Just in and under preparation

We are really pleased to offer this exceptionally rare 1988 Volkswagen Passat B2 GL5 Hatchback

A rare car these days believed to be one only a handful remaining on the road and to be presented in this condition is quite something. Most being the estate version

This car is purported to be the VW press car used for the launch of the new gen Passat.

A full history car with only 69k miles and full book pack.

Lots of maintenance works, all itemised across 4 pages in the history file carried out with its most recent owner since 2021……such as fully serviced, transmission fluid, timing belt & water pump, brakes, brake pipes, brake flexi, wheel bearing, coolant refresh, cold start fuel valve etc etc…..no expense spared.

Inside is immaculate, with its squared-off dashboard and four-spoke wheel with four horn buttons, it resembles a kind of upmarket Mk1 Golf GTI. With a 2-litre, five-cylinder engine under the bonnet, the Passat GL5 almost certainly makes a better noise than a GTI, and with 115bhp to call upon and a kerbweight of under 1100kg, you’d likely get a taster, if not the full course, of GTI-style performance (officially, 60mph comes up in 10.5sec from rest).

Being the GL5 model it is a well spec’d car, 4 x electric windows, central locking, headlight washers, tilt and slide sunroof, alloy wheels, electric Ariel and original stereo, power steering and front fogs.

Tax / Mot exempt in just 3 years.

MOT to Oct 25
Full dealer facilities available.

Snippet below from an article on this car.

Fitted into this Passat and here for us to look at today is the 5 cylinder 2-litre engine. This 1988 GL5 model was packed with innovative ideas made it top of the range. The 5 cylinder, fitted with fuel injection meant performance and power. It developed 115bhp at a thundering 5400rpm. Torque was a useful 164Nm at 3200rpm. And this figure would plague you because this all-conquering model was mated to a 4+E gearbox.

The Audi That’s A Volkswagen

This gearbox was Volkswagens attempt at making the car economical on a run. 4th being an overdrive and 5th being even more of an overdrive lowering the engine revs to an all-time low. This really did make 5th a gear a cruising gear. And it worked. On the urban cycle, it would return a normal 25.9 miles per gallon. Absolutely nothing to shout about but at 56mph you could get 47.1mpg and that meant you could travel some great distances on one tank of fuel.

Sadly you wouldn’t get close to that figure for one reason with that 5 cylinder engine up front. Forget the screaming sounds of V8’s or the silky feel of a V6. The straight 5 in the VW sounded like a budget Audi Quattro. The same Audi Quattro that you would hear on BBC’s Grandstand rally reports spitting fire. It was a sound that blew you away and in the Passat GL5, it blew you away even if it didn’t go quite as fast or spit fire from the exhaust. You see, it sounded fast. The engine felt amazing and it made you feel great.

The drive and handling were set more for a luxury liner than a sports car. Spirited driving wouldn’t give you the full point and squirt of the Quattro and this is where your Quattro Passat ends but it’s also where Passat starts. The Passat GL5 was about distance cruising and it managed to do that well. Back to back with German cars of the time, this Passat has a distinctive French feel about it. It floats and cossets you like a Citroën. There is a massive amount of Germanic harshness missing. Its like has never been seen again from Volkswagen.

Was it expensive in that way Volkswagens were in the ’80s? Considering its relatively scarcity back then, it really wasn’t any more costly to buy than the top sellers in the market. For your £9356 you could save a grand and buy a Vauxhall Cavalier GLS or for about the same money, buy a loaded up Ford Sierra Ghia. Now, this was the problem for the Passat GL5. CAR magazine told you to buy the Cavalier. They said it was the better car but we all knew the GLS was the tops. It even came with alloy wheels and tinted glass. The Sierra rubbed its horse brass in your face with the badge of Ghia. A badge that stood for the top of the range.

VW didn’t really shout out about their conservative Passat. The only car they did shout about was the Golf GTI and even then that didn’t quite get the fanfare it was worthy of. Volkswagen liked to keep it quiet, almost introverted. In the words of a Victoria Wood burger sketch from her one-off show, An Audience with…, “the introverts burger, it’s just a serviette but they don’t like to say anything”

This was VW’s way. And a shame because despite the lacking of glitz and glamour, the inside of the Passat GL5 was steeped in plush velour everywhere. The carpets had a quality shag about them and it felt solid. And the inside niceties didn’t stop there. You had all-round electric windows with ergonomically challenging switches on the door or centre console. Fitted like an afterthought, the switches were at least taken from the modern VW switchgear. The rest of the switchgear was dated clicky switches from the last generation of Volkswagens.

The Passat has continued to shine as a product for VW and all generations have retained some element of DNA from this very model.