Pic Post: From the Handbook

So I received that 'VW Motorsports Handbook' that I found on eBay, and have put together this little combination of scans from the 8-page booklet. I'll do a full post on what it covers inside, but I thought it was very cool to not only find this oddball piece of VW Sport history in the USA, but to find it in such good condition. The thing is mint!

Although there is now not a shred of doubt about the Caravan GTI being an official Volkswagen car, and the car we have in our possession being the same car pictured here, it is curious that it does appear slightly different in these pictures. Sure, the wheels, fenders, graphics, instrument cluster and everything are the same. But there is no giant 'Portland Racing' painted down the side and it has some additional stickers not seen in any other images, that we have seen thus-far. Those include additional Valvoline stickers on the front fenders and rear valance and Schrick stickers, also up on the fenders. Stickers are no big deal as they are easily added or removed, but it's odd that there is not a trace of these on the car as it sits now. Curiously, there are two race seats in one shot, only one race seat in other shots. Why go through the trouble of putting seats in and out for different pictures? Makes no sense.

Full scans of the VW Motorsports Handbook tomorrow!

_WRS

VW Sport IMSA GTI (Part 4, so what about that paint)

After initial inspection of the VW Sport Caravan GTI we were left with a pretty clear picture of what the car was (very clean) and what it wasn't (track ready). It has all the appearances of a race car, but without a fuel cell, fire system or ignition kills it was obvious that some fairly significant changes would need to happen to get it close to that level, and that's before we're talking about mechanical bits like the engine or suspension.

But before all that could even be thought about, we had to figure out whether or not any body or paint work would need to happen. So with this in mind, Alan, Josh and I all took a good look at it and tried to figure out what to do.

Pic Post: (vintage) David Rugh / Portland Racing GTI

David Rugh, Columbus Ohio 1985. Picture copyright / used with permission Mark Windecker.

The best yet. We've been searching high and low for additional pictures of the other Portland Racing VWs from 1985. Our buddy Mark Windecker, an amazing photographer with amazing archives, has come through for us once again. He went back through his catalog of the 1985 Columbus Ohio IMSA Champion Spark Plug Challenge race, and came up with this shot of the #04 Portland Racing entered GTI, driven by David Rugh. David finished 5th, and in this shot we can clearly see a number of similarities between our VW Sport Caravan GTI and those they ran on the track. It has the same paint scheme and windshield retainers, and from what we can see a very similar cage. Standard fenders of course, and what looks like a Kamei front spoiler, but its an encouraging shot.

Just think. Twenty six years ago the car would have seemed rather cheap and disposable compared to the big IMSA GTP cars which were the main event, and few photographers would have bothered to waste the film. Film isn't cheap; not now, not then. Thankfully Mark was there, documenting more than just the big show, and providing us with the chance to take a look back in time at what the more grassroots guys were doing back in 1985.

We're in the process of tracking down more information, and this particular pic has come up with the most promising leads thus far. More soon. Hopefully.

_WRS

VW Sport IMSA GTI (Part 3, Inspection of a factory racer)

When we last left off with our VW Sport IMSA GTI Bring a Trailer score, we had just gotten back from picking it up from the previous owner, and narrowly missed possible (near?) disaster thanks to a rather intense lake-effect snow storm. Although we had certainly inspected the car before signing off on the bill of sale and loading up, it wasn't exactly the best situation for rumination on the finer points of the car.



I mean sure it all checked out. The car was clearly a one-of-a-kind. But what exactly did we get? The ad on BaT as well as any other information we've scrounged has said that it was a spare car built into an IMSA GTU class car, or perhaps was more a concept than race car. One thing's for sure: It's an odd and completely original piece of the Volkswagen motorsport history in the United States. Let's take a look inside to what Portland Racing has done shall we?

Introducing: The VW Sport IMSA GTI (Part 1: discovery, research and acquisition)

"Hey, you might want to check your email...Alan sent a link for a GTI listed over on Bring a Trailer. It looks pretty cool." These are the words that I heard from my brother Josh when I answered my phone early one Friday morning; February 4th to be exact. I hadn't checked my email yet, as there are very few things I ever do in the morning before drinking some coffee, but the urgency in Josh's voice prompted me to, and boy am I glad that I did. Alan's email was brief and to the point. A link, and the text, "Seriously let's get it."