Equipment
1.8/160hp supercharged four, 5-speed. Factory equipment includes fog lights, a sunroof, a rear wiper, cloth and leather upholstery, Recaro front sport seats, and a cassette player, among others listed below. Modifications reported by the selling dealer include 16-inch BBS wheels, a Supersprint exhaust, and KW suspension.
Condition
#3 Good
Runs and drives well. Flaws not noticeable to passersby. Most common condition.
This car wears the lovely color of “Green Pearl Effect,” and the Recaro front seats with patterned cloth inserts look pretty sweet. It wears a few aftermarket changes, including 16-inch BBS wheels, KW suspension, and a Supersprint exhaust. Showing 159,400 km (99,100 miles) but looking remarkably well cared for, it was only imported to the US from Europe last year and already has a U.S. title, which is a good selling point.
Market commentary
<p>In a bid to take the Golf rallying in Group A (then the top class of the World Rally Championship), VW came up with the Rallye Golf. On the outside, the obvious differences are the box flares à la E30 BMW M3, a unique grille flanked by rectangular headlights, special body kit, and badges. Underneath, the 1.8-liter engine got an 8-valve head but also a G-Lader supercharger. VW also shrank the engine slightly by 18cc to 1763cc to fit within the WRC’s rules, which featured a 1.7x multiplication factor for displacement on forced induction engines. The original 1781cc unit would have gone over the adjusted 3.0-liter limit in the rulebook.</p> <p>This price isn’t a record for a Mk2 Golf (someone paid 91 grand for a 1992 GTI a few months back) but it is in line with what the few other Rallye Golfs have sold for in recent memory. And it seems like a decent value. Sure, 30-40 grand for an old Volkswagen hatchback that never won anything isn’t cheap, but rare homologation specials have a certain coolness factor, many more common ’80s performance cars sell for more, and other unsuccessful rally cars from the earlier Group B era routinely bring seven figures. Given all that, plus its connection to more modern VW performance cars, this special low-volume Golf was a good buy. Even if it wasn’t a hole in one back in the day.</p>