Having plundered our warehouse for parts, Zac Miles from top tuners Forge Motorsport has finally finished his Golf Mk1 project. And what a totally superb job he’s made of it…

Totally stunning. That’s all we can say about Zac’s freshly finished Mk1 build with its gleaming blue paint, mega smoothed bay and stripped racing-themed interior with its magnificent colour-coded Cobra pews.

The car was started a little under two years ago – it came as just a shell without any interior and needed a fair bit of work to say the least. Said Zac: “We had to cut away all of the rusted panels, including both rear arches, both sills and the front and rear valance, and welded in the new panels which you supplied.”

Filler was expertly added to bring back the original lines of the Mk1 and the engine bay was meticulously smoothed.

Once all the bodywork was done the Golf received a shiny new coat of blue paint. “The colour is called Bleu Stratus,” explains Zac. “I originally had my mind set on Miami Blue but when my mate mixed it up I thought it was too pale, so I asked him to make it a few shades darker – and that’s what we came up with.”

After a rebuild and a few extra tweaks, the engine was put back in. As it’s a 1.8 GTi 8-valve lump from a Mk2 Zac also got hold of some VW Heritage engine mounts to enable him to crack on with the job and get the pokey new powerplant in place.

The indicator lights, rear lights and the front and rear chrome bumpers were purchased from VW Heritage, as well as most of the driveshaft gators and boots. Zac then got hold of various interior parts, including more bits from us: “I got the headliner and carpet from you guys and then sent everything off to Cobra seats for it to be re-trimmed in alcantara.”

Air Lift Performance supplied the air ride and Studio Incar fitted it and did the boot build, while BladeICE supplied the Gladen audio and Moscani head unit. To provide the necessary grip, Eibach contributed with their trick anti-roll bars and bushing is courtesy of Powerflex throughout. And in case you’re wondering, those sexy rims are from Rotiform. To complete the build, Scorpion Exhausts came up good with the exhaust sysem, with yours truly supplying the necessary rubbers to hang it from…

Among such auspicious company, we’re dead proud to have been involved with the build, and judging by what Zac has to say – the feeling is mutual. “There were a couple times when I would order quite late in the day and Lidia would get it sent out either the same day or the next day. So her customer service was amazing.”

The aim, explained Zac, was always to do a ‘standard’ style restoration, keeping the original shape of the Mk1. “Ideas just came from walking around at shows, like Edition 38 and Southern Worthersee, where the quality of the cars is amazing. Even before air ride became ‘scene’ I loved it. That was the only thing that was planned before the build even started.”

The end result, we hope you will agree, is just spellbinding and we can’t wait to see it in the flesh very soon! Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for a full feature on the car in Performance VW magazine very soon…

Ian

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage