1983 Volkswagen Golf GTi

Finished in the rare and very desirable Helios Blue, ‘A892 LLL’ is also the even rarer and even more desirable ‘Campaign’ edition. Launched to mark the end of the MKI cars, Helios Blue was introduced at the same time. 

The seller carried out a “full nut and bolt” restoration between 2006 and 2011. A man who derives as much pleasure from the doing as the driving, he took great pleasure in bringing it back to its standard, showroom condition.  

He hasn’t used it much since, covering fewer than five hundred miles, and he now feels it’s time for someone else to rediscover the charms of the hot hatchback we all wanted when we were young but couldn’t afford.

The seller took his time in identifying and cutting out any rust before welding new panels and metal in. As we mentioned, he loves work like this so didn’t rush; the whole thing took five years and that is reflected in how well the panels fit and align – and how good they still look even 12 years later.

Mindful of his limitations, he engaged the services of professionals for the Helios Blue paintwork and they must have done a great job because it’s holding up very well indeed.

The two-piece front spoiler is in good shape although it would benefit from being refitted properly as one section is sitting proud. However, it does sit below a good front bumper; these invariably warp as they age, so to see one in this condition is a real treat. The rear bumper is equally good, as are the four wheelarch trims that contribute so much to the GTI’s iconic looks.

Speaking of which, the front grille, with its red pinstripe and inset spot lamps, looks terrific, doesn’t it? Ride height aside, it is the only way to tell you’ve got a fuel-injected Golf behind and quickly became the de facto design for every other manufacturer’s hot hatchbacks.

As you can see, it features the larger S750 14-inch Pirelli ‘P’ alloy wheels, y’know, the ones that launched the whole Pirelli Plus One concept. They’re fitted with the correct centre caps too, the latter ones VW used for the MKII GTIs lacking the Pirelli embossing.

Of course, they’re shod with, what else, a matching set of good Pirelli P6000 tyres.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

The spare wheel is a matching, but scruffy, Pirelli alloy fitted with a decent, but non-matching, tyre. You could sort that out easily enough though, couldn’t you?

The metal sunroof opens and closes as it should, and seals within its aperture well. 

(While we are on the subject, originalists will note that a later petrol cap has been fitted. Oh, and while the vehicle history check shows it as being white originally the seller assures us that this is a mistake as it has always been Helios Blue.)

As for flaws, there is a small mark on the very end of the nearside rubbing strip, a section of the sunroof seal is worn, there’s a dent in the metalwork above the front offside section of the spoiler, and there is a small dent in the tailgate below the wiper. 

The interior is a joy, isn’t it? Those Recaro-style seats, with their striped trim, take us back to the days when we were still young and magnificent and the eighties weren’t retro. 

And those seats are in great shape, with only very light loosening of the cover on the driver’s seat betraying its age. The rear seats are even better and the carpets and door cards are also good.

Other GTI styling cues include the four-button, four-spoke steering wheel and the golf ball gearknob. 

There’s an MFA trip computer too, which used to give us all hours of fun trying to up the average speed or decrease the fuel consumption. (Ah, those heady days when such simplicity brought us so much joy.)

The parcel shelf is in good order being undamaged and free of extraneous speaker holes, and the boot floor is good and solid.

If we’re being picky then the headlining for the sunroof is a little saggy. The rest is still taut and undamaged but the one for the sunroof panel could do with a little tidying to bring it up to the same standard as the rest.

The twin-spindle Philips radio could do with being fitted properly too, the boot lining is stained, and the top of the driver’s door window glass is chipped. 

Again, trivial stuff that would be both cheap and satisfying to remedy.

An aftermarket alarm has been fitted. The ultrasonic detector sits in the central cubby hole and a red LED/touch control has been fitted to the right of the steering wheel.

As you can see, the fuel-injected engine fires into life with that raw, unfiltered noise we’d almost forgotten about. It revs well too, and the exhaust note is beautifully gruff and throaty.

The dashboard is free of illuminated warning lights.

The engine bay is very nicely presented and only the most fastidious of owners would feel the need to detail it any further.

The underside saw some welding during its restoration and it, like everything else, seems to be holding up well thanks to a combination of skilled workmanship and a good coat of underseal.

The seller tells us that he recorded the Golf’s restoration with a dedicated photo album but that the laptop it was on was stolen during a burglary. 

Sadly, this means there’s no record of the love and hundreds of hours – and, no doubt, thousands of pounds – he poured into the project.

Nor does the Golf have a current MoT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have it MoT’d at the earliest opportunity. The cost of an MoT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic vehicle, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies… 

That said, it only expired in September of this year and both it and the previous one were gained with no advisories, so getting a fresh ticket on it might not be too challenging.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear bar that marker for a change of colour and a handbook for the car is in the glovebox.

Many of us will have driven secondhand MKI Golf GTIs back in the day, not so much to save money but because they were already extinct having already been replaced by the heavier, slower and more cumbersome MKII version by then. 

So, we drove used examples because that’s all that was available back when the MKI Golf GTI might have been appreciated but had yet to appreciate enough to make it worth spending the sort of money on them that would have been necessary to preserve them properly. 

Of course, now we’re older and wiser - and possibly a little better off - we might be able to afford to restore one but that’s a fraught process and one that inevitably turns out to be way more expensive than even the most pessimistic projection might suggest.

Which, is a long-winded way of saying that we think the final hammer price will be somewhere between £15,000 to £20,000, which is a lot of money for a MKI Golf GTI these days but represents only a fraction of what you’d have to fork out if you were to try and restore one yourself.

It is also far less than you’d be paying for something similar with a blue oval on the front grille; and this is, remember, a far better car than anything that came out of Dagenham during the same period.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at the Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are strictly by appointment. To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.