Fancy Buying A VW Golf GTI 25th Anniversary With 8 Miles On The Clock?

It’s not unusual to see high-value exotics come up for auction with absurdly low mileage figures. But a VW Golf GTI 25th Anniversary with a mere eight miles on the clock? That’s a whole lot weirder.

First registered in October 2002, this MkIV Golf‘s sole owner parked it up to never to use it again, for whatever reason. No explanation is given on the Silverstone Auctions listing. A Golf like this isn’t really special enough for such a decision to make sense from an investment perspective, so we’re a little baffled.

Someone out there will be able to benefit from this strange choice, though, picking up what is essentially a brand new MkIV Golf GTI nearly 20 years after it originally went out of production. It’s even just had a ‘pre-delivery inspection’ from a VW dealer as part of its recommissioning. The MkIV is still running on the original Michelin Pilot Sport tyres, which we’d want to change immediately given their age.

To create the car, VW added new front and rear bumpers to the 178bhp version of the MkIV GTI, along with new side skirts. The ride height was dropped ever so slightly, going nicely with the lovely 18-inch BBS wheels. This being long before 20+ inch wheels became normal, 18s were considered huge.

Some much-needed brightness was added to the staid cabin via brushed aluminium trim, complemented by red stitching and the classic golf ball gear knob. Sadly the Recaro sports seats don’t feature tartan cloth cladding, with VW not bringing that back until the fifth-generation Golf GTI arrived.

The German manufacturer limited the UK-bound production run to 1800 and gave buyers the option of three colours - Reflex Silver Metallic, Tornado Red and Black Magic Pearl.

This relative rarity along with VW’s tweaks make the 25th much more sought after than most MkIVs, but even so, a nice one will only cost you around £6,000. But a factory fresh example that’s barely been used? It’s hard to say - since there’s no reserve on the auction, no guide price has been given. We’re intrigued to see what the car goes for when the hammer falls on the afternoon of 31 July.