Race Spec 1.6 AEE engined 1994 Volkswagen Polo Coupe Mk2F 86C on carbs

Very little beats that news car smell or the benefits that come with buying a car brand new. We ask Dave Raybould whether the novelty, or that smell, ever wears off.

Words: Bryan McCarthy

Photos: Derek Kenison

FAMILY VALUES Race Spec 1.6 AEE engined 1994 Volkswagen Polo Coupe Mk2F 86C on carbs

Wide arches, stripped interior & clean bay

Let’s begin by skipping back a generation or so. Back in the early 90s, the boffins at VW were churning out some seriously cool, desirable machinery that often graced the front covers of many an automotive publication. At the time, there was the Corrado with a choice of a potent normally aspirated unit, supercharged G60 or if you were feeling flush, a rapid 190bhp 6 pot might have taken your fancy. Meanwhile the all new Mk3 Golf had shifted the goal posts with the option of a 2.8 VR6, previously unheard of as far as hot hatches were concerned. Unfortunately, this forward thinking movement hadn’t yet stretched to all models within VWs range. Let’s take the Polo, lumbering along with an antiquated chassis and drivetrain having been surpassed by its contemporaries years previously. Yes, there was the supercharged 113bhp G40 of 1991 which did at least offer some useful extra pace and sportier looks, but sadly sales were poor.

By 1994, the Mk3 (technically the Mk2F) Polo had become seriously dated in design terms at a time when you could still purchase one brand new, yet thanks to VW’s legendary reputation the mainstream models continued to sell in reasonable numbers. The impressive all new 6N Polo would arrive by the end of that year solving VW’s supermini woes, while the antiquated Mk3 was quickly pensioned off.

«Maybe one day I’ll attempt a trackday in the car if I’m feeling brave!”

For anyone who happened to have bought one of the last Mk3s off the line, not everything was quite as gloomy as you’d expect. Just when it seemed every supermini out there offered maximum interior space in a bland and curvaceous bodyshell, the Mk3 managed to stand out from the vanilla crowd with its boxy retro looks, just ripe for a slice of modding a few years down the line then. Maybe we should be grateful VW waited so long to finally pull the plug?

One such man to have seen the potential in the often-overlooked Mk3 is 57 year-old self employed mechanic Martin Peace. He happens to own one of the last examples of the Coupe to leave the production line in Wolfsburg in 1994, though as we can see its changed quite a bit since then! “My daughter, Chelsea was looking for a cheap small car to use as a daily,” Martin recalls, “as she was a huge VW fan, a Polo ticked all the right boxes.” Lured by the classic lines of the Mk3 Coupe, Chelsea settled on this Polo F Match edition offered for sale locally. “It had a 1.0 engine and 4 speed gearbox so I knew it would be cheap to run and insure,” Martin smiles, “it was so basic, there was little to go wrong!” It turned out the Mk3 Match had been well cared for too. Bought new for his mum by a mechanic working for a VW dealership, it had been meticulously serviced and maintained throughout its life, covering just 30k miles in well over two decades. “Everything was totally standard, this was one of those rare gems that had never been molested in any way,” Martin adds.

Just as planned, the Polo served its purpose for a couple of years as a daily, but the lack of any creature comforts it had to offer soon meant Martin’s daughter began looking at an alternative car as a replacement. “I’d become quite attached to the Polo myself,” Martin smiles, “although it was no longer being driven, I didn’t really want to sell it.”

Now, over the years, we’ve seen more than a few memorable Mk3 Coupes creatively modified for track use while there’s also been numerous stand out show cars too. “I was weighing up my options for the Polo and decided It would make the perfect blank canvas for a project,” Martin recalls, “compared to VW Golfs of the same era, you rarely come across a modified Polo, but I wanted something a little different.”

Inspired by the popularity of the many Berg Cup styled Mk1 Golfs we’ve seen in recent times, a plan was soon hatched. “I settled on the idea of building a track focused show car, taking inspiration from the Berg Cup Mk1s,” Martin explains, “I knew it would be an ambitious task, but I was up for the challenge!”

After completely stripping the shell in preparation for its major transformation, Martin’s first problem soon came to light. “I couldn’t find any Berg Cup style arches specifically manufactured for a Polo, so I had to buy a Mk1 Golf set instead,” he continues, “I wanted to retain the original Polo bumpers which resulted in having to adapt the arches I’d bought.” This process turned out to be especially time consuming, creating a few headaches along the way. “They had to be positioned correctly with the wheelset and suspension mods I had planned which took a lot of trial and error,” Martin recalls, “the original arches had to be cut and welded and the fibreglass Berg Cup arches bonded and riveted into position. I took a lot of care while trimming the arches and bumpers to the required size to ensure they sat flush.”

With the addition of a custom front splitter and Mk1 Golf Gti lower side decals, the aggressive exterior is now a world away from this Mk3’s humble beginnings. Martin could have been easily tempted to apply an array of sponsor related decals to fit in with the Berg Cup theme, but his decision to retain the Flash red paintwork combined with a gloss black roof is simple and effective.

Incidentally, that full flawless respray was carried out by Martin at home in his garage. Adding a quartet of spotlamps and aluminium rear spats were certainly brave decisions to make, but they don’t look out of place one bit!

When it came to choosing an appropriate replacement for the asthmatic 1.0, almost any other engine from VWs vast inventory would have been an improvement. “I wasn’t keen on the idea of taking the turbo or supercharged route,” Martin explains, “I had a limited budget and needed to keep things relatively simple.” His choice of a 1.6 AEE as found in the Mk3 Golf, 6N Polo and SEAT Ibiza among other VAG cars may seem a little unusual, but we’ve seen similar transplants in older Polos before, with success. The AEE has 75bhp in standard guise which although an improvement on the 44bhp of the 1.0, wasn’t quite what Martin had in mind. “I opted to use Kawasaki ZX9R bike carbs on a custom made Danst manifold,” Martin tells us, “this required the removal of the rear under bonnet scuttle panel in order for them to fit, I made a new wiring loom too.” It’s a neat job as Martin was keen for the bay to not let the side down next to that immaculate exterior. The addition of a Mk2 Golf GTI aluminium radiator, Magnecor KV85 competition HT leads, a Mk2 Polo mechanical advance distributor, Pipercross air filter and lightened flywheel help squeeze some useful extra grunt from the easily dismissed AEE. Combined with the stainless-steel exhaust manifold with custom system by Top Gear exhausts, these carefully selected mods add up to around 110bhp, plenty enough to provide a spirited drive in such a lightweight car when mated to that 5 speed 8P gearbox. “I’ve also fitted an OMEX rev limiter and used a baffled MK2F 1 litre sump,” Martin points out, “I thought it sensible to fit an alloy oil catch tank too.”

Let’s be honest, the handling and braking characteristics of the earlier Polos in standard form were never up there with the best in class so Martin knew he had some work ahead in this area too. TA uprated shocks combined with 100mm lowering springs along with front and rear strut braces sharpen up the handling while Martin has also added front ARB blocks to correct the castor angle. Speaking of the ARB, this has been braced with the subframe to stiffen things up while he’s also shimmed the rear hubs to correct the tracking. We all know Berg cup arches hold the potential to house a vast variety of wheels, but once again Martin dared to be different. “I liked the idea of sticking with 13in rims and opted for 7x13» Superlights as these are so iconic within classic motorsport circles,” he explains. The smaller diameter also helps to accentuate the low ride height and wrapped in Nankang AR1 semi slick tyres, we agree Martin has made the right choice here. A Mk3 Polo is no heavyweight on the scales by any means which meant Martin didn’t need to break the bank when it came to upgrading the brakes. Those small 13" rims would have limited his options anyway, but the switch to Mk2 Golf GTI grooved and vented discs up front along with a rear disc conversion from the same source are more than up to the task of coping with 110bhp. He’s also fitted an uprated 22mm Mk2 Golf brake master cylinder for good measure too.

By now, you’ll have noticed Martin isn’t keen on cutting corners despite that limited budget and the same applies to the Polo’s interior too. The original dash remains, but the addition of an OMP steering wheel, custom made aluminium switch panel and AEM air/ fuel ratio meter point towards the Polo’s track focused intentions. Gone are the old unsupportive utilitarian seats, replaced by two Sparco Sprint bucket seats on custom mounts complete with TRS 3in rack harnesses. The alloy door panels, floor plates and OMP pedals blend well with the red and black theme while a colour coded roll cage takes pride of place at the rear. In fact, every aspect of the interior seems well thought out from the matching Superlight spare wheel to the colour coded wheel brace and even the perfectly positioned plumbed in Fire Marshal extinguisher which you could be forgiven for thinking was made specifically for this car.

The immaculate red paintwork inside the boot provides a clue that Martin’s Polo isn’t likely to be filled with spare wheels and tools for any trackday soon. “Much of the work I did during lockdown when I had a lot of spare time on my hands,” he explains, “I ended up taking things much further than I’d originally planned!” Having invested so many hours in this build along with a fair chunk of cash, we fully understand why Martin isn’t keen on taking the risk by thrashing his Polo around a circuit. “We mainly use it for shows where the response has been fantastic,” he smiles, “maybe one day I’ll attempt a trackday in the car if I’m feeling brave!” Either way, Martin should be quite rightly proud of the end result and his creation is a perfect display of the potential the often-overlooked Mk3 Polo has to offer.

“I opted to use Kawasaki ZX9R bike carbs on a custom made Danst manifold"

DUB DETAILS

• ENGINE: 1.6 AEE 8v with Kawasaki ZX9R bike carbs, custom made Danst inlet manifold, Mk2 Golf GTI aluminium race radiator, Magnecor KV85 competition HT leads, Mk2 Polo mechanical advance distributor, baffled Mk2F 1 litre sump, stainless steel exhaust manifold with custom made exhaust system by Top Gear exhausts, Pogo Performance cam shaft pulley, Pipercross air filter, lightened flywheel, OMEX rev limiter, five-speed 8P gearbox, alloy oil catch tank
• CHASSIS: 7x13 Superlight wheels with Nankang 175/50 R13 AR1 semi slick tyres. 100mm lowered TA uprated shocks and springs, front and rear strut braces, ARB blocks to correct castor angle (front), rear hubs shimmed to correct tracking, front ARB braced with subframe. Uprated Mk2 Golf GTI drilled, grooved and vented brake discs with Brembo brake pads (front), rear disc conversion from Mk2 Golf GTI, drilled and grooved discs, 22mm Mk2 Golf brake master cylinder
• EXTERIOR: Mk1 Golf Berg Cup wheel arches modified to fit Polo, Mk1 Golf GTI decals, rear under bonnet scuttle panel removed to make more room for bike carbs, front and rear bumpers trimmed to suit arches, custom front splitter, quad spotlamps, aluminium rear spats
• INTERIOR: Sparco Sprint bucket seats on custom made mounts, TRS 3” four-point harnesses, AEM air/fuel ratio meter, OMP suede steering wheel, plumbed in Fire Marshal Lifeline fire extinguisher, rear roll cage, custom made aluminium switch panel
• SHOUT: The Motorist, Sherburn, Top Gear exhausts, DanSt Performance engineering, Shipley