Euro Market Find: Jazz Blue Volkswagen Bora VR6 4Motion Wagon

What: 2000 Volkswagen Bora Variant V6 4Motion
Color: Jazz Blue (jazzblau; pearl effect UNI; LW5Z; Volkswagen)
VIN:  N/A
Mileage: 91,000 km, 56,544 miles
Price: € 17,490
CarFax: N/A
Window Sticker: N/A
Location: Ath, Belgium
Listing: Autoscout24.de

Does a perfect spec qualify as tailored? We can debate the issue, but I tend to land on the side of yes, assuming the desirability of a car finely and perfectly specified from a robust factory order book represents a different sort of tailoring. It’s the sort of thing that goes with budget cars, from companies that don’t typically offer tailoring services. Nevertheless, cars like this are special and it’s with that in mind that we present to you this Y2K Volkswagen Bora.

First off, it’s Volkswagen Jazz Blue, effectively the same paint as Audi’s highly desirable Nogaro Blue, storied as it is in its association with high performance Audi wagons. And in the lexicon of VWs, this Bora is both high-performance and also a wagon.

In Europe, the Bora Variant (Jetta Sportwagon to Americans) was offered with the brand’s potent narrow-angle V6 a.k.a. VR6. A 6-speed manual was one transmission choice, while the same Haldex-based 4Motion all-wheel drive system found in cars like the Volkswagen R32 and Audi TT could also be specified. Though a Bora was pretty commonplace, a car built to this specification would have been exceedingly rare.

The perfect spec doesn’t end at drivetrain. This car also has rare factory HID headlights with their unique dual round design, and factory Recaro seats in always fashionable simple black leather.

For the most part, this car is well preserved and factory fresh. The wheels and suspension appear to be OEM, and the mileage is quite low at just over 56K miles. Yes, the odometer is metric, but should you import you can hack that by finding an equivalent Sport Edition instrument cluster out of the UK but showing miles. It’s a relatively easy swap if you can locate the parts.

There are a few modifications worth pointing out. The navigation radio system does not appear to be factory, nor does the pretty terrible fake carbon fiber dash trim. Likely this car would have had wood trim from the factory, though handsome aluminum trim from period Sport Edition Golfs and Boras is also an easy swap. And while Volkswagen didn’t offer navigation in the Mk4 era in the USA, finding a navigation unit in Europe shouldn’t be hard if you desire it.

At the end of the day, this is an excellent specimen. You could just buy it and enjoy it as is, convert it fully back to factory and preserve, or go the VW enthusiast OEM plus route and swap in various partsibin bits (looking at you MkIV R32) in order to take it to a whole other level. Whatever your choice, we suspect you won’t be disappointed.