Natalia Anna - July 2014 VWGIRL

Our VW Girl feature this month showcases one of our Facebook admins Natalia Cash from Woodbridge, Ontario, and her stunning MKV Jetta GLI.

Natalia has been in the modified Volkswagen community for 15 years, yet her love for wrenching on cars started at a young age helping her father pull motors and do brake jobs in their garage. Her father never wanted his little girl to work around cars for a living, but that hasn't ever kept her at bay. She has worked at her local Toyota dealership as a service advisor for nearly a decade and is also a graduate from automotive college. When she was fifteen, her father bought her a 1986 grey Wolfsburg Jetta for eight hundred dollars from another family member. She sold the Jetta two years later for a profit and purchased two more MKII Jetta's. Eventually she worked her way through ten Volkswagen's total modifying them with suspension upgrades, swapped OEM interior and exterior pieces from different models and changing wheels. However, in 2006 the styling of the MKV Jetta GLI caught her eye at a local auto show and she knew without a doubt that someday she would have it. By 2008 she was tired of collecting old cars in her mom's driveway so she sold each of them and proudly purchased a GLI as a birthday present to herself. Since then she has been honing in on her personal style with each modification beginning with lowering springs and working her way up to air suspension. Wheel setups have come and gone and she considers it somewhat of an obsession. She sold her gorgeous Mercedes SL55 AMG wheels after last show season and picked up a staggered set of 19x8.5 and 19x10 Artec Turbo P's. From tear down to paint, she was able to build them to her standards and nailed the very look she wanted. The exterior of the GLI takes on an OEM+ look. German Golf GT front and center grilles grace the front bumper as the Votex front lip and side skirts help to pull the car closer to the ground. A look at the back of the car shows a clean euro trunk from the UK with euro LED tail lights and fog. Chrome mirror caps break up the deep black pearl paint and really compliment the Artec's. Take a peek inside the car and one will notice the interior is far from OEM. The seats are wrapped in red leather to match the custom hand-made red Louis Vuitton interior trim and air tank, which mimics a red Louis Vuitton purse. The whole car draws spectators in, but it's the details that really make the car hers. While building the GLI, she has learned a vast amount of things; most importantly that everyone should enjoy the overall build process and not allow others to govern what they do. "My mom always told me to do what I love and not listen to anyone...if you love it, you do it. There are those people that will frown down on you even if you have the best car, best everything and will talk crap. They aren’t the ones that matter. They never will. They do it for the wrong reasons." Being a female enthusiast in the car scene can have its ups and downs at times, but she really enjoys being a part of it all. The friends she met fifteen years ago when it all started are the same friends she hangs out and attends shows with now. Being a part of the VW Girl community as an admin allows her to interact with more people and see other female enthusiasts encourage and support each other. In her own words, "I prefer this group over the other groups because there isn’t any drama and no one is rude. Everyone is just happy and appreciative." That's what the majority of us are looking for; a group that has the same passion, are down to earth and can encourage each other even when the world may not get why we love our hobby. Natalia's advice to other female enthusiasts is straight to the point and simple, "If it makes you happy, keep with it. Don’t do anything to make others happy. And don’t take shit from anyone. People's biggest fear is to be liked, and a lot of times they have to like what they have themselves before they can appreciate someone's work. Not everyone will like your car, and it's ok." Every bit of that rings true. It's exactly how a builder should feel about their masterpiece whether they are female or male. She would like to thank to her boyfriend, Mark, who has always been there to help her, her friend Manolo who helped with the air install in the rain 3 years ago and all of the VW Girls.

Thank you, Natalia, for letting us get to know you and your story. Keep an eye out for more updates from Natalia on her builds by following her on Instagram, @nataliacashmoney, and the official VW Girls facebook page.

Natalia Cash's MKV Jetta GLI: Year: 2007 Engine/ Trans: 2.0T Color: Black Magic Pearl Suspension: Airlift/Air House air suspension with manual management Wheels: Staggered 19x8.5 and 19x10 Artec Turbo P's wrapped in Nankang Ns2 and Nankang N20's Exterior: German OEM Golf GT front and center grilles, Votex front lip and side skirts, chrome mirror caps, Euro trunk from the UK, Euro LED tail lights with fog, under body LED lighting Interior: Custom hand-made red Louis Vuitton interior trim, custom made red Louis Vuitton purse air tank, custom color matched red leather interior, 10” Flat Pioneer sub and amp