Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

yeah i agree with you the bbs look much more at home on the mk2. think my golf only gets awaywith it well as its the late one with the bigger bumpers etc as you mentioned so the bulkier wheels suit the clipper kit.

thinking of a original gti tiptop for next year im craving for one...but it needs to be a series 1 small tail light version and they're getting pricey :(

You are right that the BBs wheels and the big bumpers go together, but IMO they try and make it a MK2 and that spoils/detracts form the MK1 clean lines. I've seen some cars without the trim and smoothed off and small rear lights and it looked amazing. Something, in my eye, that looks clean, sharp and subtle.

The original 1.6 gti was an awesome car, just so light and nibble. The diffence between the MK2 and the MK1 was that the mk2 went up to 1800 but the 1600 was quicker but then the 16v came along and that was no longer true but had something a nibble ness and very neutral handling that the MK2 never could replicate.

I had a GL convertible that I loved, 1.3, steel wheels and just had a personality, rare for a german car basic car, but always made me smile. Sold to get a 1975 911 carrera as I couldn't keep both as a lack of parking.