Dad bought a new car. Now with Some Pics! *56K No!*

Well, not quite yet, but he will have it by the end of the weekend.

First, a little backstory: 15 years. 260,000 miles. Several headgaskets. So many fun drives. A few dozen track days. My first driving lessons. Lots of weekends spent bonding while taking stuff apart and putting stuff together. But now, my dad's 1996 Neon ACR... is dead.
He finally broke down an put an engine from a junked Stratus in it in February (which is something Duke suggested I should tell him something like two years ago). And all was well. He lamented the loss of revs, but loved the wealth of torque (which is pretty much what Duke said would happen). 7,000 miles later (early May or so)? A previously unknown problem with the rear suspension causes it to collapse (namely, the bolts sheared off and sent the struts through the bottom of the trunk, as I've come to understand it). So, alas, a car that I've known for 3/4s of my life, Gone (well, not gone so much as sitting under the garage until mom either forces him at gunpoint to get rid of it or he gets it put back together). Sad for me, devastating for my dad, being the car he loved the most since his beloved '86 VW Scirocco 16v, which he lost in an accident back in 1988.

So he's been looking since then for "the" car. One that clicked with him. One to fall in love with like he did with his Scirocco and his Neon. And this week, he found it. What did he choose? Well, it may not be what you would expect...









Seriously...









Last chance to look away...









Indeed. He is getting a Rated M for Manly 1990 Volkswagen Cabrio. Brad would approve. Azureman probably wouldn't.

But wait! Before you make a decision about the car (and I know that I have gone on record as saying that the Cabrio is the... um... most feminine car a man could buy), let's check out the speculations:

• Swapped Volkswagen 2.0L ABA 4-cylinder, pulled from a 1996 Volkswagen Jetta (transmission was as well). Stripped to nothing and rebuilt from the ground up. Techtonics cam, EEPROM, intake, exhaust and downpipe. A/C removed. Generally sounds like a beast. Basically, the SOP for VW crazies who know what they are doing and don't want install a VR engine, only in a car that weighs about 2200 lbs. The guy has receipts for everything (the receipt book is a good inch thick), and it looks like he basically went through the Techtonics catalogue and bought everything.
• 60mm/60mm suspension drop (I'm kinda iffy on this, but it seems professionally done). New strut and shock mounts. KYB shocks. Neuspeed springs. All new brakes and brake lines. Again, SOP.
• An entire second Cabrio, less engine and transmission, included for parts (more on that in a second).
• Owned and built by an ASE-certified mechanic, who basically replaced everything mechanical in the car with performance parts and generally seemed to know what he was doing.

All for the sweet sweet price of $2500. It does have some minor bodywork problems (some rust spots, missing trim), but otherwise the body is perfect. The top seals great and includes the original boot. The interior is a bit dirty and worn, but is alright otherwise. All of the guages and electronics work. The guy was planning on redoing the exterior as well, which is why he bought the second Cabrio for parts, but various problems (namely, owning too many cars and not enough garage) put a kibosh on that.

As for how it drives? Oh lordy! It sounds fantastic. It has gobs of torque in any gear. It handles like its on rails, but the suspension is pretty compliant as well. The clutch and gearshift are like butter. Altogether, a car so awesome that if I had seen it first I would have instantly thrown up the money and bought it. Alas, dad saw it first.

Nice score, Mk1s are definately great little cars to drive.
I always wondered how a Cabby would handle compared to a tin top one, especially when set-up for enthusiastic driving. I would have guessed they were a bit more wobbly. But I digress. Awesome car.

When you say more in a second about the 2nd Cabby is that because you are going "acquire" that one for yourself?

I thought you went away forever. Glad to see yo changed your mind. Now if we can only get Doug back.

Cool, I've been looking to get a cheap convertible for summer driving. I looked at a few Cabrio's. Maybe I'll get one if the money is good and the time is right. But I'll probably end up with a Miata, since they're even cheaper.

Your dad has made a nice choice. Not quite as awesome as the hatch, but still very good. Looks in nice condition too.

Also, nice to see you back Toronado 👍

Hey, pretty cool Cabrio. Sorry to hear the ACR bit the dust - I haven't heard of rear strut tower failure like that, but I've been out of the Neon solar system for 4 years or so.

What are you driving these days?

PARTY.

Knowing how that 2.0L runs, that would be a hell of a lot of fun in a car that lightweight. Back when I sold my "dead" Jetta, before she was resurrected in a similar manner, a guy at the dealer was looking to do the same swap with the engine from my car. It must be a fairly common swap, then?

Keep it rad, always hoon with the roof down.

Revheadnz

I always wondered how a Cabby would handle compared to a tin top one, especially when set-up for enthusiastic driving. I would have guessed they were a bit more wobbly. But I digress. Awesome car.

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There were no rattles or squeaks or cowl shake, and it seems to be aligned correctly. At the back of your head you can sense something, but I'm not sure whether it is because it is a convertible or if it is just because it is old. It might even be just because I'm so used to Dad's car and my friend's Celica that it just feels too different at the moment to judge correctly. And I did only drive it for a few minutes...

Revheadnz

When you say more in a second about the 2nd Cabby is that because you are going "acquire" that one for yourself?

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Nah, I was referring to the rust bit. The second Cabrio strictly a parts car, and dad plans on replacing the body panels that are poor (most notably the trunk lid) with those from the parts car and then getting the car repainted (in the same color as it is now, though).

I have been thinking about it, though, but I'm not sure at this point whether I love this specific car or if I actually love the Cabrio in general. I like Volkswagens, but if I was going to get a stock one I'd probably want a Corrado.

Duke

Hey, pretty cool Cabrio. Sorry to hear the ACR bit the dust - I haven't heard of rear strut tower failure like that, but I've been out of the Neon solar system for 4 years or so.

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The guy he took it to thought it was weird as well. It just broke when dad was driving it home from work. No bumps, no hard cornering. Just, broke.

Duke

What are you driving these days?

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Same 1994 Chevy Blazer. I was actually in line to get a '93 Prelude, but the guy sold it to someone else.

YSSMAN

Back when I sold my "dead" Jetta, before she was resurrected in a similar manner, a guy at the dealer was looking to do the same swap with the engine from my car. It must be a fairly common swap, then?

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As far as I can tell, for those who don't want to fiddle around with VR engines due to increased weight, it is the engine swap for VW crazies.

Nice car, he got it in a great color too.

Your dad's choice is good. It is pretty.

Some angles? Why, yes:

Whoo hoo, take that top off!
Why, what's this?





So, how does it drive? Something like WAAAAAAAAAH!!! Handles like it is on rails. I mean, Dad's Neon handled well, but this is on a whole different level. Now, you can feel some tiny niggling due to lack of stiffness, but the car came with a strut bar so that should fix it a bit. We just haven't installed it yet.
It also goes scary fast (as in, "light up the fronts during the 1-2 upshift" fast), and it has tons of torque (as in, "no need to downshift from 5th to pass" torque). It also sounds amazing.

Now, there are some things that need to be done (bodywork mostly). There is some rust, but all of it is surface rust. None of it has bored through the body, and the most worrisome of it is the bit below the windshield. We also plan on just pulling off all of the trim instead of bothering trying to fix it, but we aren't sure.

We plan on out and out replacing the doors and trunk lid with the spare parts that the car came with. The interior is rather dirty, and the leather is quite worn, but it is liveable. After that is done and the car is repainted, me and Dad want to find a Scirocco to source some other things from, namely the rear brakes and seats. We also want to put better speakers in the car. The top is sound and fine, and other than a small tear in the headliner looks like new.

Finally, because of the huge intake, we need to find a new place to mount the washer fluid tank.

Huh. Mom's got a triple-white Cabrio, 1.8, auto. That...with a two litre? I'll bet it's quick.

Now that's something I'd never expect. But that's not a bad thing! I can only imagine how awsome that is with that engine. Now get that thing painted a more manly color and get some good alloys! I'd love to thrash one around a track fully stripped (including top and side glass). Your description of the car and how it handles along with the power in any gear reminds me of my SVTF here.

JCE

Now get that thing painted a more manly color and get some good alloys!

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More manly? Pfft, you got a great color there.

(Me messing around in my mulberry)

and you should pick up some new snowflakes for wheels. That way you still have the old school look but with better fitment.

The intake looks hella dirty.