What is a 83 mk1 GTI cabrio worth?

[Major]

I have stumbled upon a 83 mk1 gti cabrio. Now I haven't actually seen the car in detail so can't give you any pics or great detail about the car. All I know is it has done around 140k's (I think) and needs a little bit of work, nothing to substantial. I am looking at maybe picking it up as a bit of a project (once I have a good look over it) however I really have no idea what a cabrio is worth.

Any ideas of the price range on one of these things? From - poor condition to excellent?

I posted this thread originally in the mk2 section, as I have also found a mk2 gli at the same place that I might also look at picking up.

Thanks all.

Cheers Paul

[sifty]

Good find. Value would depend a lot on the condition and originality. If it's all there a GTI cab is pretty hard to come by. I just missed out on one last year before I got my hardtop.

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[Major]

Guys, any idea how I can know exactly if it is a true GTI (ie serial number etc) rather then just a mock up?

[EwenHayton]

I paid $2500 for mine had no rust anywhere and needed a new clutch! Was compleatly standard but from wat I could see had 2 minor repair jobs! And my engine code is JH got told by the mechanic who fitted clutch it was the GTI model

[sifty]

Hopefully the build sticker inside the boot (next to the boot catch) is intact and you can get some info from there.

There is one very good visual clue that usually wouldn't be faked - the sway bar in the front.

Otherwise GTI Cabs did not have all of the hardtop GTI features necessarily.
But one of that vintage should have most of these:
Red grille surround
4 headlights.
GTI badge on the grille.
GTI wheels - either Tarantulas or P Slots.
MFA - "Multifuncion Analyser" which is the trip computer thing.
GTI steering wheel (says GTI on it)
1800 K-Jet engine

I have not seen one with GTI trimmed interior, though they may well exist.

[Major]

Hopefully the build sticker inside the boot (next to the boot catch) is intact and you can get some info from there.

There is one very good visual clue that usually wouldn't be faked - the sway bar in the front.

Otherwise GTI Cabs did not have all of the hardtop GTI features necessarily.
But one of that vintage should have most of these:
Red grille surround
4 headlights.
GTI badge on the grille.
GTI wheels - either Tarantulas or P Slots.
MFA - "Multifuncion Analyser" which is the trip computer thing.
GTI steering wheel (says GTI on it)
1800 K-Jet engine

I have not seen one with GTI trimmed interior, though they may well exist.

Thanks. I will suss it out.

[paintz]

there is one import on the sydney vw enthusiast forum for 3500 i think is that the one. low milege and same engine as gti
For Sale - Club VeeDub

[gldgti]

Thanks. I will suss it out.

Our cab is not a GTI but it does have a factory front sway bar.

[sifty]

That's interesting. I wonder if it was a factory option? I know of a couple of 1800 DX K-Jet engined cabs that are not GTI's and don't have the sway bar.
Our "GTI" cab is something of an anomaly, it's a 1988 "GTI" and it is a non-EFI 1600cc. From my research it seems that after 1987 they were trying to keep up flagging sales for the Cab so they pretty much stuck a GTI badge on anything and it really only denoted a trim level, rather than a performance level, after that they went on with the Klipper, Rivage and Sportline until they finally bought out the Mk3 Cabby.
So our "GTI" is essentially a "Badge Engineering" exercise, still a "GTI" offically but not "really".

Our cab is not a GTI but it does have a factory front sway bar.

[sifty]

Well, it has GTI wheels and a GTI Badge on the back, being an '82 it's possible it could be one of the last 1600 GTIs, but they do list it as a GLI, also Brown is not a normal GTI colour.

there is one import on the sydney vw enthusiast forum for 3500 i think is that the one. low milege and same engine as gti
For Sale - Club VeeDub

[gldgti]

So our "GTI" is essentially a "Badge Engineering" exercise, still a "GTI" offically but not "really".

Yeah, I reckon you could probably say that for all the cabbys after the mid eighties.

ours (used to have) a 1.8 K-jet engine, and AUG gearbox. It has front and rear sway bars aswell, but like the mk2 gti's in australia it had the crap single downpipe exhaust. So basically all the GTI running gear... but then, it has grey checked interior, no trip computer, and no GTI badges anywhere... it is a '91, so I suppose by that stage they would have been puting pretty much any parts together that they felt like. I believe the car originally had the 'Le Castellet' wheels.

Toget back on topic - a cabriolet in poor condition can still fetch $1k.... for something nice, and early, I reckon anywhere up to $5k.

[Major]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Really appreciate it.

It isn't advertised for sale anywhere at the moment. It is owned by an old friend of my fathers. My old man knew I was chasing a vw golf to do up, and when he saw it the guy offered to us along with a mk2 GLI at a pretty good price. However I just haven't been able to meet the guy there to have a look over it. Fingers crossed I can get there this week then I will have a better idea of its worth.

Will keep you all posted. If it doesn't eventuate I will let you know, that way if someone else is interested we might be able to sort something out.

Again thanks - cheers paul.

[EwenHayton]

Take pics

[roccodingo]

I know of one genuine Cabriolet GTI here in perth, Burgandy red colour.

Australian delivered Mk1 cabrio's came with the lower spec engine, K jet and a JH ( lower compression ) thats why there slugs compared to the real GTI. The US spec cabrios changed to digifant around 88 or 89, still with the JH. As gldgti mentioned, also came with the toilet bowl exhaust and a load of other polution crap.

Ewen, the JH isnt a GTI engine, just has Kjet injection thats all. Its about 90 HP at the crank instead of the 112 the 1.8 GTI's had.

Be good to check out Paul, even if it isnt a GTI engine it aint to hard to get some power happening.

[EwenHayton]

Well goes to show my original thoughts about the mechanic were correct and he didnt know what he was talking about!!!!

What is the JH Engine missing then from the GTI to get it to the 112hp?

"bloody gutted about that"