1981 Mk1 Golf GLS
As seen in the ‘Back in the day VW/Audi Dealership’ thread in general chat, my Granddad died back in April, and we are just having to sort through some of his stuff now.
We have gone back and forth about whether to keep this or not, but me and my brother have come to the conclusion that we don’t have the space to keep it at the minute (not to mention we still need to sort through all the other stuff of his too) so its going to have to go up for sale, somewhat reluctantly.
The Essentials (before I start waffling):
1981 5 Door GLS 1.5 Auto
2 previous owners (3 on V5 as they made us change it into our name when Granddad died) - Probably worth noting that the first two owners were husband and then wife too, so essentially only really two 'owners' ever.
MOT and Tax exempt (Is actually currently taxed – I need to apoply for the exemption)
Just over 51k miles (may go up a bit as we are using it every now and again)
The waffle:
Granddad used to look after and service etc this Golf for the previous owner, who he had known for years and years, she’d had it since 1986, and it was her husband's prior to that from new. When she stopped driving we ended up buying it from her (although I cant quite work out exactly when that was – Granddad must have had it for about 15 years at least at a guess), and he kept it as his daily alongside his T25 and mk4 Golf up until he died in April 22, albeit he hadn’t driven it for a good 18 months at least as he had gotten too ill to do so, so all in we have ‘known’ TEA for a long time!
Just over a year or so ago, while he was pretty ill, and had got past being able to do work on his own cars, he asked a mate of his, who resprays lorries for a living, if he could do a bit of welding and tidying up etc on the sills, and stick it through an MOT for him. Knowing how ill he was, Paul agreed, but actually ended up doing the sills, arches, rear clip, tidied up a few other bits and then gave it a full respray as a surprise for Granddad, hence it, bodily being so tidy (there are pics of all the work he did, so nothing is hidden) as a bit of a ‘Car SOS’ on a private scale.
The Negatives:
- It needs the heater matrix doing – As soon as the car warms up it p*sses water everywhere! It’s a cheap and easy enough job, but fiddly and time consuming, which both of us don't really have time for at the minute
- A few years back, Granddad had some issues with the electrics, and so has done a few ‘old man’ modifications to some of the wiring that probably wants undoing in the long term
- Again, for reasons known only to himself, he got obsessed with fitting Mk4 Golf ‘Gamma’ radio and CD changers to everything (he has done it to his T25 too), which I would be pulling out and sorting properly personally if I was keeping it, as it looks absurd.
- We haven’t done huge mileage in it (partly due to heater matrix) but it seems to have a strange intermittent starting issue when warm. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. If I had to guess, it is either related to the best part of 2 years not being used, or the aforementioned electrical modifications that have been done!
- The interior is in really good condition, as you would expect given the low mileage and low number of owners, but weirdly, while clean and the fabric etc is in great condition, the seat covers have gone a bit ‘baggy’ (see pics) and with the aforementioned ‘old man’ mods, the dash isn’t completely mint.
- Slightly weird, and slightly annoying (although also amusing) point – The supplying dealer was a rival dealership to my Granddads, so even though his has been shut for 30 years, he couldn’t drive round with their sticker in the back and name on the number plates. The plates were no big deal, he just covered the name with electrical tape, and then got round to getting new plates made (the originals are included). He did, however, I assume with some sort of psychopathic rage, scratch the whole of the tailgate sticker in the back window away, other than the VW roundel, because frankly sometimes, he could be a nutcase.
The positives:
- Hopefully you can see the ‘story’ and the history of the car is a good one! There is a massive stack of receipts etc (in fact, there are probably even more that I will find over time – his filing system left a lot to be desired).
- The engine runs nicely and the gearbox (while a typically curse word 80s 3 speed auto) changes nicely etc.
- A few years back, having grown tired of trying to get it to run nicely Granddad junked the rubbish auto-choke pierburg carb and swapped it for a manual choke weber, that has probably only had about 500 miles (if that) put onto it since.
- As you can see from the pics, bodily its great. He did the respray for free, so it wasn’t a glass out etc job, but anyone is welcome to see the pictures that Paul took as he went along, and you will see it’s a good respray (including doing all the underside in stonechip etc – It wasn’t just a blow over)
- Mechanically it all seems good – Granddad was an ex-main dealer and while he wasn’t the best at writing everything down he did, he tended to ‘over-look-after’ his cars, so it will have been serviced more often than needed, and stuff sorted ‘properly’ when it needed it
- The numberplate is a cracker!
- Other than the seats (and to a lesser degree the dash) as already mentioned, the low mileage means the interior is in really good nick – Roof lining, carpets, door cards etc are all really nice.
- Last MOT only ran out on 17th Nov, and it literally didn’t move between the last one and until we brought the car over to my brothers house, because he was just too ill to drive (or even leave the house) by that point, so although its now MOT exempt, it hasn’t been sat around for years un looked at.
In an ideal world, my heart is saying we should keep it and do a manual gearbox and fruitier engine conversion on it – It would make a cracking base to start from. Unfortunately both of our heads say we don't really have anywhere dry to keep it, both have young kids and various other things going on, and there are 8 other vehicles and 84 years worth of car/boat/building work style hoarding to sort out. It will sit for at least 5 years before either of us are free enough to really get started on it, and that seems a shame when its so tidy at the minute.
I’ve really struggled to price it – Partly due to a lack of other ones around, partly due to the fact that we are torn on keeping it rather than selling, partly due to it being so good body wise, but needing some other bits doing and the seats being a bit crappy having sagged. I’m sticking it up at £5000, £3900 given that’s cheaper than any other 5 doors I can find other than any that are way worse condition, but am open to sensible offers – Really we could do with it being out of the way so we can get on sorting some other of his stuff, but equally value wise, if it drops to a certain point, I think it probably turns our mind back to finding somewhere to store it and we can decide what to do at some point in the future. If people think I am miles off price wise, feel free to tell me, I wont be offended!
It does drive, is taxed and insured, but personally, given the age of it, the issues as listed, and that it has essentially not been used for 2 years at least, personally I wouldn’t be driving it home (or definitely not without breakdown cover) if I was going more than a few miles!
Its currently at my brothers house in the West Midlands for viewing etc – Any questions feel free to shout, just bear in mind I/we can be as helpful as we can, but may be working slightly from 3rd hand knowledge given its not my car, if you see what I mean. There are more pics (plus all the resto pics) available, just ask if you want to see them.
I think that covers everything - I am sure I will remember other stuff, and as I say, possibly find other bits and pieces for it as we carry on clearing his place – Will update things if/when I do! Sorry for the massively verbose advert – You can probably tell it’s a car we have a lot of affection for.
Cheers
Dan
The pics:
As seen in the ‘Back in the day VW/Audi Dealership’ thread in general chat, my Granddad died back in April, and we are just having to sort through some of his stuff now.
We have gone back and forth about whether to keep this or not, but me and my brother have come to the conclusion that we don’t have the space to keep it at the minute (not to mention we still need to sort through all the other stuff of his too) so its going to have to go up for sale, somewhat reluctantly.
The Essentials (before I start waffling):
1981 5 Door GLS 1.5 Auto
2 previous owners (3 on V5 as they made us change it into our name when Granddad died) - Probably worth noting that the first two owners were husband and then wife too, so essentially only really two 'owners' ever.
MOT and Tax exempt (Is actually currently taxed – I need to apoply for the exemption)
Just over 51k miles (may go up a bit as we are using it every now and again)
The waffle:
Granddad used to look after and service etc this Golf for the previous owner, who he had known for years and years, she’d had it since 1986, and it was her husband's prior to that from new. When she stopped driving we ended up buying it from her (although I cant quite work out exactly when that was – Granddad must have had it for about 15 years at least at a guess), and he kept it as his daily alongside his T25 and mk4 Golf up until he died in April 22, albeit he hadn’t driven it for a good 18 months at least as he had gotten too ill to do so, so all in we have ‘known’ TEA for a long time!
Just over a year or so ago, while he was pretty ill, and had got past being able to do work on his own cars, he asked a mate of his, who resprays lorries for a living, if he could do a bit of welding and tidying up etc on the sills, and stick it through an MOT for him. Knowing how ill he was, Paul agreed, but actually ended up doing the sills, arches, rear clip, tidied up a few other bits and then gave it a full respray as a surprise for Granddad, hence it, bodily being so tidy (there are pics of all the work he did, so nothing is hidden) as a bit of a ‘Car SOS’ on a private scale.
The Negatives:
- It needs the heater matrix doing – As soon as the car warms up it p*sses water everywhere! It’s a cheap and easy enough job, but fiddly and time consuming, which both of us don't really have time for at the minute
- A few years back, Granddad had some issues with the electrics, and so has done a few ‘old man’ modifications to some of the wiring that probably wants undoing in the long term
- Again, for reasons known only to himself, he got obsessed with fitting Mk4 Golf ‘Gamma’ radio and CD changers to everything (he has done it to his T25 too), which I would be pulling out and sorting properly personally if I was keeping it, as it looks absurd.
- We haven’t done huge mileage in it (partly due to heater matrix) but it seems to have a strange intermittent starting issue when warm. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. If I had to guess, it is either related to the best part of 2 years not being used, or the aforementioned electrical modifications that have been done!
- The interior is in really good condition, as you would expect given the low mileage and low number of owners, but weirdly, while clean and the fabric etc is in great condition, the seat covers have gone a bit ‘baggy’ (see pics) and with the aforementioned ‘old man’ mods, the dash isn’t completely mint.
- Slightly weird, and slightly annoying (although also amusing) point – The supplying dealer was a rival dealership to my Granddads, so even though his has been shut for 30 years, he couldn’t drive round with their sticker in the back and name on the number plates. The plates were no big deal, he just covered the name with electrical tape, and then got round to getting new plates made (the originals are included). He did, however, I assume with some sort of psychopathic rage, scratch the whole of the tailgate sticker in the back window away, other than the VW roundel, because frankly sometimes, he could be a nutcase.
The positives:
- Hopefully you can see the ‘story’ and the history of the car is a good one! There is a massive stack of receipts etc (in fact, there are probably even more that I will find over time – his filing system left a lot to be desired).
- The engine runs nicely and the gearbox (while a typically curse word 80s 3 speed auto) changes nicely etc.
- A few years back, having grown tired of trying to get it to run nicely Granddad junked the rubbish auto-choke pierburg carb and swapped it for a manual choke weber, that has probably only had about 500 miles (if that) put onto it since.
- As you can see from the pics, bodily its great. He did the respray for free, so it wasn’t a glass out etc job, but anyone is welcome to see the pictures that Paul took as he went along, and you will see it’s a good respray (including doing all the underside in stonechip etc – It wasn’t just a blow over)
- Mechanically it all seems good – Granddad was an ex-main dealer and while he wasn’t the best at writing everything down he did, he tended to ‘over-look-after’ his cars, so it will have been serviced more often than needed, and stuff sorted ‘properly’ when it needed it
- The numberplate is a cracker!
- Other than the seats (and to a lesser degree the dash) as already mentioned, the low mileage means the interior is in really good nick – Roof lining, carpets, door cards etc are all really nice.
- Last MOT only ran out on 17th Nov, and it literally didn’t move between the last one and until we brought the car over to my brothers house, because he was just too ill to drive (or even leave the house) by that point, so although its now MOT exempt, it hasn’t been sat around for years un looked at.
In an ideal world, my heart is saying we should keep it and do a manual gearbox and fruitier engine conversion on it – It would make a cracking base to start from. Unfortunately both of our heads say we don't really have anywhere dry to keep it, both have young kids and various other things going on, and there are 8 other vehicles and 84 years worth of car/boat/building work style hoarding to sort out. It will sit for at least 5 years before either of us are free enough to really get started on it, and that seems a shame when its so tidy at the minute.
I’ve really struggled to price it – Partly due to a lack of other ones around, partly due to the fact that we are torn on keeping it rather than selling, partly due to it being so good body wise, but needing some other bits doing and the seats being a bit crappy having sagged. I’m sticking it up at £
It does drive, is taxed and insured, but personally, given the age of it, the issues as listed, and that it has essentially not been used for 2 years at least, personally I wouldn’t be driving it home (or definitely not without breakdown cover) if I was going more than a few miles!
Its currently at my brothers house in the West Midlands for viewing etc – Any questions feel free to shout, just bear in mind I/we can be as helpful as we can, but may be working slightly from 3rd hand knowledge given its not my car, if you see what I mean. There are more pics (plus all the resto pics) available, just ask if you want to see them.
I think that covers everything - I am sure I will remember other stuff, and as I say, possibly find other bits and pieces for it as we carry on clearing his place – Will update things if/when I do! Sorry for the massively verbose advert – You can probably tell it’s a car we have a lot of affection for.
Cheers
Dan
The pics:
Probably doesnt mean that much to anyone else, but was nice for us to see anyway 
Genuinely open to suggestions if people think we are asking too much/its not the right time etc etc
