Bought by the seller for his son twelve years ago, his generosity was perhaps also a cunning way of reliving his youth as he’d been a big fan of the MKII Golf GTI when it was new.

A genuine UK-spec car – although it is thought to have been ordered directly from Germany – ‘A78 HPC’ has many benefits over some examples we’ve seen as it was optioned with both leather upholstery and power-steering from new.

It is also finished in the unusual and unusually attractive colour of Atlas Grey, and benefits from having been recommissioned at vast expense over the past two years; the seller estimates the final bill was somewhere north of £4,500, but then a huge amount of work was carried out using new/old original equipment parts wherever possible.

And, perhaps better still, this work built on an earlier, high-quality restoration by a classic car craftsman.

You see, the seller mentioned to the chap who was restoring his Citroën SM that he fancied buying a MKII GTI for his son – who replied tha...