A Personal Note From The Owner, Benjamin Williams: My affinity for the Mk1 Chassis reaches back into childhood. In 1983 at age 10 my father purchased a 1981 Regatta Blue 4 door Jetta. At the time we lived on a small tobacco farm in Elizabeth Town Pennsylvania. The house was set back a few hundred yards from a seldom traveled country road. This afforded me driving lessons around a long horseshoe shaped driveway. Occasionally dad would take me out and let me drive him around the winding back roads, having me stop on inclines to practice hill holding with the clutch. Each day on the way to school we would pass by a small used car dealer who always seemed to have at least one Rabbit GTI and several Scirocco 1 on his grassy field lot. I remember asking dad regularly to trade up, in hopes that I would be the next in line for the title when I turned 16. I never ended up with the 1981 Jetta but the love for Mk1 never left me. So in 2003 when I finally had a decent job which would allow me some disposable income, I purchased my first Mk1. It was a 1981 Rabbit LS wearing GTI badges and interior, and she set me back $300.00. The car was not quite road worthy, so after adding about 20 miles to the clock I started slowly tearing it down to see what was salvageable and what would need to be replaced. Needless to say the list of parts it would need to be put straight was long, so I started scouring the web and catalogues galore to fill the order. Having seen scores of vendors offering everything from hood to tail pipe for air-cooled VW's, I wrongly assumed that there must be someone offering what I needed for my Rabbit. Discouraged with the aftermarket I went to my local VW dealer with a few pages of part descriptions. After waiting for my turn in line I stepped up to the counter. When the parts guy said "Can I help you?" I explained that I needed a few pages of parts for my 81 rabbit project. He chuckled and mumbled something under his breath. Like any good Mk1 owner I wouldn't let a little adversity put a wrench in my plans, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Thus was born the project that would eventually be called Mk1 Autohaus. Over the past decade business steadily grew to where it became a full time job (and then some) and eventually allowed me to hire a team of guys to help me meet the demands of a growing base of loyal Mk1 owners around the world. With the development of Mk1 Originals, our line of Mk1 parts made in the USA, and the launch of our website in 2013, Mk1 Autohaus has become the premier source for Mk1 parts in North America. -Benjamin Williams |
