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"My pride and joy of the streets..."
New corner, new direction, a new challenge in life. That's right,
I'm refering to my GLX. After driving domestics coupes and sedans in my high school era, it was time to bumb up to a
German stance during college. "How did I see the light", you may ask? Peer pressure, honestly. One of my
good friends pushed into test driving his MK3 and that's what got me here today. Now, a 1997 Volkswagen Jetta GLX
VR6 is parked in the stable; however it always wants out.
- UPDATE! (10 / 3 / 2004) -
The Jetta was involved in a serious hit + run / drunk driving accident leaving myself physically
ok, but the car in shambles. The offending driver ran a red-light and rear-ended the car and fled from the sceen.
Driver was found and arrested, but only after leaving a serious damage to the rear end of the GLX. Details can be found
below...
The ruthless VR6: drooling for the open, and
stoping for nothing except for refills and pit-stops.
With being the high-end trim of Volkswagen's premier sports sedan, it has
everything I wanted / needed out of an MK3. Along with the 2.8 liter DOHC V6 [ AAA ] and a 5-speed manual
transmission, the car has all the essentials: power windows, power locks, power mirrors, power sunroof, factory fog lights, tilt
wheel / cruise control, 6-way adjustable front bucket seats, Bose AM/FM/cassette stereo, and 15" aluminum 7-spoke wheels.
Now being the new owner, I've been working to clean and maintain it to my
level. I've been removing glue, sap, dealer badges, road grim and other foreign matter off the paint and exterior of
the car. With owning previous vehicles on my own, preventative maintenance has been a big issue. Once I brought
it home, I instantly got my work order up to par: changed oil, coolant, and transmission fluid. I also replaced the
plugs / wires, fuel filter and double checked all tolerances on brakes / alignment. After working with
so many previous vehicles, I've learn to set a baseline for yourself before any modifcations are made.
The interior and dashboard are extremely clean for the cars
age. Plus it come with all the essentials that a GLX has to offer including the silver faced gauges and sport cloth
bucket seats. With the large tachometer and speedometer, the dash layout is very easy to read while catching every
gear at redline.
As the months have passed on, I've began to add some small parts and
modifications to that Jetta. Starting with some color matching of some exterior piece, a couple styling components,
and bigger wheels, the car become to take shape through my own individuality. Also, it was good locating a remanufactored 6-disc
CD changer through a local Volkswagen dealership, so my choice of music can be blaring at full force.
Of course, like any gearhead, there are major projects / parts / modifications
will be made; the choices are above and beyond what I ever had available when I owned my domestic vehicles. However
don't expect radical changes; it'll be small and distinct. Again, since I was a domestic owner, I want my MK3 to have German
power / stance with the subtle influence of American design, screwy huh? I know; more details and pictures to come
as the months pass.
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