Crazy Yankee Andy Crutcher has transformed his Mk4 Golf GTI into a show stopping R32 hybrid that’s collected more silver than Cap’n Jack Sparrow

Words: Sarah Harrington-James | Pics: Issac Mion

For the 72-something-minutes that we were talking Dubs on the phone, Coloradan Andy Crutcher had managed to get out the shower, jump in his car, order his breakfast and mocha-choca-loca from one of those drive-thru burger joints, scrape his ultra low slung Mk4 on a few speed humps and then return home with me still there at the end of the line. He’s certainly a master at multi-tasking and that ability to juggle a gazillion jobs at once also reflects in his super bad ass Mk4 GTI/R32 combo.

Gunning for European
Settled into his sofa and munching on his brekkie meatfest, Andy casually dropped into the conversation between mouthfuls that this was probably like his seventh build. His love for Dubs all started with a 1994 Jetta that he messed with substantially. Then there was an ‘84 Scirocco that had been sitting for a very long time so Andy tidied that up then rebuilt the engine and transmission. Once bored with that, he moved onto a 1996 Golf Harlequin, but this special edition’s name was obviously lost on its previous owner. “The guy had repainted it all one colour so I kinda wanted to slap him in the face for it – like you sh*tting me?!” said Andy followed by a Beavis and Butthead trademark ‘uh huh huh huh’ laugh. “He sold it to me for $300 and all it needed was a clutch. Now that’s my daily driver as I tend to tear ass around town in it. Then I built an ‘88 Golf GTI and sold it to some kid in Colorado who got pulled over the same day and the car’s been impounded ever since.” Andy took another bite of his burger before remembering there was more. “Oh, then I built an ‘86 Golf four-door that I painted in camouflage, rebuilt the engine and put Corrado seats in...”

Moving on to the Mk4 Golf, well its shape never really captured Andy’s imagination first up. “I didn’t even like them when they came out like 10 years ago, thought those are the ugliest frickin’ things I’d ever seen! But now I love it,” said Andy, who went on to explain that in Colorado there’s a lot of really strong competition as far as VWs go. Those into the Dub scene are taking a long time to create some awesome builds but Andy hadn’t seen one out that reflected his unique style and quirky personality. He went on: “I took some inspiration from places like Worthersee and JDM Tuners and just wanted to bundle it together as my creation, but still maintain that whole German hot rod type of feel to the car.”

PROFILE

NAME:
Andy Crutcher

AGE:
31

LOCATION:
Colorado, USA

OCCUPATION:
Professionally unemployed

DREAM CAR:
Bugatti Veyron

FAVE MOD ON CAR:
The shifter unit

TOP CHOONZ:
Speed Garage and Dubstep

THE KNOWLEDGE

Engine:
3.2 VR6 Mk4 R32 engine bored out to a 3.3 with original 2002 GTI 24v head, JE 8.5-1 compression, Integrated Engineering forged connecting rods, ARP rod and lower end fasteners, ARP head studs, Schrick 272/272 cams, Evolution Motorsports cold air intake, BFI Stage 2 engine and transmission mounts, WRD dogbone mount, HKS oil cooler relocated and hidden, OEM A8 multi-function gauge, OEM Euro engine cover, OEM S3 washer and battery covers, OSIR polished strut cap covers, forged Motorsport polished oil and coolant reservoir caps, 2.5in custom cat-back exhaust with highflow cat     

Transmission:
OEM six-speed 02m ‘box, fully cryo-treated gear set, strengthened synchros throughout, Quaife limited-slip diff, VW Motorsport Stage 3 billet steel flywheel with ring gear, Sachs steel-backed 228mm clutch disc with Euro spec dual diaphragm pressure plate

Suspension:
Eibach Pro Street fully adjustable coilovers, Eibach lower front and rear anti-roll bars, Powerflex bushes all round   

Brakes:
OEM big brake conversion to 312mm up front, black painted calipers, stock size rear brakes

Wheels & Tyres:
BBS RS 262 9x17 fronts, RS 263 10.5x17 rears with custom powder-coated ectoplasm green centres fully refinished with new lips (1.5 front and 2.5 rear) with spiked bolts and beveled centre caps and new chrome BBS caps

Exterior:
Reflex Silver, OEM 25th anniversary Euro front bumper and lower valance, OEM Euro rear bumper, 20th anniversary lower valance with a widened exhaust opening, OEM R32 side skirts, smoothed rear hatch emblem, deleted rear wiper, OEM GTI bonnet with notch filled in and smoothed, R32 tail lights and Euro glass headlights   

Interior:
Headliner fully recovered in suede, all seatbelt mounts deleted from front, OMP Race steering wheel (black leather finish), OMP PISTA fibreglass shell, black gel-coated full bucket seats, Sparco four-point harness with Schroth two-inch shoulder pads, Weichers four-point rollcage, custom paint to match the wheels in ectoplasm green, OMP pedal set, full bamboo CNC veneer dash kit with matching top plate in boot to cover the ICE system

Thanks:
Alex Martinez, Antoine Ozaneaux, Chris MacDonald, James Ewing, Joshua Harvey, Matt Heard, Kevin Neilsen and Hardey Beitz for all your help and input. Big up to ‘old man’ Danny Wright for all the help with my engine and to my homies at sofakingeuro.com

To read the rest of this feature see the September 2011 issue of Golf+.

Back issues available here.