1983 Volkswagen Rabbit

GTI Hatchback

4 Cylinder 1.7 Liter

Manual

1VWDC0173DV004473

Clear

Gasoline

1983 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI Service & Maintenance History Pictures and couple of Videos of the '83 GTI (click link for more pictures) Short Video of starting and driving. Short Video2 of driving, then parking and looking at the running engine. (amber dash light that comes on sometimes in the video is normal, its an *UP* arrow that lights to suggest to the driver that they can shift gears - just a feature prompting the driver to drive in a way that gets best MPG's ...) This is a great car. Fires right up, ready for the new owner to drive off and enjoy. (Documented history from when it was new to the present), runs great, rust free, no dents . Glass all good, light covers all good, all lights inside and out function, manual crank windows and sunroof . Note: The GTI has the 1.8L VW engine. (not 1.7l as the Ebay motors information suggests...) 5 speed close ratio gear box (brand new clutch), original VW GTI 1.8L engine. Its got about 166K . For a time under the last owner, the speedometer was kaput. The speedometer was later rebuilt and is fully functioning now. The owner estimated the miles not clocked (backed up by the extensive maintenance history records) - So, the clock in the car says something circa 142K, but there are really the 166K. Brand new clutch and all associated parts just installed (had done at one of the better VW specialists in the State, BowWow VW in Lynnwood). Some of the high-end upgrades done over the years: Neuspeed upper and lower stress bars Autotech front swaybar and rear swaybar Zender side skirts (right one is now missing) Pioneer tape deck with Denon Amp added in 1990 Techtonics exhaust Euro GTI manifold Twin tube down pipe High flow catalytic converter Cat Back exhaust including mid-resonator K&W air filter, reusable Intake system modifications including: Neuspeed throttle body Stock intake manifold modified to accept the Neuspeed throttle body with polished ports European spec 'G Grind' cam Cam saver oil baffle New head gasket installed New timing belt installed Transmission completely redone All kinds of the usual wear out parts and regular maintenance has been done, of course. Like oil changes, muffler, timing belt, shocks, O2 sensor etc., as . The car has been taken care of, ...spoiled as needed. Also have will include nice set of studded snow tires on steel rims. And plenty of useful and costly extra's, like the Bentley Repair Manual, another repair manual, some proprietary tools that are used for working on these cars . The glass and windows are all great. windows all wind nicely, sun roof winds great and has zero leaks. All lights inside and out work, no exterior lights or light housing are cracked. All in all, very good shape, especially for the age. Issues? Paint is original and has the expected odd light marks and light scratches. The drivers sun visor is gone - Headliner stretchy material sags (kind of sticks back with the static electricity if you wipe a hand over it...) - Exhaust rattles a little - its fine, just rattles a little from the back. There's supposed to be a Denon amp in the glove box, and there's a nice Panasonic stereo, but the system needs troubleshooting (basically, when I turn on NPR, just the drivers speaker comes on - why not the others? Haven't investigated. Needs new antenna, existing one is just a stub.. The motor for squirting fluid on the windows doesn't work (wipers work great, just the motor that squirts the cleaning fluid is kaput). One of the the three round gauges by the gear stick doesn't work (I think its a temp gauge, but its actually a redundant gauge because the engine temp gauge on the dash works just fine. If I think of other stuff, will add it ..,. OK, more to add on the possible issues: A members question about where the new clutch was installed and if I had the paperwork (at Bow Wow VW on 3/30/2010, and yes, I have the paperwork) - prompted me to go over some of the conversations I had with the VW specialist mechanics there...,. Since they were working on the car, I asked what else it might need. They told me to check the records for the last Timing Belt change - I did and it was May 2008. So the timing belt should be good for a good many years/miles. The mechanics told me the exhaust was *weld cat back* and rattles - though they said I didn't need to do anything to it, that it would be fine, just that it would rattle.. Suggested replacing the Negative battery cable, or that I install a new clamp on the end of the existing cable. Suggested possible front end alignment, thought the wheel cambers appeared a little off. I'll see about posting a list of a lot of the regular maintenance that's been done and when it was done. I'll post a link to that up top (OK,...have now made the list and put a link to it at the top of the page...). I'm posting a lot about what might be issues, when there's a lot more right with the car, than wrong, but they are the kinds of things I'm guessing a buyer will like knowing - just please keep them in the context of a clean, rust free and great running car that has loads of great upgrades :-) I love the car and would drive it forever. Unfortunately I am just too big for it. At just over 6'2", I'm not *that* tall, but my head touches the roof on the interior and long term, this just isn't going to work for me. The car was that nice that I couldn't help but buy it, though I know now it wasn't the sensible match for me (because I touch the roof ). Here is Sports Car International's list of the 10 Best Sports Cars of the 1980's: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Car_International) 1. Porsche 959 2. Ferrari 288 GTO 3. VW Rabbit GTI 4. Audi Quattro 5. Ferrari F40 6. BMW M3 7. Porsche 911 Carrera 8. Toyota MR2 9. Renault 5 Turbo 10. Lamborghini Countach ' Your interest and questions are welcome, Martin in Lynnwood, WA If in doubt, please ASK, before you bid. Please, I want bids only from people that are 100% sure they want the bid placed and that they want to be the new home for the nice machine :-) P.S. Buyers in the Seattle area are welcome to view the car while the auction is under way. You can see it, drive it, inspect it. I'd accommodate any way that I can for someone that would like their expert to expect the car too. Fahrvegnügen! On Apr-21-10 at 13:58:59 PDT, seller added the following information: Pictures of seats with wool covers pulled back and pictures of the spare tire area with carpet lifted - ADDED to the pictures I have hosted at Picassa (i.e., if you click the link at the top of this page, to see the additional pictures I have posted online, you'll see that I've added pictures to the pile. In addition to the many pictures that were there, now pictures of both front seats are added, as well as pictures of the spare tire area in the back of the car (nice spare tire and jack too :-) Thanks, Martin. On Apr-21-10 at 17:13:47 PDT, seller added the following information: Here are some great links on the 1983 VW Rabbit GTI: AUTOMOBILE Magazine Article on MK1 VW GTI Wikipedia on MK1 VW Rabbit CAR & DRIVER Magazine 10 Best Cars: 1983 VW Rabbit GTI Derek Spratt's 1983 GTI Website ROAD & TRACK '83 GTI REVIEW!!! CAR & DRIVER '83 GTI REVIEW MOTOR TREND '83 GTI REVIEW! (Thank You to David Spratt's website for several of the links!)