It’s always nice to see old and new side by side. A bit like a family gathering where you sit a baby next to a grandparent, it confirms the heritage. Now, if you receive an invite to display your Mk1 Golf in pride of place alongside a spanking new Mk7 at a major launch ceremony in Japan – that you’ve helped organise – one thing’s for sure. It needs to look good. Just as well then that Kenji Yokokawa had us to rely on to supply the necessary parts that would enable him to restore his beaten up 1980 Golf E to as-new condition ready for the event.
Kenji just happens to be creative director for an ad agency and was in charge of planning VW Japan’s campaign for the Mk7 last May at the stunning Yoyogi Gymnasium in Tokyo. If you haven’t seen the building, take a look on Google! To help celebrate the event, Ken wanted a display that would include all generations of Golfs, including a line up of Mk1s. The only problem was Ken had to restore his dilapidated Florida Blue example first for it to be included.
“I’d had the car since 2002 and as you can see there was much rust and the paint was completely matt,” reveals Ken. “In 2012 I started looking for a bodyshop to carry out a respray, but when I discovered a big hole in a wing, I knew more extensive work was required and started looking for parts.”
After buying a new bonnet, wing, front apron and bumpers from VW Heritage and getting them shipped to Japan, work began in earnest. Work that would end up taking a nerve wrackingly close to the wire 14 months to complete.
The end result, as the pictures testify, was well worth it – especially as the car’s original designer Giorgetto Giugiaro made a guest appearance at the launch, and even signed Ken’s headlining!
In fact, the Italian stylist summed up the new car perfectly, and even confirmed what we said in the introduction about the importance of family lineage.
“Design is an inherited thing. The Golf gradually matures, evolves and becomes more beautiful, a process undertaken with a great deal of affection. It’s like the continuing legacy of a family. Dramatic visual changes and other high-impact things don’t last long – even if you create a work of genius, it still lacks real meaning if you don’t have technicians continuing to work together on it. The Golf has had a lot of people put a lot of love into it, and in this process has developed a continuing heritage.”
Now you would be forgiven for assuming Ken’s pristine Golf would have been quickly mothballed soon after the event, but no – you couldn’t be more wrong. Said Ken: “It’s now covered 150,000km and gets used every day. It’s too good to keep just for special occasions!”
Good call, we’d say – just don’t let an unsuspecting car valeter loose on the headlining!
Ian