Hi all,

I picked up this machine on Saturday:



It's a stripped out ready to track/race Mk1, which has had many hours put into it to reduce weight wherever possible. It's also had a nice amount of money spent on wheels, tyres, suspension, bracing, seats and stainless exhaust.

Brief specification is below:

  • 100 kg of weight removed
  • Sunroof removed and blanked off trim
  • Carpets & soundproofing removed
  • Front and rear strut brace fitted
  • Koni shocks, apex springs & poly bushed suspension fitted
  • Rear Mk2 18mm anti-roll bar fitted
  • Steering rack poly bushed
  • Lightweight motordrive seats & Willens harness drivers side
  • Quick shifter kit
  • Team dynamics pro race alloys with Toyo R888 tyres
  • Lightweight cooling fan
  • Momo steering wheel
  • Modified bonnet


Firstly, R888's... OMG! The grip these tyres can produce is astounding! Absolutely no understeer and near on unlimited amounts of grip! I've not had chance to drive her in huge anger as the seats are a little too snug for my frame at the moment, but there were some country roads on the way back from darn sarth, which gave me a brief chance to see what it's capable of. It's had 4 wheel alignment done also and you can tell! Also, because all of the soundproofing has been removed, you get all the engine bay noises and tyre drone that make you feel like you're in something special. There's no heater/cooler as all of the dash has been removed, but you just have to dress for the weather! The guy that I bought it off really has gone to the nth degree of stripping and weight saving, even down to having 1 washer jet, 1 rear number plate light and having a sticker as a rear number plate!

It'll make a good companion to my Mk1.5 and there's only a couple of small jobs to sort, namely a sticking handbrake cable (which is a must in Sheffield!) and a slight blow from the exhaust manifold along with some new seats or possibly stretching these ones. It's also got the common high Mk1 cold idle, which I'll sort temporarily with a tyre valve cap with ye olde hole drilled in it.

It get's a lot of looks wherever you go and should be funny to take in for MOT. The previous owner had done a couple of track days and had taken it across to the Nurburgring, so it's got a nice history. It is a low mileage example with only 66k on the clock, but I'll be keeping it on the road, which is the main point!

Anyway, here's some more pics:



















Jekyll and Hyde or Hyde and Hyde?



All thoughts and comments welcome!

Cheers,
Tom