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361The ex-Volkswagen UK, Mark Lovell1990 Volkswagen Golf G60 Rallye Group ARegistration no. G888 NWBChassis no. WVWZZZ1GZLB010567Volkswagen UK Brand Promotion Manager Nigel Walker was in overallcharge of the project to run an official G60 Rallye in the British OpenRally Championship, the car on offer being the sole entry. FormerNational Rally Champion Alistair Sutherland was in charge of thebuild and development. Engine preparation was entrusted to PowerEngineering of Uxbridge and the car was run by a small team out ofthe workshop at Gilders of Sheffield (an authorised VW dealer). TheGolf first appeared on the 1990 Plains National Rally driven by teamboss Sutherland. The late, great Mark Lovell was enlisted as the No.1driver thereafter and his first event was the 1990 Welsh International.Over the course of the season further development was carried out tobring the car closer to the full Group A specification with many partscoming direct from Volkswagen Motorsport in Hanover, Germany.Sutherland continued to be involved with the car’s running anddevelopment under the Gilders banner and also drove it on two morerallies. Midway through the 1991 season Volkswagen UK decided towithdraw support from the rally programme and the car was left ondisplay at Gilders for some years. Its best result was Lovell’s 4th placeon the Kerridge Severn Valley Stages rally in June 1991.As shown on the V5, ‘G888 NWB’ was registered new in April 1990to Gilders. Ownership changed in 2002 and car remained in thesame tenure until it was acquired by the current keeper’s family inearly 2011.The car as presented today retains its original bodyshell with Matterroll cage. It has the original Power Engineering engine, reputedlyoverhauled four years ago but there are no bills to substantiate this.The car was serviced in 2013 with new belts and fluids and is nowrunning on an Emerald ECU that has been professionally mappedon a rolling road earlier this year. It retains the extremely valuablefactory six-speed dog-engagement gearbox with short-shift, and hassuitably up-rated differentials, side-exit exhaust, paddle clutch and anadjustable pedal box. There are AP Racing four-pot brakes front andrear, Bilstein coil-overs all round and a Lifeline electric fire extinguisherto the interior along with Motordrive seats and Willans harnesses.It also has a works dashboard set up and lamp pod. While ‘on thebutton’, the car is not event prepared and a thorough inspectionshould be undertaken before serious use.Fitted with a new set of road-legal tyres, ‘G888 NWB’ is freshlyrepainted and with period decals applied, and presents extremelywell. Accompanied by a substantial history spread across four filesincluding homologation papers, original RAC MSA logbook, periodcorrespondence, technical data, newspaper cuttings, magazinearticles and invoices, this formerly works-backed VW Golf should be awelcome addition to the many high-profile events for which it is eligible.£25,000 - 35,000€31,000 - 43,000Motor Cars | 271