VW Restored Its Twin-Engine Pikes Peak Racer From 1987

Volkswagen is returning to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with the I.D. R Pikes Peak race car and the company is celebrating the event by showcasing its restoration of the twin-engine Golf which competed in the event in 1987.

Described as a “freshly restored piece of motorsport history,” the model was recently presented alongside the new race car.

The Golf was developed over the course of six months and was driven by Jochi Kleint. He had an impressive showing at Pikes Peak as the Golf managed to set the fourth best time in practice sessions while only using one of the car’s two engines. That success was short lived as the car had to be withdrawn from the race a few corners before the finish line as the Golf suffered a fatal fracture which started at a grease nipple.

Volkswagen says the car was purpose-built for Pikes Peak and weighed just 1,020 kg (2,248 lbs). Of course, the most interesting feature was the two turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder engines sourced from the Golf II GTI 16 V. They produced a combined output of 652 PS (480 kW) and each had their own Hewland transmission which meant the Golf could be front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

For the restoration, Volkswagen wanted to keep the car as original as possible. This required “a lot of sensitivity” when it came to restoring the engines as their propulsion need to be coordinated otherwise the car would become “unmanageable and unstable.”

In the end, the engines weren’t brought back to their full potential as the restoration team only targeted an output of 240 to 260 PS (177 to 191 kW) per engine. As a result, the car now has a combined output of around 500 PS (368 kW).