Hi all, after many years and many other cars (both VW and other), I've gone back to a Mk1. In particular, an '81 Caddy.
I am a serial car rescuer. I have a history of buying derelict vehicles and working to refresh or restore them. I also have a lot of history in German cars, and water cooled VWs in particular.
I bought my first VW in 1979, a '78 Scirocco. My wife and I liked it so much that in June of '81 we traded it in to get a new one before the 2nd gen Scirocco arrived for '82. That was my first new car ever, a Cirrus Gray Scirocco S. We kept that car for 10 years.
It was replaced by a new '91 Jetta GLI 16v, as we needed a car with better back seat access for our growing son. We kept that one for 18 years, then gave it to our son after he graduated college. He still drives it today.
Other VWs over the years were an '86 GTI 8v, '90 Corrado G60, and a '10 Golf TDI. When the TDI buyback came, we bought an Audi A3 etron plugin hybrid to be the new daily driver.
My rescue projects over the years have been more varied. A '67 MGB basket case, gray market '81 BMW 323i, '71 240Z, '84 944, '73 914 2.0, '64 Toyota FJ40 soft top, and most recently a '72 911T. Only the 911 is still in my possession. The rest moved on to new owners when the projects were completed.
Anyway, on to the Caddy. I came across it recently. Born as a silver LX gas truck, it now has a 2.0 16v and 5 speed from a '92 Passat. Was parked a little over a year ago with an apparent fuel delivery issue. It sports a rather amateur Mars red paint job, but has a full round headlight conversion.
Not sure how far I'll take this yet, maybe just a quick repair to make it run, drive and do so safely. Or maybe I'll go full boat with a GTI-look refresh.
I'll post some pictures as soon...
I am a serial car rescuer. I have a history of buying derelict vehicles and working to refresh or restore them. I also have a lot of history in German cars, and water cooled VWs in particular.
I bought my first VW in 1979, a '78 Scirocco. My wife and I liked it so much that in June of '81 we traded it in to get a new one before the 2nd gen Scirocco arrived for '82. That was my first new car ever, a Cirrus Gray Scirocco S. We kept that car for 10 years.
It was replaced by a new '91 Jetta GLI 16v, as we needed a car with better back seat access for our growing son. We kept that one for 18 years, then gave it to our son after he graduated college. He still drives it today.
Other VWs over the years were an '86 GTI 8v, '90 Corrado G60, and a '10 Golf TDI. When the TDI buyback came, we bought an Audi A3 etron plugin hybrid to be the new daily driver.
My rescue projects over the years have been more varied. A '67 MGB basket case, gray market '81 BMW 323i, '71 240Z, '84 944, '73 914 2.0, '64 Toyota FJ40 soft top, and most recently a '72 911T. Only the 911 is still in my possession. The rest moved on to new owners when the projects were completed.
Anyway, on to the Caddy. I came across it recently. Born as a silver LX gas truck, it now has a 2.0 16v and 5 speed from a '92 Passat. Was parked a little over a year ago with an apparent fuel delivery issue. It sports a rather amateur Mars red paint job, but has a full round headlight conversion.
Not sure how far I'll take this yet, maybe just a quick repair to make it run, drive and do so safely. Or maybe I'll go full boat with a GTI-look refresh.
I'll post some pictures as soon...