We recently attended the SoCal R32 GTG near Los Angeles (see p78) where over 130 R32s gathered from across the US. There were cars of every hue, from Reflex silver, Tornado red and deep blue metallic to Black Magic pearl effect - we witnessed an array of stock and tuned R32s. But in the midst of it all, our eyes were drawn to a white knight - a Candy white R32 turbo, to be exact, with color-matched wheels owned by Arizona resident Jeff Campbell.
It took all Jeff's experience to plan and construct his R32. His VW collection began when he was 16 and purchased a '76 Rabbit. For the next ten years he built more street-driven cars, such as an '83 GTI, '90 Corrado and '01 Golf. He even ventured to the air-cooled realm with a '67 Beetle and '58 Porsche Speedster replica.
This VW experience went hand-in-hand with his bodywork experience. "I was in school and always into cars," Jeff explained. "I started taking auto body courses at the local Votech and while I was in the program I helped out a local body shop, pushing the broom and taking out the garbage. And when I turned 18 my dad told me to get out." This served to accelerate his work and education in the body and paint industry. For the next ten years he painted everything - from collision repairs to JDM swaps to European. He currently manages a paint and body shop in Scottsdale, AZ.
In 2004, Jeff finally reached a position where he could take his knowledge and obsession to the next level. He was tired of working on street cars, since his real passion was the track. And after working countless hours' overtime and saving every cent, he was in a position to buy a coveted R32. "We spend all this money modifying cars, so what better place to start than the R32 platform?" Jeff reasoned. "Instead of building street cars, I can build a car for the track and beat the hell out of it. If it blows up, I can fix it."
So on July 4th he went to the local dealership and traded in his '01 Golf for an '04 R32 in Black Magic pearl. Coincidentally, the '01 Golf had also been repainted, from its original silver to VW's Jazz blue. This time around, however, he painted the R32 for more functional reasons: "I didn't want a black-on-black car with no a/c on the track," he explained. So three months after purchasing it, the car was painted VW Candy white to reflect the desert heat and to give a pure motorsport theme.
Along with the repaint, Jeff took the liberty of modifying the body to tidy the R32's appearance. He added Bonrath's two-bar badgeless grille, but painted it a contrasting black. With no more VW emblem, he filled the hood and front bumper notches to complete the job.
While shaving the bumper notch, Jeff further cleaned the bumper by shaving the side marker lenses in the bumper. He also shaved the trunk lid, removing the rear emblem and handle. Using his hard-earned experience, he then added further contrast by painting the section around the dual exhausts and the B pillars black.
Fitting his car in between paying jobs, Jeff finished painting the R32 six months later with help from Exclusiv Motorsports. "It's funny; I didn't meet the guys from Exclusiv until Dubwars '05 in California, even though they're from Arizona, too. I hooked up with them and right away they helped me yank the motor out and install a new clutch and flywheel. Once the motor was out, I painted the engine bay," he said.
Shortly after, Jeff imported a rare set of OE VW stubby mirrors. The driver's side was green from Japan, while the passenger's was silver from Europe. He painted both black.
Around the same time he switched his headlamps to Hella Mk5-look assemblies with grey surrounds. However, the grey didn't match his monochromatic theme, so inevitably he disassembled them and painted the offending parts black. While apart, he also added HIDs. "A wrecked Audi came in to my body shop," he explains. "I took out the bulbs and ballasts, and woohoo, I got HIDs!" To finish off the lighting, he swapped out the factory tail lamps for smoked Hella Magic Colors.