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Meet Walter.
Form = Function.
Can you really have the best of both worlds? Is it possible to create something that is not only fantastic to drive but has the looks to match.
The goal is to develop the car into not only something that is visually exciting and enticing but also viscerally engaging. Something where everything you touch is special, supple or strong and yet comfortably familiar. Something where the performance is enhanced by sensation, feedback and feel, and driving pleasure is independent of what numbers and figures may suggest and yet equally as important. Something that's equally at home on the racetrack as it is on twisty bumpy B-road, or as it is in a gallery as an art piece. Or down at the shops, running errands. Something that meets all the basic requirements and functions of a car, but yet offer so much more. A car that has something other than what could be printed in a brochure. Something, intangible, but you know that it is there, some soul.
This is where Walter comes in. The plan is to pursue this brief to the extent that the original car, owners abilities, and modest budget allow.
Basic Details and Current Spec:
1988 Volkswagen Golf GTI, MK 2, 2 door hatch. Sunroof. 'Big' windows.
Unregistered (currently)
1.8 16V KR Engine (K-jetronic)
020 5 speed close ratio Transmission
280mm front discs, single piston caliper
239mm rear discs, single piston caliper
15x6 Passat/Corrado Steel wheels
Weitec Coilover suspension
Eibach Sway bars front and rear
Neuspeed strut brace, front.
Custom weight saving (rust), in lots of places.
(This spec is likely to change through the course of the build.)
Estimated project length: 3+ years.
Estimated cost: Lots.
Estimated number of parts to be rebuilt or replaced: All of them. So, lots.
Estimated number of modifications: Lots, and I mean, lots.
Estimated project plan: Get into roadworthy condition.
Performance modifications
Visual modifications.
Final break down, bare metal restoration and reconstruction.
Form = Function.
Can you really have the best of both worlds? Is it possible to create something that is not only fantastic to drive but has the looks to match.
The goal is to develop the car into not only something that is visually exciting and enticing but also viscerally engaging. Something where everything you touch is special, supple or strong and yet comfortably familiar. Something where the performance is enhanced by sensation, feedback and feel, and driving pleasure is independent of what numbers and figures may suggest and yet equally as important. Something that's equally at home on the racetrack as it is on twisty bumpy B-road, or as it is in a gallery as an art piece. Or down at the shops, running errands. Something that meets all the basic requirements and functions of a car, but yet offer so much more. A car that has something other than what could be printed in a brochure. Something, intangible, but you know that it is there, some soul.
This is where Walter comes in. The plan is to pursue this brief to the extent that the original car, owners abilities, and modest budget allow.
Basic Details and Current Spec:
1988 Volkswagen Golf GTI, MK 2, 2 door hatch. Sunroof. 'Big' windows.
Unregistered (currently)
1.8 16V KR Engine (K-jetronic)
020 5 speed close ratio Transmission
280mm front discs, single piston caliper
239mm rear discs, single piston caliper
15x6 Passat/Corrado Steel wheels
Weitec Coilover suspension
Eibach Sway bars front and rear
Neuspeed strut brace, front.
Custom weight saving (rust), in lots of places.
(This spec is likely to change through the course of the build.)
Estimated project length: 3+ years.
Estimated cost: Lots.
Estimated number of parts to be rebuilt or replaced: All of them. So, lots.
Estimated number of modifications: Lots, and I mean, lots.
Estimated project plan: Get into roadworthy condition.
Performance modifications
Visual modifications.
Final break down, bare metal restoration and reconstruction.
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