Old school feature car of the day: Danny Gomes Mk2

I shot this car in (I'm pretty sure) early 2000 for PVW. It makes sense because the first thing I shot for a proper feature was Waterfest of 1999, and I didn't get that many cars to shoot right away. This Mk2 was a bit of a star at the shows back then because it was so crazy, so it was a pretty early "car to get" for me. I have literally BOXES of slides from my early car shooting years, and very few of them are scanned. I guess I'm saving that job for retirement or something, because I can barely bring myself to edit current shoots.

This car is really wild looking to 2009 eyes, it was pretty over the top back then, but now (with the euro/subdued/refined OEM exterior/shaved bay/slammed/small wheels look) it looks almost impossible.

VR6 swap, chromed, with chromed core support. Not many people were doing this back then. I'm pretty sure this car had a turbo the following year, and after that? Whereabouts unknown.

"Flip paint" seemed amazing back then... it became quickly passé, but for a hot minute it was the thing to have on the crazy show cars. I can't imagine painting this full 16v trim kit with all the spoilers, plastic parts, diffusers, eyebrows, etc. that it is wearing. Since you can't touch up this paint, you would have to be extremely careful to not flex any of this plastic too much. This is another huge difference in a lot of today's cars, since everything is so low (and if you aren't rubbin' you ain't dubbin'), a lot more cars have the odd scraped front lips, and paint losses. The 18" Racing Hart wheels were also pretty much unheard of on Mk2's at the time in this size... I think there was only one tire that was low enough profile to squeeze these on.

Completely red interior: check.

I think it's pretty interesting to look back at some of these old feature cars, and I will try to do this every so often. As with music, clothes, and pretty much everything considered cool, tastes change quite a bit, but it's fun to look back, get some ideas, and say WTF?!? (and maybe that Project Scirocco would look kinda cool in purple flip with full euro treatment? hmmmmmmmmm)

-J blaksquirrel

The other Wolfsburg RS Project: Blaksquirrel's Mk5 GTI

I'm still waiting on my A59 info, so I figured I would officially introduce Blaksquirrel's Mk5 GTI 2.0t daily driver as a WRS project. Josh has owned this particular Candy White GTI since it was new in 2006, and has had a bunch of stuff done over the years, including Vogtland coilovers, APR ECU upgrade, full 3" turbo back exhaust, Forge Motorsport Twintercooler, Diverter, Carbonio intake, all that good stuff.

The biggest visual change to the car, and the one we'll be focusing on here, was the addition of a set of Hartmann Lamborghini Gallardo replica wheels (Model G5) in 19x8", et42. The more aggressive offset (for a Mk5 anyways) of this early set never made it into production, so if you want this same stance, you'll need to run some 5mm spacers on the 47mm offset they offer. Just be prepared to do some fender clearancing to accommodate the tires. The G5's are relatively light for being big 19x8" rollers by the way, and have held up really well to the abuse.

So the 215/35 R19 Dunlops that J had been running ended up bubbled and in poor shape thanks to the combination of having practically no side wall, and running on typically poor New York / New Jersey highway surfaces. Josh ran the wheels in silver for a while, and although they looked good, it just didn't have enough "pop."

With the tires in need of replacement anyway, we decided to head down to Lufteknic and take the time to catch up with Robert and get the wheels freshened up with a coat of gloss black paint and some 225/35 Dunlop Direzza Sport Max tires. Once the tires were off Josh got to washing, washing, and then washing again, before scuffing the surface for the spray.

No turning back now!


The finished product, up close. This fitment is without any spacers or anything, fills the arches perfectly!


I think it made a huge difference in the looks of the car. The slightly larger tires fill up the fenders more completely, and the black wheels really tie together the black trim around the bottom of the car and the "shield" grill, whereas before it seemed out of place. They have the added benefit of making the car look about 100 times more aggressive and moody.

Special thanks to Robert and the crew at Lufteknic for the additional help and support, now and in years past. Maybe if Robert finds the time in between GT3RS engine rebuilds and his top secret panel van project, he can get his Mk2 Jetta finished up and we can make room for it here on the site. (Just kidding Robert, I know you've got bigger fish to fry!)

_WRS