(first posted 9/22/2015) On Sunday we took advantage of Oregon’s typical crisp, clear September weather to get up into the high Cascades for a hike. After looking down at majestic Waldo Lake from summit of the The Twins, we headed to its pristine shore to gaze into the second clearest body of water in the world and have our customary afternoon tea. Waldo lies in a wilderness area, so there’s no development and motor boats are banned. But there are a few sail boaters that come to take advantage of its reliable afternoon breeze. As it sits a mile high (5,420 ft; 1,650 m), the drive up Hwy 58 and Forest Road 5897 is a quite a pull up from the valley floor. So seeing this elderly Golf MkII hooked up to this sailboat on its trailer was well worth an amble over to say hi.
The views from The Twins were unlimited in every direction, and the Cascades volcanoes lined up from the California border to the Washington border were all on display. The snowy peak in this shot is South Sister, our closest big volcano, and not nearly as far away as the lens on an iphone makes it seem. It would have been a perfect day for climbing it, but for the fresh snow and having slept in. It’s good to have realistic ambitions. Maybe another day…
image: summitpost.org
Photographing Waldo Lake is challenging, since its so big (10 square miles), that it’s hard to get anything but a chunk of it and some woods on the shore. One has to see it to appreciate it; even better, to get out on it. The water is so pure that it looks like someone poured indigo dye into it in the deeper parts (its purity reflects only the deepest part of the blue spectrum), and one can clearly see the rocks on the bottom over 100 feet down. Boating on it (or even better, swimming in it) and looking down creates the strange sensation similar to flying, as it’s almost like looking down from an airplane. Waldo is the jewel of the Central Cascades, along with almost equally-clear Crater Lake.
But as splendid as the scenery is, I couldn’t help but notice this brilliantly-green Golf hooked up to this sailboat trailer. Looks right at home up here in the emerald woods, but I didn’t remember this as a stock VW color. A brief chat with its owner, who bought it new in 1986, explained its hue.
He had the originally-silver Golf Wolfsburg Edition re-painted the same shade of green as his former beloved 1948 Studebaker Commander. It took him a few years to decide to do that, as who wants to repaint a new car? But then if one is keeping it for the long haul, like this one, why not have it be the shade that you really love? And now it’s a Golf Waldo Edition.
This owner and his Golf has racked up some impressive mileage in its 30 years of ownership: over 360,000 miles (580,000 km). And the only significant repair to the drive train was to replace the valve seals. Yes, the 1.8 L four in these was a tough little mill. He was busy getting his sailboat ready to tow back home, but he did mention that he also has a 2000 Jetta. Yet the old Golf is still doing the heavy hauling.
Presumably this is what it looked like in its original state. Now I’m not going to do a full on history of the Mk2 Golf, as Perry Shoar did that here not all that long ago. The A2 Golf is a somewhat controversial car, as some see it as a pudgy adulteration of the brilliant A1 Golf. As much as I love the original, it couldn’t be built forever, and the A2 certainly was a worthy successor, bringing some welcome improvements in comfort, room, and luggage space without too much of a loss of its predecessor’s dynamic qualities. But everyone has their own opinions.
What’s as clear as the waters of Waldo lake is that this owner has found his car of a lifetime. His green Golf is a beloved member of the family, and will keep pulling the boat up the mountains for the foreseeable future.
Not that it’s being asked to pull a big powerboat, but nevertheless, it’s more than most 30 year-old VWs are asked to do.
image: waldocats.org
And why wouldn’t the elderly Golf keep making the trek? Once someone has been to Waldo, the pull to go back is irresistible, no matter how many hundreds of thousands of miles are on the odometer or candles on the birthday cake. It’s Oregon’s fountain of youth. And now when someone asks you: “Where’s Waldo?”, you can give them an answer.
Related reading:
Paul,
the link to Perry’s article goes to one of your posts about a Cadillac.
It should take you there now.
Oops, fixed now.
This is typical for these cars here in Europe – they are still seen on the roads as everyday cars, many with high mileages (maybe not as high as the above example).
1981 rabbit, pulling a hobie 17 and racing porsches on I-4 while delivering auto parts for lesser cars. 460k, rings were getting tired. biggest repair, one fuel injector.
Nope – this is in my wheelhouse – not a Hobie but a Prindle (hence the P on the sail). I have an H16 sitting patiently in my driveway waiting for an excuse to get out…
Looks like a great Sunday getaway. A Golf is not the first thing you think of to tow a boat but perhaps the list of capabilities is longer than one thinks. It is a car one still sees commonly in Europe, and most of those have even smaller engines than the1.8 offered in the USA. I wonder how different they are with a 1.3. Would it still be a capable family car, with just less margin for AT/ AC or smog controls, or just penalty box slow?
AT/AC: only on high-end cars in those days (eighties / early nineties). Smog controls not so much, most cars still ran on leaded high-octane fuel. “Super benzine (gasoline)”, as we called it.
My own 1987 Ford Escort (a comparable car) had a 75 hp 1.4 liter engine with a carb and a 5-speed manual. As said, it used leaded high-octane gasoline. That kind of displacement and power was about average for a European C-segment car back then. VW, Opel, Ford, Peugeot etc.
Yes it seems the lack of smog contols helps the horsepower a lot in Europe. The Golf Paul found today would have had 85hp from a 28% bigger engine than your Escort. In 87 the USA Escort would have been just upgraded to the FI 1.9 CVH engine with 90hp. So our FI engine was 36% bigger yet offered only 20% more horsepower. 1987 was also the last year of the 52hp 2.0 Mazda diesel in the USA Escort.
Did Ford offer a gas engine smaller than the 1.4? Wasn’t there still a pushrod Valencia? engine, or was that only in Fiestas.
My Escort was a Mk4, which was basically an updated Mk3.
I remember that the Escorts from the eighties were also available with 1.1 and 1.3 liter engines. The 1.4 was a CVH engine, that’s all I know.
Carb, manual choke, 5-speed manual. No AC, no power windows etc. Super simple, it served me well during the 5 years I had it.
The green really fits the Golf and it really fits with the scenery. It’s good to see this old VW still getting a workout – such things do keep one healthy.
After painting for half the day yesterday (with the resultant aroma), your article now has me smelling pine and remembering the smells from my stay on the east side of the Cascades, a welcome and pleasant change.
How long did he drive the Studebaker?
It kind if reminds me of the lady who drive her Mercury Comet 500k + miles. Neither seems to drive the car much (10k -12k per year), but just keeps at it foe decades.
Considering the hot water VW is in now they need to get this guy and others like him in a commercial pronto!
They dogs seemed very happy in that second photo!
I never see the old Golf’s on the road anymore in Florida, plenty of Rabbits though.
I’m sure yours will continue driving on to one million miles.
I had an ’86 GTI, which I replaced with my current (2000 Golf). Despite some more “luxury” features on the Golf (now have power sunroof, power windows and locks, and power steering) I still miss several things about my GTI. I owned both about the same amount of time now (15 years each, some overlap). The GTI was lots lighter than the Golf, and seemed spritely compared to the Golf. It did give me some issues, some cosmetic (had to replace weatherstripping, also managed to get in fender bender requiring new front fender, radiator support, bumper cover, and other parts that I replaced after they totaled it out…though the accident was relatively minor and I drove it for another couple years before buying the Golf…also had to reupholster the bolsters of the bucket seats…the foam was nice, but also degraded so quickly I always had a pile of yellow dust under my seat that was made while the foam was disintegrating. I did the clutch, transmission seals (never did have problems with self-machining transmission as was thought to be ticking time bomb with this model), timing belt, water pump, etc, as well as new strut inserts and rear shocks/springs (put on progressive rate springs). The problems were minor…the odometer never seemed to work right due to a cable issue, and I was constantly replacing voltage regulators on the alternator. It was an easy car to work on, which is also probably why you see a number of high mileage cars, if they were taken care of.
Interesting thing to me is that I have a hitch on my 2000 Golf (have a trailer but seldom tow it) but never had one on my GTI. I had a roof rack
That last shot is pretty spectacular. And those trees! A Bob Ross painting come to life!
Beautiful pictures and a good car story too. I love these stories about obsessively long term owners.
My sister had an 86 Golf sedan in a shade of blue that looked like it belonged on a 48 Studebaker. I guess this guy just had the wrong color Studebaker. 🙂
Between my 85 GTI, the multiple loaner Golfs from my VW dealer and my sister’s car, I am intimately familiar with these. They were tight and solid with very good chassis dynamics. Fun road cars.
IIRC, the colour is not that far off a standard shade, but is lighter.
360K is one heck of an achievement though. We had a Mk2 Jetta and 2 Mk2 Golf in our family, and they built the reputation VW have with us, even if I don’t have one and never have had
I cringe when I see el cheapo color changes that skip the door jambs and other semi-hidden areas. I would never consider doing this to a vehicle, unless I was willing to spend the money to have it done right.
It is interesting to read this as the tsunami generated by the emission scandal crashes onto the Volkswagen Group. I think VW executives will ruefully pine for the “good old days” this car represents.
This Golf, along with all the other Golfs/Rabbits, really epitomizes the VW brand for me. I’m too young to have gotten caught up in Beetle mania, so when I think of a Volkswagen this is what comes to mind first. Solid, German engineered, efficient. Those last two points have now taken a significant hit and I think the ramifications will be tremendous.
Small point. The Golf appears to be actually a 1987 model. 85-86 non GTI Golf came with small rectangular sealed beam headlamps. ’88 would have one piece door glass without divider bar and window. Owner probably bought it in ’86. Or possible accident repair with ’87 up or Jetta parts. These really are durable drivetrains. Up to 305k miles on my ’86 Jetta GL with same engine and 5 speed trans and still runs great. The wide ratio transmissions are bullet proof, It’s the close ratio units as on GTI and GT which has the ring gear rivets which were prone to failure. My ’86 still has original paint and interior which have also held up well, except for headliner. I recently found a ’87 Jetta GL (260k miles) for $700.00 that is a well kept survivor. Same original paint and color, (Polar Silver), which is actually more of a metallic gold, even the headliner is good with the same beige and brown interior. And it’s a German built example. I put $300.00 of parts into it, and now I have an almost identical car as the one I bought in 1991. It runs great. Sunroof on the ’86, cruise control and rear seat headrests on the ’87 are the only differences. The ’87 wouldn’t start for the guy who recently purchased it from the original owner. I popped in a new fuel pump relay and drove it home. Found a folder full of repair receipts from new in the trunk under the spare tire. Too bad VW is in the mess it’s in these days. The MK2 were the last VW’s really built to last. Going to have to find a new home for the ’87. Have a couple of family members in mind, but the challenge is convincing them to learn to drive a stick shift. Great find.
So Zwep, how many miles did your 86 GTI have?
I sold mine in 1999 with 144k on it. Weather strips were a weak spot. Poor design (from bottom of A-Pillar to top of C-pillar). Replace radiator at 95k, water pump at 125k, clutch, shift linkage at 135k. Seat bolster was tore after warranty, had it ‘repholstered’ professionally with vinyl. Oh, and the A/C wasn’t working well the summer before I sold it–but before that, it could liqueify air
Otherwise, just oil changes, brakes, tires. It was an excellent car, IMO.
And the A2 Golfs were good, honest cars in general. My father owned one for 17 years. For the increase in mass and size, I’d say they represented a 80% increase in refinement over the A1s in terms of ride, noise, room, interior quality.
THAT car was VW’s high water mark!
tomLU86, I no longer have the ’86 GTi, It had about 103k on it 15 years ago when I sold it after buying my present (2000 Golf) car.
Yes, I’d agree that the A2 was probably the best car of the 3 I owned. The only weak spot (besides the self-machining transmission but I didn’t eve experience that) was having to replace brushes/voltage regulators on the Motorola Alternator (I went through bunches of those, but I didn’t replace the Alternator itself, maybe problem with the rings?).
I got some NOS material from some guy up in Massachusetts and did my own reupholstery work…he also had the seat foam which would degrade and cause the fabric to rip…I also had to tear seat apart to get at the seat release cable which broke inside the seat.
Yes, the weatherstripping was also a pain…every car in the salvage yard near where I live had same problem (I live in sunbelt, and the rubber would disintegrate when I tried to remove it from the car). I found a wrecking yard in Pennsylvania that actually mailed me the driver’s side piece, it was solid piece that started at A pillar and when to top of C pillar, looked like a big hockey stick when they shipped it to me (don’t remember what it cost to ship, but I think it was a lot)….and I replaced seals in transmission, the clutch got oil soaked and I replaced it and the seals while I was at it.
A friend bought an 86 Wolfsburg edition new and I thought it was a definite improvement over his 1980 Rabbit and even my 78 Scirocco. The only objection I ever had to the A2 was moving the fuel filter from the front strut tower to behind the rear wheel making it much less convenient to change the filter since frequent fuel filter changes were the best way to avoid expensive K-jetronic repairs.
I find it funny how such a old car can still be around at 300,000 miles, while towing a trailer. VW needs to take some foot notes from before when German engineering actual was true. Now the Germans have resorted to cheating and taking advantage of customers.
I was surprised not to see a plethora of “no way, these VWs are all unreliable junk”
My 88 Jetta had 347k on it when I sold it. I wish I still had that car.
Looking for a villian on how VW’s quality slid?
Here’s your guy: Jose Ignacio Lopez
In 1993, Volkswagen poached Lopez [from GM] to join the German car maker in Wolfsburg. He was appointed Head of Process Optimization and Procurement.
“Mr Lopez, a Basque from Northern Spain, had built a reputation [at GM] for cost-cutting. In an apparently harsher version of just-in-time technology, he had developed the trick of being able to load more of the cost of preparation onto parts suppliers, and arranged for GM to take delivery at the very last moment.”
After (arguably) turning GM’s already failing quality into schlock, VW invited him in to do the same thing for them.
“When GM heard about this, Jack Smith [CEO of GM] pulled out the stops to keep his protege. Offered him the top job in North America, GM’s home territory. Satisfied that it had bagged Mr Lopez, GM called a press conference to announce the news. Jack Smith was there to say the words. Then came the news; Mr Lopez had fallen for the German blandishments, had jumped ship, gone to VW….”
“GM wanted revenge and pursued a five year case against VW and Mr Lopez until VW agreed to pay GM $100m in compensation, and to buy $1bn worth of parts from GM.”
And although Lopez was eventually driven out of VW-forced to resign- the penny-shaving methodology he’d brought remained and the well was poisoned with copper shavings.
And that is why VW don’t make em like they used to.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1996/11/30/former-gm-executive-jose-lopez-quits-vw/fc1439a8-5fad-4671-9e38-cb146985a273/
It takes surprisingly little power to tow a small sailboat. They are pretty light. I used to tow a 17 foot sailboat with a 1986 Honda Civic. The boat and trailer were around 1000 lbs combined, which is roughly the weight of 4 large Americans.
360K…that’s a survivor. And while wear is evident on the interior, the outside still looks great. Eye-catching paint color as well! Good to see it still pulling its weight…
It doesn’t take much to tow anything, at least here in pancake flat Florida. My ‘83 Toytota Hi-Lux with a 22R rather easily towed, launched, and recovered my buddy’s 22 foot caddy cabin boat.
The problems arise when you try to stop.
I can’t help but think that if I would’ve heard a few more stories like this Golf’s that I might have considered purchasing one.
Also, is that Little Man in stereo? I wasn’t aware he had a twin.
And finally how about that catamaran boat. Such a cool twin hull design. Even cooler is the name catamaran and how it just rolls off the tongue.
I’m surprised that sailboats are allowed in designated Wilderness areas, as bicycles are not. I presume the boat ramp is not in the Wilderness. I was just up on 58 last week; a beautiful area and no crowds, and we also lucked out with clear skies (ie no smoke) and no rain. No Golfs towing trailers though.
Paint jobs are quite expensive these days. A complete color change covering all areas of the vehicle, inside the doors, passenger compartment, trunk compartment, under the hood, wheel wells and firewall would cost a small fortune. Outside of certain valuable collector cars, most cars are not worth the cost of an exterior respray. Which is kind of a pity. What could more personal than having a car painted in your favorite color?
I had my ’70 Mustang painted Highland green four or five years back, it had been that awful lime yellow green, originally. I had my ’66 Ford F250 painted Viper Red several years before that. Both were low cost, production shop jobs, but the results while not show worthy, were satisfying. The shop that painted my Mustang has an exterior special for 750 bucks, on special, right now. This is the equivalent of Earl Schieb’s old 99.00 special. It will turn out okay if it’s the original color, or if the existing color is complimentary with the new choice. Like that VW’s silver door frames which don’t loudly clash with the green. I wanted to have my ’96 Mustang painted green, but the existing red color would make it look like a Christmas card with the contrasting colors visible in the openings. My particular shop will do the openings, but not the firewall or wheel wells. I”ll pick my next Mustang with a black exterior which will better match with the new green color. Oh, my F150 came from the factory in a beautiful forest green. At least I’ve got one greenie.
A really cute story, Paul! The second to the last picture made it seem like a real time capsule with the white first gen 4Runner behind in the parking lot.
@ 371,000kms my HDI C5 Citroen is barely broken in and the TDI Xsara I gave my daughter went past 500k some time ago and still runs quite well, she let me have a drive to see if the radiator was still ok and its quiet on the road boosts well and no overheating good little car.