There was a time when a new VW was looked at as a car to seriously consider when choosing a vehicle to build for the professional, or at least semi-professional racing arenas in the world. Not 15 year old beaters, but new, off the showroom floor cars. The Mk1 GTI had an awful lot to do with that, being the first of the hot hatches, and there were a good number of them out there. Rabbit Bilstein Cup, SCCA GT4, and more. But there was a rather lengthy drought between the Mk1 and the Mk5m where things seemed to be put right. With the Mk5 things are back on an upswing, with APR and Irish Mikes putting their money and reputations on the line where it matters, which is on the racetrack. One often wonders however, where are the old machines?
I think about this all the time actually, as there are innumerable racing cars that currently sit hidden away from the world all over this country...from Audis to Porsches, and even the old VWs. Most of the time they sit due to indifference, obsolescence, or a lack of funding...not enough money to run them or make them right, but too much nostalgia to let them go.
Overland Parts (better known as Eurospec) has quite a collection of important Audi Quattros from the 80s and 90s, including the incredible Audi 200 Trans Am test mule, chassis #1. I've never seen it run, never heard of it attending any historic events, and the only pictures are tiny little web 1.0 sized things on their website, but there they sit. Like thoroughbreds put out to pasture but not allowed to go out too far in the fields...
So it pleases me to no end to see GMP Performance, one of the oldest and most successful VW specialists dust off their past and put it out there for all the new school kids to take notice. I have to admit even I was unaware of GMP's importance in the VW racing world of the 70s and 80s up until a few years ago.
I knew they had history, sure, but they still had piles of parts sitting on the shelves from back in the glory days of carb'd 8v motors and BBS body kits! It was at this time that I found out about their Mk1 racer, which has sat in the back of their warehouse since the early 90s. Not neglected, but not really put out there either.
Stephen, shop owner and manager, is currently detailing the entire restoration process on VW Vortex, with the entire car stripped down and rebuilt. Everything, from paint and stickers to engine and suspension, will be exactly as it was when the car last raced in 1990.
Stephen hinted that they will very possibly be bringing the car up north for a show or two this year, and if they do you can sure I'll snag many a picture myself.
At this point I'm more excited to go to Waterfest this year than H20...never thought I'd say that! GMP has a huge cache of pics from the rebuild over on their Flickr page, including engine rebuild, wheels, paint, and more. It's great to see a car like this treated with such respect.
With this I decided it's time to start a little running bit featuring of all the vintage VW Motorsport pics I have stored on the old hard drive. Starting tomorrow!
_WRS
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