Time for some updates, right?

Our VR6 Cabby is on the road and in the hands of its new owners. We still have to paint the front and rear bumpers, texture the rocker panels and tend to some other minor details (like front turn signals, a grille and such), but while we wait on our body guy to make room in his schedule, and also for the few remaining back-ordered parts to come in, we're very happy the car is finally being enjoyed.

The Cabrio's owners are two of the most pleasant individuals we've had the good fortune to work with and we are so pleased to see how much they appreciate the car's transformation. We look forward to the next round of changes that will include an interior refresh and then a bit of forced induction after that.

Below are some pretty illustrative "before and after" photos.

The original convertible top wasn't in terrible shape - in fact the middle padding and headliner are still very nice - but it had begun to split along some seams and that's not good at all.

We took the car over to Tom at Kelly's Upholstery here in Sarasota and enlisted his help in installing a brand new OE vinyl outer skin. Tom has been in business for many years, and in fact he helped Brad recover in leather the cloth seats in his brand new 1995 Mulberry GTI VR6.

As mentioned, most existing materials and hardware were in good shape, so really all we needed Tom to do was replace one of the two cables and of course, the outer skin. Less than 48-hrs later and the job was done. Tom did a flawless job, as the "after" pics will attest.

These photos also offer a hint at what the finished car will look like with its Porsche D90 wheels and Euro-spec rear bumper.

Before:











After: