Owners’ cars: David Peters’ 1984 Volkswagen Polo C
Forget your ‘slammed’ and modified Polos. Bucking the Volkswagen scene trend, David Peters has unearthed a totally standard, base-model Polo C in a rare colour with the intention of a mild restoration and nothing more. Rich Gooding discovers more…
It’s not just the sporty Polos which are coveted. David Peters from South Devon spotted ‘Barry’, a 1984 Volkswagen Polo C for sale on a classic car website and just fell for ‘him’. A one-family-from-new car with a genuine recorded 56,000 miles, the Irish Green Polo had been garaged all its life and only used for short trips.
‘Completely original’
‘“Barry” was located in Swansea. It was a long way from south Devon but I had to have him. He was completely original and the family still had the brochure and original receipt of sale plus the dealers keyring and original number plates,’ David recalls.
‘When I went to see him, although he was completely original he was very dirty and in need of some TLC. He drove all the way back to south Devon in holiday traffic – which took 5 hours – smoothly and with no issues at all,’ he continues.
David’s plan was always to make sure ‘Barry’ stayed completely original and standard, and with nothing added that was not available as a factory option, as well as no aftermarket additions. The first thing David did was to strip out the interior and seats and give them a deep clean.
The four-speed base-model Polo had three missing mud flaps, however David managed to find an original set still in the packaging from an online Polo forum. He also sourced a set of original mats and the search goes on to find original parts to replace the worn ones.
Total respray
David says that the major facelift for ‘Barry’ was a total respray as the paint work was too far gone to salvage. Repainted in the original Volkswagen colour of Irish Green, David has yet to find another Polo in the same shade. We certainly think it’s rare, and, as it turns out, is also the colour used on the Polo on the front cover of the Haynes manual for the 1982-1990 models.
David is looking to keep ‘Barry’ for quite some time. And in that period, he fully intends to give the car the love and attention it needs. ‘Barry has recently come out of winter storage and I am looking forward to taking him to as many shows and events as I can,’ David says.
‘Future plans include the stripping and cleaning of the underneath (with every nut and bolt done) plus an engine rebuild to take “Barry” back to as close to showroom condition as possible. I will also keep sourcing rare and genuine parts as well as factory extras,’ he continues.
Pilfered for parts
In a sea of modified and ’slammed’ cars on the Volkswagen scene, we at PoloDriver.com applaud David’s dedication to return ‘Barry’ to ‘his’ previous as-new state and leave it at that. A genuine car from its steel wheels to its rare factory sliding steel sunroof, basic ‘Barry’ is a breath of fresh air.
Young drivers might not see it, but the show scene needs more cars like this, historical documents, and proof of Volkswagen’s past. Its success was built on by cars like this little green 31 year-old Polo, but so many are pilfered for parts or lowered to an inch of their wheel arches. Staying standard is the right thing to do with this car. David, we salute you.
Discover more about the history of the Mk 2 Polo in our heritage pages section here.
