front end, and box fenders. Because it cost almost twice as much as a GTI, people didn't appreciate it at the time. But now they're selling for big money - 35,000 to 60,000 euros. So why not mod a normal Golf to those specifications?
At the same time, Brad also released the widebody T3 Transporter. Yes, it is just a van, but you wouldn't believe how popular this thing is within the "bus" communities. We've seen plenty of models swapped out to Audi V8 engines or painted in Nardo Gray just like the girthy Goliath in the rendering.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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