We are in a transition period right now. The cars have lessened in value to the point that they are prime target for 'first car beaters' for 16/17/18 year old kids.
Look on the Mk2 forum on the Tex, it has gone from a decent forum with interesting threads to useless crap about tailights/rims/stereos. Rich kids drive Mk4, poor kids drive Mk2. Eventually, the cars as a whole will become 'too old' and they will not be interested in them anymore, and they will join the Mk1 as project car favorite. Until then, there will remain a few of us hidden loyals lurking in the shadows. Another thing, with the power standards coming out of the factorys today (especially with turbos) the 123/134 just doesn't excite people anymore on paper. A lot of these kids didn't have to live through the 80's driving underpowered slugs. Also, everyone seems to think 'there is nothing left' that an be done to a 16v engine, so they move on to new unexplored territory. I think there is going to be a renascence though. I see more and more people getting rid of the mk3/mk4 and picking up a 16v project car, after having driven in a friends, and hearing it scream. I know I had a few people interested after hearing my car on the dyno on Saturday. - Josh
