I was reading Yoshi Shindo’s Passat story the other day and it really jumped off the page at me when he said he had “never been the greatest fan of VWs”. Not that there’s anything wrong with liking what you like. It just reminded me of something my boy Steve told me about the VW scene awhile back. He said (I’m paraphrasing): “There’s nothing new about aggressive offset and rolled fenders. VW guys have been doing that for over 30 years.”
This calls for a little background check. Steve’s an OG when it comes to cars and he’s owned any number of makes and models in his over 30 years of car ownership. In fact, he’s the one who got me into the car scene. He has owned Datsun 510s, a Celica Supra MK1, muscle cars – you name it. But for much of his time as a car owner, he’s been a VW man: Corrados, Karmann Ghias, Beetles (old and new). Name an East Coast VW show – Steve was there: booth set up, car on display, 007*super*elaborate auto detailing kit at the ready. He’s seen all VW has to offer for the last 30+ years.
So, you can imagine, when he told me that the VW scene has been all over aggressive offset, rolled and flared fenders, and slammed stance for years, I was a little taken aback but I had to take him at his word. You don’t question Jedi Knights about lightsabers and you don’t question Steve about VWs. These things are irrefutable law. Really. Look it up if you don’t believe me.
So, with that in mind, I thought I would go on a little scavenger hunt to see if I could find some decent examples. They say there’s nothing new under the sun. And things have a way of coming back around if you hang around long enough. Maybe there’s some connection between the “Offset is Everything” mentality and the style contributions of the VW guys of the distant past. I’m thinking maybe it might go back even farther.
I wonder, if it were possible to bend the laws of physics and bring some 17th Century Parisian nobleman to this century, would he just look around for a moment and say (in French, of course): “Dude, that stance is SICK! We used to lower our carriages and position the wheels just like that.” Hmmm…
:: Avon Bellamy
Too funny. Maybe Napolean was the real offset/stance is everything OG. ha ha Either way, I love VW’s. First car was a bug. First thing I did was lower the nose by removing spring plates. Love these MK1 and II Vdubs. Cool post!
Nice.. the first Mk2 GTI VR6 is Randy’s car.. the second one looks kinda like Big Ron Huyzers car and then the blue rabbit on Schmidts belongs to Nash (local Atlanta car).
youre right about the stanced VW’s, they started the trend, an now it comes on every car posible.
And Slamed and Stanced looks better than al those tuning bodykits that mess up the design of the car
but there are exeptions 😀
Greets Arnold
as for me, i really like Mk1 Golfs with aggressive wheels and stretched tires. LOVE them actually!
your comments make a lot of sense avon. vws have been rocking stretched tires for a while, even before i saw them on drift cars. hell, before i ever saw a car drifting in fact!
Did you not know that is where the slang term ‘Dub’ came from?
And I don’t know where you guys live at (I am in the currently cold and rainy NE! Philadelphia) but every bookstore I go into has multiple VW and Euro tuning magazines and ever cover is graced with the most ridiculously slammed and stanced VWs imaginable. Check out some of the magazines… like ‘Dub’.
Also, I could be wrong here, I am a Nissan guy, but the reason the stretched tire look started in the first place was because road laws in Europe prohibited mounting wider than stock tires to a road car… so then you got these guys popping on 10 inch wide wheels… on the stock 215 tires! Not sure if this is still a law, or which specific countries have them, but the trend never died.
Love the site, keep up the great reporting!
Tom
And to clarify (can’t edit, d’oh) I was only ribbing with the first line, don’t take offense.
and *ever* should say ‘every’.
None taken, Motormouth. Thanks for that little tidbit of cool automotive trivia – hope you don’t mind if I borrow that for impressing at social events
The white mark 1 GTI is Rob from TUK Customs. They have built a few that set new standards in stance and finish (www.tukcustoms.com).
My all time favorite mark 1.
Motormouth, you’re right.
The stretched tyre is because the law states (in the UK at least) that your tyre can not protrude further than the wheel arch so the VW guys got creative and realised that wider wheels weren’t illegal if they could get the tyre under the arch.
In Germany protuding of the tire (or at least of the area with profile) is forbidden, too. So, stretched tires are nothing new here either…
I truly love your website..