Jump to content

A Lupo Gti after the longest wait


bernd
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

I just wanted to introduce myself to you lovely people on this forum...

A long long time ago (20years or so) and in a different country (Germany), I used to own a black Lupo 1.0E with pop out rear windows (brilliant!) and I absolutely loved it. When I moved to this island, I sold the Lupo to my sister and replaced it with a 54reg Polo Sport 1.4 Tdi, which was also good fun if a bit rattly. I swapped the Polo for a 59reg Golf 1.6 Tdi bluemotion which was boring but alright because I was doing lots of boring job related miles. In March 2017 I sold the golf because the plan was that I'm gonna share the husband's Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo (He only needs a car about half of the working week, and I had a new job where I just had to go across town and no travelling for work and I was gonna cycle to work on the days he needs his car). I cycled to work once, in the dark, in the rain, up the hill and the next day I went off and bought a car.

That was the first time I seriously considered buying a Lupo Gti even though I sort of always wanted one. I looked at a black one that appeared to be standard and in good nick and was advertised for £2000. (Those were the days...) It was at the other end of the country of course, so in the end I bought an 03reg BMW 318i touring. It was an absolutely terrible snotter, but I loved it. I spend many weekends and about 3 times more on parts than I spend on the actual car. That BMW finally died of cataclysmic engine failure caused by a snapped timing chain on 30th January this year. At that point I think there was only 1 Lupo Gti advertised on Autotrader and again it was over budget and far far away, so I bought a 58reg BMW 320i M-sport touring and it was weird, I somehow didn't bond with it. So I wasn't terribly upset when on the August bank holiday Madame decided that she had enough of waiting behind the bus that was stationary in her lane and crashed her Mini into the side of my BMW. 

Last Friday the insurance came to the conclusion that they don't want to repair the BMW and offered to put some money into my account instead. Straight onto the Autotrader website of course and there it was: A silver Lupo Gti for only a couple of hundred pounds more than what I got from the insurance and under an hour drive away. Of course I went and had a look first thing on Saturday. YC04WXY appears to be factory spec, 2 owners, 117000miles with full service history, incl. recent cam belt and water pump change. He looked (to me anyhow) very tidy and well looked after and I put down a deposit, now waiting for the Bacs payment to clear so I can go and pick him up.

IMG_3224.thumb.jpeg.9db7a822736253a2dc199d52d9119aad.jpeg

Here he is, still on the dealer forecourt...

Okay, so the VW stickers have come off the wheels on the passenger side, there are a few unavoidable stone chip dings in the bonnet and there is a smidgen of bubblyness around the hatch handle. Of course the driver side door catch makes the typical clack clack noise and I'm hoping that the air con does just need a re-gas (I know, I know, my Polo's air con was destroyed by a stone too). However everything else seems to work and he drives beautifully, on the short(ish) test drive promising to be as much fun as expected. Since thenI have had a closer look at the MOT history and it appears that nobody bothered to do a MOT in 2017. It's 27 May 2016 then 26 April 2018. I wonder what's happened there...

So, if anybody knows something about this car / has come across it before, please give me a shout, I would be very interested. Otherwise, wow I can't believe someone is still reading all the way down here and thank you for paying attention to me going on and on and on and on...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.