Re: What model year was the first GTI sold in North America? (verboten)
Unsure about Canada, but it's definately '83 for the US. As others have pointed out, the speedo is different. The tranny thing is not a definate as some '83 cars came w/ 2H boxes. I'm also not convinced about the oil cooler either. I've got a very late '84 car that didn't come w/ one.
And I'm w/ Yellow Rabbit on this, how come VWoA doesn't know??? I can't believe that no one has an '83 Rabbit sales brochure. Other good sources of info would be MVMA, NADA, etc.
Also, if you look at the SCCA GCR, they have '83 - '84 Rabbit GTI listed on the spec line.