1983 Volkswagen GTI

Extensive service history back to 86'. Euro bumpers, H&R springs/Bilstein shocks, performance cam, Techtonics Tuning exhaust, sway bars, new timing belt, battery, oil change, and it drives excellently.

The MK1 Rabbit GTI set the automotive world ablaze when it was launched in the USA in 1983. The car started the “pocket rocket” trend of performance small hatchbacks. The light, agile, and peppy little GTIs made excellent daily commuters due to good fuel economy, roomy cabins, and easy maintenance. The GTI also made for excellent weekend track toys winning many autocross events for owners across the country due to their light curb weight-(just 1976 lbs), incredible handling, and great low-end torque. The cars were built at Volkswagen’s US factory in Westmoreland, PA and were offered in only 4 colors, black, red, white, and silver with either a red or blue velour interior and all had the durable, 90HP 1.8L 4-cylinder gas engines with a 5-speed manual gearbox. Unique features of the GTI included deeply bolstered front seats, center console w/ auxiliary gauges and clock, “golf ball” design shift knob, front air dam, red stripe on grille, dash face, plus interior door panels, and snowflake design 14-inch alloy wheels.

Performance was very respectable for its day, top speed was 104 mph, zero-60 mph in 9.7 seconds which was a second faster than a 5.0L V8 powered Trans Am of the day! The GTI has become a 1980’s hot hatch legend and is worthy of its classic car status, it remains a very fun analog-era car to drive and will ern many smiles and still gathers attention due to their fairly low survival rate, to be able to see one on the roads today is quite a rare occasion.

This 1983 model year GTI was built in June of 83’ and is finished in Black (LO41) over Midnight Blue/Red stripe interior which is a fairly rare color combo as most Black cars had the Red interior. The factory options included a sunroof, radio, and air conditioning. This car also has some exciting in-period modifications including: Euro “G-Grind” camshaft, larger throttle body, shimmed distributor, baffled oil pan, 16V airbox, HD motor mounts, larger BEHR A2 radiator, full Techtonics Tuning cat-delete sport exhaust with dual manifold and 2-inch pipe, 16V front brakes with red calipers, CarboTech pads and cross-drilled rotors, larger 2.0L rear drums with CarboTech shoes, stainless brake lines, H&R lowering springs with Bilstein Sport shocks, poly bushings, front and rear strut braces, Euro bumpers with red stripe, Hella H4 headlamps, and Euro aero A-Pillar trims. The exterior shows nicely with good paint luster, there are numerous chips from over the years that have been touched up but overall patina is consistent with age/mileage. Black plastic trim is in very good shape. All electrical equipment and mechanicals are in good working condition.

The dash and door panels are in very nice shape with no cracks, as are the original velour seats. We have just serviced this GTI here in our shop including; new Continental timing belt kit, new V-belts, oil change, reseal and painted valve cover, coolant flush, new spark plugs, new battery, new air filter, new washer fluid lines, and new Bosch wiper blades. We also just installed a new VDO Continental stereo with Bluetooth to modernize the sound system. Cosmetics performed included installing a new windshield and painting the hood and front air dam due to rock chips, detailing the car, and we had the original snowflake wheels professionally refinished to look like new. Tires are Vredestein Quatrac 5 with as-new tread depth and date coded 2021. New navy blue GTI scripted floormats were also sourced from Europe and installed, freshening up the cabin. This is a great driving MK1 GTI that can be used as a daily driver or taken to shows and just be enjoyed as a weekend toy.

Included with this car are the original owner's manual, sales brochure, magazine articles, spare wheel/jack in trunk, misc spare parts, original US bumpers, clean CarFax report, clear WA title, and the owner’s manual for the new Continental stereo. There are also extensive repair invoices from 1986 to current organized in a 3-ring binder.