The Volkswagen Jetta Helios is arguably the most sought after GLI ever made, with only a total of 1,500 ever produced. The Volkswagen GLI, an acronym for Grand Luxury Injection, is the sporty variant of the Jetta with significant performance upgrades. Volkswagen uses their GLI models to prove that the two opposites of Luxury and Performance can coexist. This perfect blend has become a staple that traditionally comes with every European car. It’s also one of the many reasons we here at Euromocracy are such big European enthusiast.
The 1989 MK2 Helios is a limited edition GLI that comes standard with Racaro seats, BBS wheels and Special paint code (Helios Blue) that depending on the light could appear navy, purple or black. This paint was exclusive to the Helios. It’s power plant consisted of a 1.8 16v engine that produced approximately 123 horses. Doesn’t sound like much by today standards, but at the time it was a decently quick car. The Helios Edition took the already sportier variant of the Jetta and enhanced it further. It was a prototype of what would become the standard 1990 GLI.
Angel’s Jetta caught our eye right away and immediately we knew we had to feature him and his Helios. I think its safe to say that we all love our mods and custom jobs. Although this is true, there are times where less is definitely more. This is exactly one of those times. Angel's subtle taste in mods is extremely fitting for such a special edition car as this. Now this car is far from stock as you can see, but at the same time it only improved upon the OEM design in a less than drastic approach. Angel nailed the OEM+ look perfectly.
Angel also gave us the details of how this build was even possible. About a year ago, Angel was driving his previous coupe from Cult Classic when a lady cut him off. Swerving out of the way to avoid her, she then proceeded to cut him off a 2nd time. Angel successfully avoided making contact with her, but unfortunately in the process he broke traction and lost control of the car. He hit a barrier and the rear of the car was wrecked including the freshly installed rear bumper he JUST imported from Europe.
A week later one of Angel’s good buds sold him this Helios. With him always loving the color and it being a car he always wanted, Angel's spirits instantly turned around for the better. Angel’s Brother gave the car a full detail, bringing the paint back to life, and with the help of good friends and family (Jersey Hooligans) he got the Helios completely over hauled and VR swapped.
There’s a lot of hard work done to this car than meets the eye. Exterior is fitted with a Euro front bumper with Hella Clear bumper turn signals, Euro rear bumper, BBS front lower valance, Euro 7slat grille, headlight covers, German AA Grille Badge along with custom BBS VR6 Grille Badge, Euro H4 Circle Headlights, OEM Euro Hella Taillights OEM passenger side mirror delete.
If you are a fan of BBS's I'm sure your already in love with this Helios, but to add theres a cool BBS 4spoke steering wheel with yellow BBS designline cap as a horn, along with a BBS custom dash plaque, and a BFI Black Leather Golf Ball shift knob w/ BBS Logo. The interior also has the Helios Bule Recaro front and rear matching door cards to go with the factory seats, a SWG center console, and a Porsche glove box latch.
The mods don’t stop at cosmetics, as there is something special we all love under the hood. Angel does not disappoint as this Helios has a full VR6 12v OBD2 swap with TA Technic headers, 42 Draft test pipe, a Borla exhaust/TT piping, Carrado air box w/ K&N drop filter, a full silicone hose kit and FK Streetline coilovers to complete the way she sits.
Speaking of sitting, the Helios sits on a set of BBS RS’s face mounted satin silver centers with satin silver lips to match and complemented by satin black bolts and Yellow Design Line BBS Caps. All wrapped in Achilles Atr-k’s. If your looking for more specs on wheels and/or fitment, you wont find them here as we try to keep that sort of information on the low. Its all out of respect.
As a build is never really done, Angel has plans for some serious changes and upgrades for the Mk2 Jetta. Without giving out too much details, you can expect full interior overhaul, a few chrome/polished engine bay bits, and 2.9 manifold. Angel is also considering a revisit to the RS's, maybe a spoiler, Air ride and possibly a full on respray. Be sure to check back here as we'll be sure to update Angels feature as it progresses.
We would like to take a moment to dedicate this monthly feature to everyone that made this one of a kind build possible. A special shoutout to Rob, Ted, Lee, Tony, Donnell, Dan, Andre, Danny, John, Abel and a super special shout-out to Angel’s wife for dealing with Angel not being home for four weekends straight as he got the car where it is today!! Thank you Angel’s wife for not kicking out Angel during this time. We would like to personally thank Angel for giving us the opportunity on covering such a unique build.
"Thank you Angel, it was our pleasure to have you as a feature! You are part of the Euromocracy family and we'll be keeping an eye out for everything you got going on with this build! " - Euromocracy Team
