Back on the original topic of this thread, I've had 3 cars since I got my licence, all of them Golfs.
My first was a Mk2 GL 1.8, so insurance wasn't cheap either (about ?1200 tpft aged 20). It was completely standard, I did nothing to it, but it got me on the Golf ladder. I was originally looking for a 1.6 but this one came along via a friend of a friend, and at ?500 it was a deal.
I have now been able to afford a GTI, so I currently have 2 Valvers, but had I not bought the GL, I probably wouldn't have got into Golfs in the same way at all.
It's a bit of a personal opinion on whether you should put styling kits on non-GTIs to make them look like GTIs (didn't VW do this with the Driver model anyway?).
My preference is for a car to have performance to match it's looks and in some cases, I like cars that are very subtly styled but have outrageous performance.
The majority of people who mod the lower end Golfs at least do it well and in a way that doesn't look rubbish, unlike many 1Litre Novas, Nissan Bluebirds, Fiestas and all that lot.
Give the guys a break, if they can only afford to insure a 1.6 Mk2, then fine, let them do what they want to make it look better, then maybe when they've got some more money they can swap engines or get a real GTI.
Actually, it's sometimes easier to find a lower powered car with a solid body than it is to find a GTI with one, and it's that point when you start thinking about engine swaps.
Just my thoughts.
