May 2008 - Fifth Gear approaches us to supply them with a Mk2 Golf GTI 16v

 

 

Part 1 available here via YouTube

Part 2 available here via YouTube

 
 
In May 2008 we were approached by a researcher from Channel 5 TV car show, Fifth Gear who wanted to purchase a seminal Mk2 Golf GTI to be featured on their programme. Curiously we had purchased from him his 92 model year 5 door 8v just under a year earlier but this time it had to be an Oak Green 3 door 16v, a rare combination which I happened to have in stock having bought one back from one of my first customers who I sourced it for in 2001. I was told that the idea was to buy a standard car, see how it performed, then modify it and see if it's any quicker which sounded like fun so the deal was done and eventually a cheque from North One Television was in my possession. The prospect of Tiff thrashing one of my Mk2 GTIs around a track focused the mind and my usually thorough preparation process was taken to another level. I had smelt the distinctive scent of oil being burnt, only slightly but it was there so as a result I commissioned our tame mechanic to replace the valve stem oil seals. I also got a new MOT issued to make sure 100% that the car was roadworthy even though there was around six months MOT remaining. We'd already replaced engine mounts, rocker cover gasket and many other items.
In June the car was collected and I almost forgot about it assuming the project had been canned until I received a text message from the researcher at around 7.55pm on a late September Monday evening informing me that the car would be on TV in a few minutes and here's the result.
While it was fun taking a car to the Top Gear test track in 2004, this was more significant for me as my hard work was actually being displayed on national prime time TV - Tiff was genuinely taken by the car even in standard form.
Since this was filmed we have been asked by Fifth Gear to inspect and repair a number of their VW Audi prize draw cars prior to being handed over to their lucky winners.