Candy & Carbon

A Complete Custom VW Golf GTi

We've seen a lot of show cars but in some ways this one may take the cake—or the candy anyway. It took painter Richard Klarby about six years and hundreds upon hundreds of man hours to transform a Volkswagen Golf GTi into this amazing machine. Clearly the man has a very high standard of craftsmanship and attention to detail. The paint is so spectacular you may not even think to look inside. But of course then you'd be missing one hell of a highlight.



Richard Klarby works as an automotive painter in Sweden, but he's not just any painter. Even though his company Fronna & Klarby mainly does repair work for insurance companies, he is a hardcore car stylist, if you will. He's worked so hard on his project Golf that he hasn't slept much the last year, but no matter how tired he gets he maintains his standard of excellence; that's why he's a much in demand shooter for the custom car crowd. He has worked on some of the most prized Swedish custom vehicles. Richard says, "When I see a car I get a clear picture in my head on how it could look. Then it's just to push through, keep working towards the goal. Not much more than just doing it."



The car found Richard as much as he found it. He was actually shopping for a car for his wife. When his auto painting business gained ground and parts started coming in through trades, he bought a Saab for her and took the Golf back. Soon it was styled and he switched colors, selecting a poison green. He had full DLS sponsorship and toured the country of Sweden with the car. It was then sold, only to be bought back again by Richard. He was remorseful, feeling he had unfinished business to attend to. He bought the car for an even better price than it was sold for. It then became White Snake, covered with Diamond Pearl White paint. It had a full audio install, snakeskin interior and copper RS4 wheels, as Pioneer signed on as the audio sponsor. "I felt that the car had to be completely reinvented to stand out," Richard tells us. "Nobody wants to see the same car year after year. So I switched again after one year of white. Initially I wanted to install an Audi S3 front on the car. But after seeing that done on a German car I decided to go with the complete Bora-transformation."



Special Candy

What really strikes you with the Richards' Golf is the supreme quality paint job. It is a must, considering that Klarby's reputation as a painter is on the line. With the car already having been a clear red, flake green and pure white, his goal was to take the exterior to its next level. Inspired by hot rods he had a dream to go all in with the paint job and finally do a candy. "The candy is the top of the line when it comes to paint jobs, very tough to create and demands much of the painter," Richard says.



The base for the amazing paint job is a gold solid colour with mini-flake in it. This is sanded down to a smooth finish and covered with five coats of specially mixed Klarby Red PPG Candy.

All in all it took more than a dozen hours in the paint booth, not counting the many, many hours of sanding and fitting. The white version took 400 hours to complete in total. On the question about the hours needed to complete paint for the new one, Klarby modesty replies: "It's so hard because I lose track of time. But at least the same amount to finish everything from the stereo build to the exterior conversion. My company charges 996 SEK (€100) per hour, so the rebuild would have cost over a million SEK (€100,000), considering the work hours.

Massive Stereo

A close cooperation with Pioneer was founded through his friend Erik at AutoSound who assisted on the stereo build. After a first season of sponsorship, with one 8,000 watt sub in the trunk of the white version, Pioneer wanted to continue the cooperation and give the car double the bass. Even though Richard had three children to drive to school, the rear seats were removed. In its place another 15" subwoofer was installed.



The subwoofer enclosures are built to withstand atomic bombs, constructed with double 21 mm MDFrings, 2x4 inch wood interior reinforcement and thick coats of fiber glass. A solid construction is an absolute necessity when you are mounting a 47 kg subwoofer in the middle of the air. The second enclosure is built into the spare tire well, increasing the interior volume and containing a slim exterior. "We had to fibreglass it from the outside because of the extreme design, so there was very much sanding involved. It had to have a perfect finish."



A total of 96 kg subwoofers, plus seriously heavy enclosures means a couple of hundred kilos in the rear. Space is an issue in the rear where there are no flat mounting areas left at all. "When we laid out the subs we were wondering how to fit the amplifiers (all six of them). So we welded and powder-coated racks that mounted the amps back to back horizontally," explains Richard. The record for two of the these subwoofers in a SPL environment is 179 dB. Klarbys system plays a measured 154.6, with lots of potential left.



The interior is a lavishly decked, high-end install with luxury materials and great finish. Every single painted interior part has been extensively remade to fit. On the top part of the dash is bright red leather with stitching that match the gloss painted black under side of the dash. The shiny black paint continues down on the centre console and even the ash tray lid is lacquered to perfection.



To match this the door panels have been updated with carbon fiber centers, red leather upper parts and dual 6.5" inch Pioneer midrange speakers. The rear doors are just as well made as the front door panels with the same standard and quality.



Under the bonnet is a clean and carbon clad engine with approximately 50-hp more than stock. A light weight CDI intake box, Supersprint exhaust and chip tuning makes the engine sound and perform well beyond its orginal intent. According to Richard,he's "made most of the carbon fiber parts myself. Everything from the roof to the windshield washer reservoir. It is quite easy when you get the hang of it."



Complete Package

Painting, building and carbon fiber draping—Richard is something of an automotive Renaissance man, very much a self-taught man who can pretty much do everything himself in terms of making a show car. Now the concept is thoroughly executed. With no detail spared, it's a top contender at any show. From engine compartment filled to the brim with carbon fiber, flawless candy paint and the huge Pioneer sound system capable of body-jarring bass, this is more than simply candy and carbon. It's the complete package.

Photography by Claes Nilsson