Aside from the rear VR6 occupant, the inside of the CP Auto Body-painted Porsche Blue Mk II Golf is dominated by two cloth limited-edition Recaro front seats, an airbrushed Corrado dash complete with liquid crystal Stack cluster, a JOM quick-release Raid HP steering wheel, and a sexy-looking bootless VW Motorsport gear shifter. Shifting through the gears with this setup is a tender operation, with four cables being employed to run both five-speed transmissions. In time, Tito will surely be able to fire through the tranny with lightning dexterity, but current confidence is conservative. After all, it's in the early days and the boys at Evolution are taking this shake-down time very seriously indeed.
Intense attention was also paid to the potential passengers of this VW, the lucky two are shackled by Sabelt four-point harnesses, not unlike the Golf that is braced together by a Eurospeed four-point custom rollcage. Outside, the clean lines of the '91 Golf have been unsettled, Tito kept the appearance pretty much as Volkswagen intended-aside from a few obvious trades here and there. Gone are the stock mirrors, replaced by red Mattig RS items, sparking off the flurry of other subtle body mods. The '90-spec factory bumpers are now accompanied by rolled G60 arches and a full European Rallye front end, lit up by funky yellow JOM fog lights. Down below you also find an ABD front splitter. Outback, Tito's twosome Mk II has been treated to upper and lower ABT spoilers, tinted rear clusters, a smooth trunk, resituated number plate, and a hybrid badge-blending Audi and Volkswagen. Tito has also removed the door handles, added solenoid-entry, homemade pop-out rear windows and repositioned the aluminium motorcycle gas cap and filler neck. As such, a purpose-built fuel cell was required, located where the feet of rear passengers once dangled. The battery also up and left its conventional residence and can now be found in the back quarters of the Golf.
The cleanliness of this environment really does make the rear-engine upgrade look easy, a simple modification, but isn't it always the way with perfection? So we've got two motors, two of everything else; how does it handle, stop and go? In response, it goes very well, very well indeed-and stopping, it does that pretty well, too.
Behind the 205/40-17 Kumo Ecsta coated 17x7-inch MOMO Italy rims, you'll find 11.3-inch Brembo discs, EBC pads, and Neuspeed braided brake lines. Tito has also fitted a trick hydraulic line lock-the adjustable red lever found between the two front seats-which pretty much acts as an emergency brake. As for the handling, with a Weitec coilover suspension kit (modified fronts for the rear) and Neuspeed strut braces on hand, how could you honestly go wrong? Actually, the only aspect of this incredible conversion that went wrong was the part where everyone aside from Tito thought two into one wouldn't go. How wrong were they, eh?
As you can imagine, Tito is one happy man. He proved a whole bunch of people wrong, set yet another benchmark for quality and craftsmanship, and became, quite possibly, the first to ever successfully execute a twin-engine Golf in North America. For this alone, Tito Tora, we salute you-not once mind you, but twice.
1991 VW GolfOccupation:Owner of this crazy car.So you own this car?That's correct.Does anyone else own it?No, just me.Will you give it to me?No.You suck.Maybe, but I still own this car and you don't, so there!
Tech Specs
Engine:Twin 2.8L VR6 motors, EIP cylinder heads, 2.5-inch custom Quick Muffler exhaust, PRM cold-air intake system, a million undisclosed parts and a million or so undisclosed hours of hard labor
Transmissions:Twin five-speed manuals, ACT racing clutches
Suspension:Four Weitec front coilovers, Neuspeed strut braces
Wheels & tires:Momo Italy 17x7 wheels, Kumho Ecsta 712 205/40-17 tires