Pic Post: Mini in Virginia

It's not everyday that you see a beautiful Mini in America. It's even less likely to find one having just rolled out from a heavy-duty truck repair shop, owned by the shop's painter, but that's the beauty of the automobile. The most unlikely of individuals can become a dyed in the wool fanatic. This is one of several Minis which the painter owns, and he's as hardcore as anybody I've met when it comes to his cars. 

More pics after the jump...

The VW Motorsports Handbook

The 'VW Motorsports Handbook' in its entirety. I honestly had no idea anything like this ever existed, but it makes a lot of sense given the direction of the company in the USA at the time. The VW of America president, Fuller, wanted to promote Volkswagens as the car that was affordable and could deliver the goods both on and off the track. This piece of promotional history shows that VW was actively promoting the use of their cars in motorsport, and going so far as to spell out all the ways that you yourself could get involved. From auto cross to SCCA and IMSA pro racing, and everything in between.

It just so happens that our IMSA GTI / VW Sport Caravan GTI was an integral part of that message, appearing on both the front and back covers. It's a real shame Fuller wasn't able to see his vision to fruition, we might have a very different VW here today.

Full handbook posted after the jump.

_WRS

Rare hare: VW Motorsport Mk3 16v G60...Say what?

It's not all that often that I come across a Volkswagen model that I've never heard of, but this my friends is one of those models. My German is more that a little bit rusty I'm afraid, but from what I can tell this car was never intended to be a stand alone model like the Golf Limited or even the stillborn Golf A59. (which is for sale again by the way - $18,000 - A steal!)

Click to see the full-size dealio

From what my high school Deutsch is allowing me to understand, this was to be a possible upgrade option for the GTI 16v Mk3. Probably the work of some fertile minds in Hannover who realized 'hey, we only built 71 Golf Limited models and we have a truck load of these 16v G60 conversion parts laying around, let's try to sell them.'

The conversion included the engine work, which featured lowered compression to 9:1, resulting in a G-Lader assisted power output of 208ps and 287Nm torque. Tires are bumped up to 225/40 R16, and ultimately resulted in a 0-100kph (62mph) of 7.3, which seems high to me, and a terminal velocity of 240kph (149mph, which seems 100% possible.) Oh and it had some trick VW Motorsport gauges too, just as icing on the cake.

The cost was 13,870DM (Deutsch Marks), which back then would have been around $6,900. Not cheap, but man would it have been cool. It sure would be nice if VW Motorsport offered up conversions like this these days...

_WRS