Many a car enthusiast has whiled away the hours whilst making plans about their car. In the age of the I-phone though, project planning just stepped up a gear; enter the Mk1 and Mk2 Modifier!

Before the internet, a magical mythical shopping list, created by circling your favourite parts in the adverts of a monthly magazine, would be the only way to plan. Perhaps if you were really lucky and blessed with drawing skills, a sketch to inspire the next mod would drive your project forward.

Thanks to the skills of technical illustrators Optical 3d though, you can make these plans at the swipe of a finger, or the tap of a thumb. They released a Mk1 (Golf) modifying app earlier in the year, and have now followed it up with an improved Mk2 Modifier app too. Not only does it cater for everyone’s favourite family hatchback, it also covers Polos, Sciroccos, Caddys, and Jettas from the first and second generation respectively.

You can be in control of colour, ride height, wheels, trim options and accessories, for pretty much all retro water pumpers (Mk1 and Mk2 apps sold separately). We spoke to lead designer, and VW fan Steve Holden to find out how the app came about.

“The company was set up in 1997 by Tim Newbrook, and our usual work consists of 3D animations and technical illustrations. In 2011 we decided to broaden our skills and developed an app, which was aimed at modifying Series One Land Rovers. I used to own one, and Tim still does, so we had an idea of what we wanted to create.”

The Land Rover app sold quite well, and Steve who owns a ’78 Derby, a ’89 Polo Classic and a ’67 Split said it was inevitable with the skills now in place, a VW type app could follow. “The Mk1 modifier originally only included Mk1 Golfs and Caddy’s but it has since been updated to include the Mk1 Polo, Derby and Scirocco. I learnt a lot from creating Mk1 Modifier and added a number of updates to improve functionality, which were all taken on board when creating the Mk2 version”.

Being someone who wouldn’t know where to start when designing an App, I asked how long it took to make, Steve answers “The Mk2 app probably took 3 weeks in total, and that’s includes the drawing. We work on the apps in between other jobs to keep ourselves busy. We are all into classic cars, and have created a Mk1 Escort, Pug 205 modifier too. We have plans in place for more in the future, including water and aircooled VW models.”

Great news then, for those with Golfs in the garage and time to kill this winter, look them up on your smart phone and get modifying in minutes! For those with aircooled motors, stay tuned, as this “game” could be coming to a phone near you pretty soon!

Andy

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