Righto - a bit of a potted history post;
I've been a VW fan from birth just about - all my Dad's fault for buying a beetle long before I was born. I always preferred polos to golfs, from even before I could drive. I think perhaps I just love an underdog.
The abortive first attempt;
I set out on a project to build a G40 engine'd mk1 polo a very long time ago, some time around '97 I think. I bought what I thought was a clean mk1 (they weren't so scarce back then, just extremely unwanted) and found an accident damaged polo by chance that had just been converted to G40 power. I bolted it all together in a haphazard fashion and never really got around to making it road legal... In the meantime I ended up buying a proper G40 anyway, and the project went onto the back burner.
I'd had a lot of ideas that were extremely unfashionable on the VW scene back then, now I could claim that I was ahead of my time, but its more likely that my taste just happens to have become fashionable and will soon slip out of that phase!
The S plate Polo in the pic was a 150 mile old hire car at that time.
The G40 engine I'd bought has something of a history, having started its journey away from its factory location in a Mk2 polo built by TSR performance.
I got pretty immersed in the world of G40's, and made a lot of great friends along the way. (Not least of whom is Steve, of Pitstop Developments, the VW/G40 specialist tuner, who's been invaluable in getting this project on the road)
My G40 (right) on the way for a thrash round Castle Combe, some time around 2000
With some success at work I moved on from my much loved (and abused) G40, to an 80s 911, a 77 camaro, and various modern stuff too, but the Mk1 polo project still niggled...
So it began (again!)
I found what was genuinely a clean shell to start from (having learned the hard way with the red polo); WVG793S was a typical little old lady's car, but had been bought by an acquaintance in the scene, then sold to another friend before I laid claim to it.
I'd had a fair bit of experience with G40 Cup polos in the mean time (refugees from the one make series had made their way to the Super Coupe Cup, and still turn up from time to time) and wanted to apply some of the lessons to be found. I'd also been really interested in the berg cup cars over on the continent, but it was difficult until recently to find info on these.
In a sidetracking motion that's typical me, I started a whole other project at this point, which should be the subject of a whole other thread, a whole other time:
So once I'd got that out of my system.....
I then had a pretty firm vision of what I wanted to do, (having been round just about every option imaginable) and within a little I've hit what I was aiming for.
The concept was to build the car to a hardcore track specification, but soften it just enough with a proper interior etc to make it possible to drive to shows etc. So I wrote a little list... totted up the cost, and realised it was going to be a long time coming
Anyhow, the basic spec (and bear in mind there's plenty of work and refinement left to do):
1978 Polo L,
Minor(ish) resto including new wings, bonnet, front and rear panels
KWL motorsport Gruppe H arches
Derby 1F front end
Stitch welded front chassis legs etc.
Salzmann front subframe and lower wishbone conversion
G40 Cup suspension including custom eccentric top mounts, all bushes are spherical bearings or nylon.
Matter six point cage
G40 engine, stock spec, freshly rebuilt
Muggianu/SLS turbo conversion with K03 turbo
G40 gearbox with Gemini LSD
Mk3 polo bulkhead, heater, dash and interior wiring loom grafted in
Custom pipework, cooling, exhaust, wiring by Pitstop Developments
Cobra seats and 6 point harnesses.
Lotus Eclat 7x14 rims on custom 35mm hub adapters
And a pile more little interesting anal bits only I know about ;D
The bonnet doesn't fit...
