There are people who build cars, then there are people who build cars. This may sound like semantics, but it isn't often you find somebody who can take nothing and turn it into a show-winner. To top off the whole Cinderella story, owner Gary Lutz performed about 97.232% of the work himself, at home in his garage. Gary is a car guy, and this is his story.
It all started with a sudden decline in the dot-com industry. Like a lot of ex-dot-comers, Gary found himself with ample time on his hands and virtually nothing to do. Nobody was biting on the job hunt, so with some of the cash he'd put away, Gary decided to start the project he'd always wanted to do. It was then that the search for a suitable car began.
Most people would've found a car that was in working order, then bolted on the modifications and called it a day. But not Gary. He decided it'd be way more exciting to find a car that was nothing but a shell and start from there.
When Gary finally located his car, it was living at a local junkyard in Arizona and needed serious assistance. After some lively debating, Gary locked down the price at a screaming $50 and set off to look for a donor car. The unibody was straight on the car and was his main reason for making the purchase. The only problem was the two-liter automatic, not to mention all the body panels being ruined. After some serious searching, Gary located a GLX with rear impact damage and towed it home to begin the project.
Once he got the car home, Gary stripped every usable part and even stole the black dash out of it. Slowly but surely, the entire driveline, body panels and interior goodies made their way from the totaled GLX to the automatic GL, and the car began to take shape. With everything test-fitted, Gary stripped the car back down and began the bodywork. It was at this point that he decided to shave a few things on the body to clean it up a bit. He removed the washer nozzles, swage lines, all the seams out of the engine bay and the rear emblems. He then shaved the lines and indent out of the Euro plate recess on the OEM Vento front bumper, and yes, the real Vento front bumper is different than the Golf Euro front. He then trimmed the doors and passenger side fender in order to fit Audi 90 handles and a Sprinter vent. After that, Gary decided to use an early Vento grille, but wanted it badgeless. So he purchased two grilles and made one fabulous badgeless early Vento grille. Keep in mind he did this all in his garage. Once he had the body straightened, Gary towed the car to Grunion Fabrication in Phoenix to have the welding done. He had previously prepped the car but didn't have a welder of his own to finish the job. Once the welding was completed, Gary had the car towed home so he could grind down the new welds, finish the bodywork and prep the body for paint. Gary was a man on a mission.
Once the final prep work was completed, he turned his garage into a paint booth and went to town with Nogaro Blue paint. Gary believes in taking his time and doing it right the first time, so after numerous layers of primer and filler, he laid on the multiple coats of paint, then applied the clear just as thick. Once the car was painted he left it to dry for a few weeks, then started hand-rubbing the paint to a perfect shine. After he was satisfied with the outcome, Gary began to reassemble the body.
The plan was to install the VR6 and five-speed transmission. This is quite a task in itself, but Gary had no intention to stop there. Before he even attempted to install the motor he verified it was in good condition. While it was apart, everything was either cleaned, polished or painted.