The year end, and the opportunity to down a few ales, always gives me the opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months. Specifically, what have been the best cars. Personally, and I’ve given this quite a bit of thought, the cars that do it for me are the ones that have evolved over many years with steady input from an owner who has been brave enough to buck the trends, staying away from the show norms. The true DIY builds that feature lots of clever touches that the owner him or herself has invented or developed. Nicer still if they include a bit of bespoke fabrication or adaptation...

Prompted by a reader who sent in his car for inclusion in our regular Show my Ride section, I’ve also realised that I quite like austerity.  He was telling me about the fact that his Mk2 Golf was so ‘basic’ it didn’t even have a cigarette lighter. Which reminded me of my best mate’s Derby that didn’t have a passenger sun visor. I just love that type of minimalism.

Whether it will be a theme for 2012 – who knows? Perhaps there will be a swing away from the all singing, all dancing full showcars and done to death wheel choices to more of a back to basics look...

Either way, tell me what you think’s going to be big this year by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Buy the February 2012 issue of Golf+

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Being a mag staffed by enthusiasts writing about other enthusiasts we’ve managed to scoop some of the most innovative and well thought-out Dub creations of 2011. And as well as Golfs we’ve featured everything from barn find Audi 80s, to cut in half ground scraping Jettas and some of the coolest SEATs on the scene. The cars have all been chosen for a reason; they represent the down to earth spirit – the blood, sweat, swear-words and tears – that true enthusiasts put into their builds. Not because they happen to belong to someone important in the scene. We’ve also tried to find cars that are just a bit different, the trend buckers. But at the same time we’ve celebrated the fact that owners have stuck to the factory’s original blueprint in many respects – but with little tweaks, made the end result a whole lot better.

In recognition of some of the finest cars to grace this planet we’re unveiling our 2011 Awards nominations on pages 20-25. Take your time to go back through the features and vote for the best car, product, specialist, event and club in each category. Make a list of all the winners and email it to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

In the meantime, tell me what you thought were the best bits of 2011 and I’ll print a selection in the next issue...

Buy the January 2012 issue of Golf+

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I’ve just been looking at a neat website called ‘How many left?’ (http://howmanyleft.co.uk). Take a look for yourself, it sure is a good way to kill an hour or so.

In a nutshell it’s the creation of a self confessed car geek called Olly Smith who shut himself in a room for a year and made a database of licensing statistics published by the Department of Transport. You simply search by model and it will tell you the number of vehicles licensed or SORN’d annually from 2004-2011 as well as the number of vehicles licensed or SORN’d in 2010 by year of registration.

It’s difficult to pinpoint trends too closely because a model name (such as Golf, obviously) may span several generations of vehicle, but there’s some mind-boggling data on there to bore your friends with nonetheless. Like this little snippet. According to the website there was just one – yes, one single example – Golf Turbo D auto licensed to be on the road in 2010. There were four on the road back in 2003, but whether the sole surviving 2003 registered car was one of those is anyone’s guess. Either way, if you really want a rarity, forget about Rallyes, G60s and all the oddball special editions, this is the car to have.

Another piece of interesting data concerns the Golf LS auto which has undergone a rapid decline in numbers over the last few years. Back in 1994 there were 448 of them on the road in the UK, which plummeted to just 10 in 2011 (with a further 12 being SORN’d). Of those licensed in 2010, one was registered in 1975, two in ‘76 , one in ‘77 – and one, strangely, in 1995! We can only assume this was a freshly UK registered import – or someone’s rubbish handwriting on the V5!

Hope you enjoy the issue.

Buy the December 2011 issue of Golf+

Back issues available here

Barn finds get everyone excited, and the story this issue about Trevor Brady’s 1973 Audi 80 is nothing less than remarkable. Having been stored for 20 years he resurrected the car, completely rebuilt it, then made a few additional tweaks to add his own mark. The end result, as you will see on pages 44-50, is absolutely stunning.
There’s two things that appeal about unearthing something that’s been stashed for ages. First of all, chances are the car will be complete, original, probably low mileage and usually devoid of bodges by someone else. Secondly, and here’s the nice bit, there’s the opportunity of saving something that might otherwise  have found itself on the back of a low loader being transported off to the nearest scrapheap.

Having said that, a car that’s been stored for a long period of time doesn’t always represent a good find. I remember hounding an old Irish lady who owned, what looked like, a mint black ‘64 Beetle which I knew only had 28,000 miles on the clock and had been garaged all its life. What I didn’t realise at the time, when I finally got the call telling me she wanted to sell it, was that she’d often garaged it when wet. So despite looking pristine on top and boasting an as-new, totally fresh interior (the seats still had their clear plastic covers fitted), underneath the inner wings, sills and bumper hangers were all shot!

Back to this issue, and there’s loads of good stuff in store – including show reports on MIVW and ED38, a hot as hell Brit-look G60 Mk2 and a couple of very tasty Audis. As well as that, we’ve got a unique insight into what parts supplier VW Heritage is all about and get to see the great job made of diamond cutting some ATS alloys.
Hope you enjoy it.

Ian Cushway, Editor

Buy the November 2011 issue of Golf+

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