Volkswagen Golf Pickup Conversion: Fred Mora's One of One Build

Fred Mora - Volkswagen Golf Pickup Conversion - Instagram: @wide_corrado

Volkswagen Golf Pickup Conversion

I've got a small addiction to cars, there's no other way to put it. I love making mine stand out in the car park, going to shows and sharing the passion with anyone who'll stop and look. I grew up around cars from the time I was a kid, and I come from a family of car builders, so it was always going to be normal for me to carry that on. Good friends have kept pushing me to go higher with every build, and this Volkswagen Golf pickup conversion is where all of that ended up.

Where This Golf Pickup Conversion Started

This one goes back to my childhood. I remember being young, looking at this exact car at shows and seeing it in magazines. It was a crazy build even back then. One day it got sold and it just disappeared, the way cars do when you're a kid and have no say in anything.

Two years ago I found it again, and it was in a really bad state. I traded a scooter for it, stripped it right back to bare bones, and decided to build my own version from what was left. I've never seen another car like it, and I don't think I ever will again. Golf pickups aren't unheard of, but not like this one. This build is a mix of five different VAG platforms stitched into one car, and getting it back on the road meant touching almost every part of it.

Building the Widebody VW Golf Pickup

The bones of the conversion, the pickup body and the widebody kit, were done by Auto Nu Design in the early 2000s, long before I got my hands on it again. Everything from there was down to me. The paint, the engine swap, the suspension, the interior, the trunk setup, all of it.

I went two tone with the paint, a red candy apple over black, which gives the widebody panels somewhere to really stand out. Up front and out back I moved away from anything stock Golf, running Audi S4 headlights and taillights so the whole face of the car reads differently to what people expect.

Exterior

• Pickup body conversion
• Two tone red candy apple and black paint
• Fiberglass widebody kit
• Audi S4 headlights
• Audi S4 taillights
• Custom Mk4 R32 front and rear bumpers
• Mk7 Jetta R front lip
• Audi TT Mk1 metal gas door
• Custom fiberglass trunk cover
• Mattig cup side mirrors
• LED underglow kit
• German flag painted front cross member
• German flag painted rear cross member
• Devil eyes headlights

Engine and Performance

Under the hood is a 2005 Audi TT 1.8T swap, which fits the VAG mash up theme of the whole build. It's running a K04s turbo with a Forge blow off valve for that sharp, fast response, a 3 inch downpipe, and a Mishimoto intercooler keeping the charge temps in check. A 4 inch Borla muffler gives it the exhaust note to match the way it looks, and I built a custom engine cover so the bay looks as finished as the rest of the car. EGR delete, billet metal oil cap and billet metal coolant cap round it off underneath.

Engine

• 2005 Audi TT 1.8T swap
• K04s turbo
• Forge blow off valve
• 3 inch downpipe
• Mishimoto intercooler
• 4 inch Borla muffler
• Custom engine cover
• EGR delete
• Billet metal oil cap
• Billet metal coolant cap

Interior and Audio Setup

The interior is where this build gets properly mixed up between platforms. I fitted an Audi TT dashboard and Audi S5 Recaro seats, wrapped in a roll cage and an Alcantara headliner, so it feels every bit as serious inside as the engine bay suggests. The audio side of things went a bit further than most people would bother with. Kenwood 6-inch 180 W door speakers, Blaupunkt 6-inch 160 W floor speakers, four Blaupunkt tweeters, and a kick panel molded speaker box to tie it together. A Panasonic 7 inch screen radio runs the show, backed by a dual 600w speaker amplifier. There's even an Xbox 360 wired in for the full experience.

For low end, I built a NOS bottle into a subwoofer box housing an MA Audio 1000w subwoofer, powered by a 1000w Boss subwoofer amplifier. A JVC 32 inch television, a Momo steering wheel, two air tanks molded into the floor, and custom-made floor carpet finish the cabin off.

Interior

• Audi TT dashboard
• Audi S5 Recaro seats
• Roll cage
• Alcantara headliner
• Kenwood 6" 180w door speakers
• Blaupunkt 6" 160w floor speakers
• 4x Blaupunkt tweeters
• Kick panel molded speaker box
• Panasonic 7" screen radio
• Dual 600w speaker amplifier
• Xbox 360
• NOS bottle subwoofer box
• MA Audio 1000w subwoofer
• 1000w Boss subwoofer amplifier
• JVC 32" television
• Momo steering wheel
• 2x air tanks molded to the floor
• Custom made floor carpet

Wheels, Brakes and Suspension

For wheels, I run two sets, both 18-inch Rotiform Aerodisc and Rotiform SCP, depending on the mood and the show. Behind them sits a Porsche brake conversion, six-piston up front and four-piston at the rear, with braided lines throughout so the pedal feel matches how the car looks.

The whole thing sits on Bag Mafia air suspension, with Neuspeed front and rear sway bars and polyurethane bushings sharpening things up, plus a front polished torsion bar to finish the setup.

Wheels & Brakes

• 18" Rotiform Aerodisc
• 18" Rotiform SCP
• Front Porsche brake conversion, 6-piston
• Rear Porsche brake conversion, 4-piston
• Braided brake lines

Suspension

• Bag Mafia air suspension
• Neuspeed front sway bar
• Neuspeed rear sway bar
• Polyurethane bushings
• Front polished torsion bar

Who Built It

Auto Nu Design handled the widebody and the truck conversion back in the early 2000s, and that work is really what gave this car its second life. Everything after that, the paint, the engine swap, the suspension, the interior and the trunk setup, I did myself.

Future Plans

I think I'm done with this one for now. It's earned its place as a trophy in the garage, and I want to put my energy into the next projects. I've got a 1991 Corrado I'm planning a custom widebody for, along the same lines as the Corrado build we've featured before, and a 1991 Cadillac Brougham hearse that I'm planning to turn into a lowrider. Two very different builds, but that's kind of the point.

If you want to follow along with what's next, I post updates on Instagram at @wide_corrado.

Dream Car

My Corrado. No contest.

This kind of ground-up VAG mashup isn't for everyone, but if you're into pickup conversions or engine swap builds, it's worth checking out how Matt Turve's Datsun 521 pickup build took a completely different platform down a similar road, or how this Audi-swapped, widebody VW Golf GTI Mk7 approached the same VAG parts bin from another angle.

For more one-off builds like this one, grab a copy of Stance Auto Magazine from our Amazon store.