FINE AND CANDY
Words: Tony Saggu
“It’s the colour,” explained Craig Levens while carefully massaging the microfibre over his candy-coated creation. “People love the colour, I get asked over and over what colour it is.” The 30- something Cumbrian custom car connoisseur is used to fielding colour queries; this one-off GTI is not his first attempt at a hot hue on a mad motor: “I had a bright orange Subaru STI before this,” he told us. “I was deep into the Scooby scene back then and the car had every modification available on it, as well as a lot of custom stuff.” Craig was obviously munching on the Scooby snacks pretty hard; the 450bhp flat-four 4x4 cost a rumoured £100,000 in parts and labour. Strong money indeed, but Craig did get a lot of Subi silverware and legend status among Fast Car types, bagging ‘Best in Britain’ in 2009 didn’t hurt either.
Photos: John Colley
Craig Levens has always liked colourful cars, but his latest Candy creation is probably the most talked-about to date.
While what he’s trying to express may have changed, Craig’s got the hang of using colour to make a statement, but fast and loud have given way to cool and classy. “The car has undergone a couple of makeovers to get it to where it is now, but playing with colour has really changed its character all through the project,” he said. Craig admits the GTI was nice enough straight out-of-the-box, aside from a little rims-and- springs action he was content to leave it factory fresh. “My friend had one,” recalled Craig. “It was awesome to drive, from the first minute I drove one I knew I had to own one.”
“I WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERENT; A CLASSY COLOUR THAT WOULD NEVER AGE”
Anyone who’s been on the hunt for a Mk5 will know the perils involved; there’s no shortage of cars, but small cars that go fast get trashed and/or pranged with inevitable predictability. A good few weeks of intense searching eventually unearthed what looked like ‘the one’. “I found it on Pistonheads, a black ’54-plate Mk5 GTI, reasonably priced, low mileage and in great condition,” Craig recalled. “I had to move fast; I saw the ad at eight in the morning and drove three hours that day to pick it up.” The mildly modded fifth generation Golf was perfect for what Craig had in mind: Eibach springs, BBS CH reps and a gentle tinkering with the ECU was the sum of the aftermarket antics. “I was planning to add some stereo upgrades and just a few bits and bobs really, that was it,” he told us.