Cory CaddyWork on Cory Sterling's '81 VW Caddy is flying. Last month the 1.9 TDI motor fired up. This month, the new air suspension has been installed with the help of Pennair Hydraulics, which supplied the lines and fittings. The interior has been dyed black as well.
The build has come down to a couple of major things - paint and parts. While Cory waits for more parts to come in (like the 15" Compomotive wheels, brakes, etc), he's going to give the Caddy to Busse's Body Shop where Baps Paint & Supply is providing the PPG paint. Soon after, Rhino will install a heavy-duty lining in the engine bay and pickup bed.
Gardner GTI-RThis was once a stock European '81 VW Golf GLS equipped with a three-speed automatic and 1.6 liter carburetor engine. That was until Robert Gardner took the reins. "This is my first VW project and I intend to use the featherweight body of the Mk1 to create an extremely fast racecar," he told us. "It's not much of a Golf or Rabbit anymore, so he's coined it the "GTI-R." With plans to road-race, Robert intends to make the car an 1800 lb killer with up to 450whp thanks to a Bahn Brenner turbo kit on a European 16v motor with forged internals.
"The short wheelbase of the Mk1 can allow nimble, predictable handling on sharp corners," Robert explained. "However, the narrow track can cause difficulty at higher speeds, so I decided to widen it by eight inches." The front fenders we handcrafted from fiberglass with vents in the rear, said to reduce drag at high speed.
Robert also hacked up the rear fender wells to widen them. They were reconstructed in metal to reinforce the structural integrity. The inner wells were then smoothed to prevent tire damage.
More updates to the exterior, interior and engine will follow next month.
RD Sport 335iWhile wandering around the Tokyo Auto Salon we bumped into Federico Pavoncelli of RDSport in California. The longtime BMW tuner sells his products under the Racing Dynamics banner overseas and this illustration shows a proposed 3-Series package for the Japanese market. Badged R30, it's based on the 335i Coupe and features the characteristic RS2 wheels and curvaceous body kit. Sold as a complete car in Japan, it will feature engine mods but individual parts should be available to US customers in the future. We'll bring you more details as the project unfolds.
Turner Motorsport E30 V10If you remember et 9/07, you might remember the E90 BMW 325i cover car with its Hartge V10 conversion. Turner Motorsport imported it from Germany for a customer, who was so smitten by the car he's at it again - only this time with the little E30 M3.
The incredible transplant will again use the M5 V10, which you can see shoe-horned into the tiny E30 engine bay above.
To help handle 2.5 times more power, the front and rear suspension as well as the steering rack have been sourced from an E90 3-Series.
Matched with big brakes, Moton suspension and Fikse wheels, the team has already widened the M3's box arches in metal to house the wider rubber. However, this probably won't be enough and the V10 will simply smoke the rear tires in what must be the wildest E30s ever built!
Jacobson R32With the summer show season arriving, Jeff Jacobson is hurrying to finish his "simple but effective" '04 R32. Here you see his Dub getting its HPS Premium Series air ride. The kit utilizes pillow-mount upgrades that help to pull the wheels in for a ridiculously-low look. Jeff is also working on updating his big-turbo. Maxed out at 400whp by his injectors, he recently fried the clutch running 13psi on a test drive. A new clutch is finally in the car and running safely at 21psi, but he's thirsty for more power.
1552 Rabbit 2.5Longtime VW enthusiasts may remember VW Sport from VA, which later became 1552 Design in FL. Well, the Floridian company is back as fifteen52 v.2 and its teamed up with C2 Motorsports to develop parts for VW's 2.5 five cylinder cars.
Starting with C2's stage 1 and 2 turbo kits (see et 4/08), the 2.5 has been boosted to either 220whp or 250whp, respectively. The stage 2 Rabbit demo seen here will be used by fifteen52 to develop its own line of products, including Alcon-based big-brakes, exhausts, clutches/flywheels, short shifters, camber plates and more. They're also working on a widebody, as you see here.
Together, C2 and fifteen52 plan to build something special to debut at Waterfest.
McDermott Mk2The interior of Andrew McDermott's '89 VW GTI 16v is taking shape. Exotic Audio is revamping the interior, using trim pieces from TM Tuning while continuing to make progress on the elaborate stereo install.
In the spare tire well, Exotic has fiberglassed a Boston Acoustic SPG555 sub into place.
The back seats have been removed to make room for an amp rack with two four-channel Boston amps. Up front, fiberglass kick and door panels were constructed for the speakers and crossovers. "They're only getting started on the interior but promise a jaw-dropping system," he explained.
Other new parts include Auto Meter's latest Nexus gauges and a Magnaflow Race Series muffler that exits from the side.