Reeves Callaway was an aspiring race car driver who ended up working as an instructor at Bob Bondurant’s racing school in the 1970s. He fitted a turbo system on a BMW 320i and loaned the car to Car and Driver journalist Don Sherman who wrote a one page article on the beast. At the time, […]
In the early 2000s, the Volkswagen product planners recognized that there was an entire demographic of people who loved driving fast water-cooled Volkswagens. These weren’t stock Volkswagens, but modified Dubs — things that had extra horsepower, extra handling, and extra fun. VW decided to cash in on this by selling a pre-modified VW Golf called the R32 that added a VR6 engine, all-wheel-drive and a 6-speed to the basic Golf…and they didn’t sell many (5000 in total for one model year) because people who wanted a fast VW didn’t want to spend the $30k that VW was asking. The thing that the product planners didn’t realize was that people wanted a CHEAP, fun, fast VW…and that just happened to be the used $1k Jetta they found on craigslist or inherited from a crazy aunt. Anyway, after 17 years and 200k miles this Golf R32 is finally depreciated to the point where a water-cooled VW fan might consider buying it. Find this 2004 Volkswagen R32 bidding on ebay with a $10,000 buy-it-now located in Charleston, SC.
Before we get into why you should buy this next car, let me start with the things it has going against it. First, it has a salvage title — and while that shouldn’t scare the intrepid used car owner, it does tend to frighten many potential buyers when you go to resell the car. Next, it has depreciated some, but it will continue to drop significantly in value for the next few years, that is the nature of a GTI, it should bottom at around 5k in 5-10 years if history is any indicator. And finally, the wheels are barf. Okay, with those things out of the way…what you’ve got here is a 1/2 priced almost new GTI with 14k miles, plaid seats, a few mods, and nice green paint. What else do you need in life? Find this 2017 Volkswagen GTI offered for $14,800 in Dublin, CA via craigslist.
I made the mistake of watching a video about a new car the other day…yeah…I know…I’m not supposed to like new stuff because new stuff is lame, but I watched some faceless German guy go 153 mph on the autobahn in a Mk 8 GTI and I thought to myself…they’ve made something past the Mk 6 Golf…have I been in a coma? Ouch. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, but apparently Volkswagen has been upgrading their models and from 2012 through 2019 they made the Mk 7 Golf and today we’ve got a 230 horsepower GTI model with an APR tune that should be good for 261 horsepower and 317 ft-lbs of torque. Find this 2013 Volkswagen GTI offered for $12000 in SF Bay Area, CA via craigslist.
The MarkII Volkswagen Golf (1985-1992) was offered in a variety of trims, starting with the lowly base, and continuing up in equipment to the C, CL, GL, GT and finally the GTI trim. Prices for the super sporty and hip GTI model are high, but you can get into a Mk II GT for pennies […]
Welcome to Daily Turismo’s Syncro de Mayo, our May 5th celebration of Volkswagen’s four wheel drive system known as Syncro. Today’s first entry into our symphony of synchronicity might not have used the Syncro name in its advertising literature, but the R32 Golf MkIV puts power from its VR6 engine into a haldex controlled center […]
The Volkswagen Golf was a huge sales success for Volkswagen in the ’80s & ’90s because it combined family car capabilities with a light and nimble chassis. The hopped up GTI version was the one to get, with a powerful engine, Recaro seats, and some GTI-specific road hugging suspension. The MkII version night not be […]
The Peugeot GTI wasn’t the only hot hatch to roam the streets in the late 80s (Civic, Golf GTI, etc) but it was the major French entry into the world of body cladding and fart can exhaust. Today’s example is equipped with a “Dimma” widebody kit and spent some time in Europe and later Japan, […]
Golf enthusiasts tend to gravitate towards the early MkI/II examples or a later model that has all the dual-clutch gizmos that the kids want in their cars these days, so the MkIII Golf is a bit of a forgotten classic — known only to a die hard group of people who probably inherited the Golf […]
A brand new Volkswagen Golf will set you back at least $20,910 before taxes, license, registration, etc etc and a GTI starts at $26,415 and something called a Golf R will cost at least $39,785…and I’m certain they are nice cars with all of the safety, convenience, and Apple car play that you’ll ever need…but […]