ABF-engined Voomeran wide arches Volkswagen Golf Mk2

We don’t feature many cars from Italy for some reason, but when we do. Well, just look at it…

Words: Si McNally

Photos: Stinna Lakota

THE ITALIAN JOB

On order to be featured on these hallowed pages, cars have to tick a few boxes. They have to be well finished, properly thought out and, perhaps most importantly, full of imagination. They don’t have to have had the GDP of an Eastern European nation thrown at them, or wear some crazy unique parts (although it certainly helps) – as long as they’ve got character, we’ll be interested. Ivan Favaron’s little Mk2 fulfils all the prerequisites; it’s not had daft money thrown at it, it’s properly thought out and, as an added bonus, has some awesome unique and high-end bits fitted. The word ‘Voomeran’ emblazoned proudly down the sides should give you a clue as to what we’re talking about, but we’ll come back to that later.

As with so many of these stories, the evolution of this Mk2 begins with the hunt for a daily driver. You see, Ivan lives in Venice, and, as you can imagine if you’ve ever braved the streets of a small Italian city, driving is often done by touch, and the inclusion of angry hand gestures is pretty much a legal requirement. So, as a fan of all things German (he also has a uber cool aired-out Mercedes CLS), he went on the hunt for something suitable. There were only a few requirements; it had to be cheap, spacious enough to transport work things around, and he didn’t have to care about it too much.

Quicker than you can say “surely all the 1.3 Golfs are dead now?”, along came the perfect car. The little Jade Green 1.3 still wore its original small bumpers, steel wheels and thick door strips, and was absolutely perfect for daily knockabout duties. But, with Ivan being a car fan, it wouldn’t stay standard for long, and quickly found itself home to a set of 17”s and lowered within an inch of its life. The addition of some retro stripes and a few bolt on bits kept Ivan happy for a while, but it wasn’t long until the car itself would decide it wanted to throw a spanner in the works, destroying the original 1.3 in a fit of what can only be described as automotive dummy spitting.

"It now wears a Marlboro livery with a set of home-made turbo fans up front"

Picture this; a little Mk2 Golf, which you bought as a cheap knockabout, but have started to love deeply, has decided it no longer wishes to move under its own steam. You’re faced with a few choices; replace the 1.3, which is by far the cheapest option, sack the car off entirely, or transplant something spicy into the hole now left. What would you do? Well, if you’re anything like Ivan (or us), it would only have taken a zeptosecond (that’s the smallest amount of time ever measured, I Googled it) to dismiss the first two options and the thoughts of a dullard, and you’d already be hunting online for appropriate transplants. Now, Ivan’s dream car is a classic 911, from somewhere around 1970. They’re not exactly slow, it’s a Porsche after all, but they’re never going to set the world alight either. My point is that it isn’t all about chasing big power for the Italian, and so normally aspirated was always going to be the way to go. No turbos or superchargers here, thankyouverymuch.

After much discussion with mates, we’d imagine over some beers, Ivan hunted himself down a nice, low mileage ABF from a Mk3 16v. But with the engine out, it would be rude not to give it a tickle, right? And by ‘tickle’ we mean ‘ complete rebuild with uprated parts’.

Because of course we do. So off came the head and in went an uprated set of pistons, con rods, crank, cams, along with some head work and other associated gubbins to make it all breathe better. A 4-2-1 manifold and straight through exhaust see that the nasty gases escape with as little restriction as possible, and make a damn fine noise whilst doing it. Uprated mounts all round, a lightened flywheels and twin plate clutch ensure that it all revs up well with a minimum of fuss and pomp, for maximum launch power.

With all this power, it was obvious that the stock look just wasn’t going to cut it anymore, and so Ivan set off to trawl the interwebs in search of inspiration on how to make what was still, at this point, his work car look tasty. It didn’t take long for him to come across Voomeran’s mental work, and decide that this was absolutely the way to go. So, a set of genuine arches, canards, splitter, and rear wing were ordered at considerable cost, and found their way on to the car. At this point, it was still green, although a set of orange & black dishy bois had found their way onto the car.

Not one afraid of trying something new, but working on a bit of a budget, Ivan decided he wanted to knock up a set of his own turbofans, and, pretty ingeniously it has to be said, cut up a set of Audi 80 hubcaps to sit over his existing 17”s. And it worked, perhaps better than it had any right to. But it wouldn’t remain in this incarnation for long, and following the discovery of the insane Watanabes, which are 100% genuine by the way, he knew he had to up his game ready for the 2020 show season.

"The legendary John Player Special livery is a staple of car enthusiasts the world over"

So, he set to work, looking at designs for wraps that followed his other passion, motorsport, but with a twist. The John Player Special is a staple of car enthusiasts the world over, and has adorned many, many Mk2s, with the gold contrasting perfectly with the gloss black. Ivan decided he loved the concept behind it, but wanted to take it to the next level, and what better way could there be than wrapping the entire car, including those arches and spoiler, in a hyper realistic looking carbon fibre finish. Staying on brand, but again with a bit of a flourish, saw the normally satin gold accompaniments finished in a seriously eye-catching gold chrome. And it looks all the better for it.

Those Watanabes were refinished in a gorgeous metallic grey/bronze, with just the outer lip polished, and with them coming in 15x9” on the front and a whacking great 10.5” at the rear, there certainly aren’t any issues filling the arches. A set of spiked bolts fill the secondary PCD mounting holes, proving just how genius thinking makes simple things look so impressive.

With motorsport being very much the theme here, a set of carbon motorsport mirrors quickly saw themselves bolted on, along with an external oil cooler and FIA approved recovery points. We mentioned earlier about attention to detail being important, and this is one area that Ivan went to town on, with every single bolt on the outside of the car being replaced with new low profile jobs, many of them finished in anodised gold to match the livery, even going so far as to have a fire extinguisher pull finished in the same gold to finish it all off.

A set of uprated 4-pots on the front see to it that the car stops as it should, which we’d imagine were a necessity after more than doubling the power output, and a set of high end Bilstein motorsport coilovers see it down as close to terrafirma as its possible to be. As you’d expect, Ivan did as good a job on the inside as he did the outside. With the engine now running a MaxxECU management looking carbon fibre finish. Staying on brand, but again with a bit of a flourish, saw the normally satin gold accompaniments finished in a seriously eye-catching gold chrome. And it looks all the better for it.

Those Watanabes were refinished in a gorgeous metallic grey/bronze, with just the outer lip polished, and with them coming in 15x9” on the front and a whacking great 10.5” at the rear, there certainly aren’t any issues filling the arches. A set of spiked bolts fill the secondary PCD mounting holes, proving just how genius thinking makes simple things look so impressive.

With motorsport being very much the theme here, a set of carbon motorsport mirrors quickly saw themselves bolted on, along with an external oil cooler and FIA approved recovery points. We mentioned earlier about attention to detail being important, and this is one area that Ivan went to town on, with every single bolt on the outside of the car being replaced with new low profile jobs, many of them finished in anodised gold to match the livery, even going so far as to have a fire extinguisher pull finished in the same gold to finish it all off.

A set of uprated 4-pots on the front see to it that the car stops as it should, which we’d imagine were a necessity after more than doubling the power output, and a set of high end Bilstein motorsport coilovers see it down as close to terrafirma as its possible to be. As you’d expect, Ivan did as good a job on the inside as he did the outside. With the engine now running a MaxxECU management system, obviously the standard clocks just weren’t going to cut it, so a digital display was employed, contained within a carbon fibre fascia in the standard instrument binnacle. A brace of additional gauges where the stereo would normally reside provide all the information needed at a glance, meaning the car can be ragged without worry.

The gold theme continues in here, of course, with all the exposed mounting bolts and parts anodised in the rich hue. The dished steering wheel centre is gold, with a pair of buttons for the indicators mounted on it so Ivan doesn’t have to reach for the stalks when driving. He’s even gone as far as having the CAE shifter finished the same colour. It’s the only one I’ve come across, and it looks nuts. A hydraulic handbrake (which is gold, of course) adds to the motorsport look, which is all finished off with the black Bride buckets and Sparco harnesses.

Make no mistake, this is no out and out show car. Its finish suggests otherwise, as the whole car is pretty much flawless, but Ivan still drives this almost every day, and drives it hard. It’s the perfect mix of style and substance, and it’s exactly what we like to see. Since this Mk1 was shot the car has changed a little, and now wears a satin red & gloss white Marlboro livery, with a set of home-made turbo fans on the front wheels. If you get chance to check it out, you should, because it’s formidable!

DUB DETAILS

ENGINE: Fully built ABF, MaxxECU management, bespoke intake, 4-2-1 manifold, straight through Dickers custom exhaustCHASSIS: 9x15" (front), 10.5x15” (rear) Watanabes, Toyo tyres, spiked bolts in secondary PCD holes, Bilstein coilovers, polybushesEXTERIOR: Voomeran wide arches, Voomeran front lip, Voomeran canards, Voomeran rear wing, front bumper outer plastic removed, rear bumper removed, side mouldings removed, air intake in grille, carbon fibre motorsport mirrors, full body carbon fibre wrapINTERIOR: Bride bucket seats, Sparco harnesses, deep dish steering wheel with indicator buttons, CAE shifter, MaxxECU dashboard display, secondary gauges, hydraulic handbrake, carbon fibre door cardsSHOUT: Dickers Automotive di Stevenato