Vehicle Description
"The unique circumstances surrounding the vehicle you are looking
at makes it the rarest Four Wheel Drive VW's that exists. While it
was built to be driven in the roughest terrains, perhaps it may end
up in a museum or private collection once in a lifetime chance ! It
is a 1991 Volkswagen Syncro DOKA TriStar with 49 Original
kilometers that equals 30 miles~ Legend from the factory has it
that there were only 1500 TriStars ever built. This was between
1988 and 1991. 1000 of them were 2 Wheel Drive. Only about 500 were
4 Wheel Drive. Of those 500 4x4's, less than 120 were 1991's. While
most DOKA's stayed in Europe, a few made their way across the
Oceans. One was even special ordered and sent to Australia, and 19
of them made it to North America. Well, 18 actually, and here is
the story... In mid 1990 a Canadian mining company contacted VW
Germany with their needs for an off road mining work vehicle and
the logical choice for the terrain they were working in was the
Syncro platform. The DOKA fit the bill because not only was it 4x4,
it could haul both cargo and 4-5 people comfortably at the same
time. The mining company signed a promissory note and 19 of the
DOKA's were ordered for the operation. As the story goes, 19 were
shipped, but only 18 made it. Now either #19 fell off the train
transport, or #19 caught fire once it arrived. Both stories are out
there. I bet it was both. It fell off the train, bounced twice, and
caught fire. Either way, there went about 6% of the existing North
American DOKA's. Now these weren't just DOKA Syncros, but they were
the Limited Edition TriStars. Luxury. This meant they would have
the extra door for passengers on the drivers side that neither the
DOKA 2WD or the DOKA 4WD standards had. As well, only the TriStar
had the following options that made it an even more comfortable and
utilitarian ride: Heated drivers seat Rear passenger heat Sliding
windows in rear passenger doors Front seats with arm rests Grey
door to door carpet front, rear and all the way into the storage
bay instead of standard rubber matting Light grey cloth interior
front and rear Interior "Oh Scheisse!" handles with integral map
reading lights Illuminated vanity mirror on passenger side Padded
dash cover Heated rear window Door storage pockets Map pockets on
back of front seats Additional body insulation for cold weather
Power windows Rear differential lock Twin rectangular headlights
Wheel arch trim And, oh yeah, cup holders. So during the time the
vehicles were making their way across the ocean, the mining company
that ordered them came into some hard times and went belly up. Well
VW Canada took those 18 units and spread them across the country to
sell at their VW dealerships with 1 of them landing at the Toronto
location. the DOKA landed in the hands of Karl at the Toronto VW
Store. Karl knew a fellow that was really into VW's and collecting
cars and motorcycles in general. Freddy was his name. Still is. So
Karl gave Freddy a call and told him what had just arrived. Freddy
popped over to look at it. Freddy had never seen one, but he knew
it was a rare bird and purchased it that day. That was back in the
Fall of 1991. Knowing it was rare, and even though he lived less
than 10 miles from the dealership, Freddy had it trucked over to
his underground storage space. Freddy hopped in it, drove it into
the parking spot, covered it and that's where it was for 21 years.
But Freddy knew how to take care of his vehicles so every once in a
while, he would start it up, and on a few occasions he shipped it
on flatbed over to the dealer and get the oil changed and have it
looked over. All in all, of the 49 kilometers that are on it, he
says he put maybe 2 of those km's on the clock driving it out of
the storage spot and on to the flatbed for its check up. The other
km's were VW delivery km's in Germany and in Canada when it arrived
two additional unique features I ne