Headline Motors

How do you follow an icon? That’s the question that the design team had to grapple with at Volkswagen HQ. The Beetle had been immensely successful, transforming from its dour WW2 roots in to a fun, adaptable car that was (and indeed still is) loved by many. After all, the Beetle had given a huge chunk of its DNA to produce the Beach Buggy - nearly everyone loves a Beach Buggy, don’t they?

The director general of VW, Rudolf Leiding has noted that out of six cars he had chosen as his favourites at the Turin Motorshow, four of them had been designed by the same man: the legendary Giorgetto Giugaro. So, Leidling hired Giugaro to produce a range of designs for the replacement.

Giugaro penned a car that was to be wholly different to the Beetle. In fact, he and his team decided that the new VW would be front-engined, front-wheel drive and water-cooled. All of this marked a radical change from the set-up of the Beetle. Sticking to their guns they readied their car for launch in 1974. 

Launch day approached and no-one was entirely sure how it would be received. After all, this was to replace a much-loved icon. A collective exhalation of relief could felt around Germany: everyone loved it. Its spacious interior, practicality and quality driving experience made it an immediate hit. It wasn't just the Germans either, other countries embraced the Golf with open arms. None more so that here in the UK. What was not to like about it? It was a practical family car, an agile hatchback and it looked amazing. A saloon derivative was launched shortly after named the Jetta.

Behind the scenes at VW there had been a bit of an argument. A few people had proposed a sporty golf but VW's management had refused to give permission for such a thing. Anton Konrad (VW's press officer) decided to go rogue. Convinced the idea would work, he managed to enlist the help of several key people including the influential Board Member for Technology: Harmann Hablitzel. The small team worked outside of hours to produce the Sport Golf. When it was ready they showed it Toni Schmucker the Chairman of the Board of Management. Toni loved it and gave the project the green light for official production.

Three letters were to become as legendary as the car itself in 1976 - G T i. Synonymous with sporty handling and performance, say the letters GTi and you would be hard pushed not to think of a fast Golf. (Okay, you may think of a Peugeot but you know what I mean!).

The Golf GTi was originally only penned to run in limited numbers but proved such a hit that production carried on and on.

Further generations of Golf were to appear. The Mk2 which rounded the Golf's features slightly and freshened up its appearance. The Mk3 and Mk4 were next. These were not as well received by the media but the public kept buying them and the various derivatives. Petrol and diesel; estate and convertible; manual and automatic, VW had an answer for every motoring question it seemed. 

Quietly though, there were critics of the Mk3 and Mk4 GTi and some of those were working behind the scenes at VW. Like an aging pop star, the Mk3 version seemed a bit stodgy, a bit big and it was in danger of losing its way. But rather than criticise, they found a solution. They dropped a bigger engine in to the Mk3 to make the VR6 but that was just for starters. What they had in mind was something else completely. 

A V6 producing over 200bhp was put in to the engine bay. Then a host of items from the top shelf of the accessories department were added and the R32 was born. A four-wheel drive car with a DSG gearbox - it meant business. What a car this proved to be and arguably could well be a future classic. The R32 made way for the Golf R. 

Taking only 4.9 seconds to reach 60 from standing still, the Golf R was a serious motoring weapon. With its understated looks, it did its talking from the driver’s seat. By the time the Mark 7 version had appeared, the Golf R could hold its own against some supercars.

The Golf goes from strength to strength and is still a big sales success. There is so much variety in pricing, specifications, looks, engines, speed and power-sourcing there really is something for everyone.

Think of a motoring question and I'll wager that Golf is the answer. Many happy returns Golf and here's to many more.