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| Run Rabbit Run: The Volkswagen GTI and the Birth of the Hot Hatch |
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| Written by Aaron Severson |
| Saturday, 27 June 2009 00:00 |
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Introduced in 1976, Volkswagen's Golf GTI was not the first sporty family car, nor even the best, but it defined an entire genre of practical performance cars: the ever-popular hot hatch. BACK TO FRONTAlthough the Volkswagen Beetle was at the height of its American popularity in the late sixties, VW's fortunes in the European market were flagging. Under the conservative leadership of managing director Heinz Nordhoff, Volkswagen had a hard time looking past the Beetle's rear-engined, air-cooled format. Its new Type 4 cars had a few modern features, but they were still anachronisms in a market turning increasingly to front-engine, front-wheel-drive compacts like the BMC Mini.
Breaking the rear-engine habit required a drastic cultural shift for VW, which was abetted by Volkswagen's 1969 acquisition of a controlling interest in NSU. At the time, NSU was hard at work on the K70, a water-cooled, front-engined, FWD compact, which had been highly publicized, but not yet introduced, because of NSU's financial problems. VW's new managing director, Kurt Lotz, who had succeeded Nordhoff in the spring of 1968, decided to refine the K70 design and produce it as a Volkswagen, building it at a new plant in Salzgitter, southwest of VW's Wolfsburg headquarters. The K70 was not a great commercial success, lasting only until 1975, but it gave VW its first practical experience with water cooling and front-wheel drive. Thus emboldened, Lotz ordered the development of a new, mass-market FWD car, known as project EA337. He commissioned Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign -- known for exotic sports cars like the Lamborghini Miura -- to style it. Lotz was forced to resign in the fall of 1971, but his successor, former Audi-NSU director Rudolf Leiding, continued the EA337 project, which was now the company's highest priority. GULF STREAMThe EA337 finally went into production in March 1974, now dubbed "Golf." (Volkswagen insisted that it was named not for the sport, but for the Gulf Stream, just as the Golf-derived Scirocco coupe was named for the desert wind.) Wearing crisp styling by Giugiaro, the Golf was a thoroughly modern subcompact, featuring unibody construction, a transverse, water-cooled engine, rack-and-pinion steering, and a choice of three- or five-door hatchback bodies.
 The shape that launched a thousand knockoffs. Giorgetto Giugiaro's original Golf design was widely imitated, most obviously by Chrysler Europe, whose Horizon (sold as a Chrysler and a Talbot in Europe, as a Plymouth and as the Dodge Omni in the States) was not only visually and conceptually similar -- albeit bigger -- but was even sold in the States with a 1.7 L Volkswagen engine. Hatchbacks were not a new idea by any means; the rear liftgate had its roots in the sedan deliveries and commerciales of the thirties, as well as oddities like the Austin A40 Countryman of 1959. Nonetheless, three- and five-door hatchbacks skyrocketed in popularity in the early 1970s. The rear liftgate lent itself well to the new "supermini" class, exemplified by the Fiat 127 and Autobianchi A112, giving small cars a level of cargo-carrying versatility exceeding that of many larger vehicles. The Golf offered a range of four-cylinder engines, the newly designed 801 and 827 series, featuring cast-iron blocks, aluminum heads, and a single, belt-driven overhead cam. The base engine was 1.1 liters (67 cu. in.), with a modest 50 hp DIN (37 kW), linked to a four-speed manual transmission, while the top option was 1.5 L (90 cu. in.), with 70 hp (51 kW). The Golf's front suspension used MacPherson struts, while the rear was a novel "torsion beam," linking two trailing arms with a transverse beam that doubled as both structural member and anti-roll bar. Front disc brakes were standard. None of this was extraordinary from a technological standpoint (the Simca 1100, for example, had these features in 1967), but it took Volkswagen to the first rank of European small cars. AN INTERNATIONAL SUCCESSThe Golf went on sale in Europe in the summer of 1974, and proved to be an immediate success. It was not without its problems, but it was nearly as fun to drive as Alfa Romeo's Alfasud, and far more reliable and better built than many of its European rivals. Volkswagen sold its millionth Golf less than three years after its introduction.
 This Rabbit GTI's round headlamps are an oddity; unlike the Golf, Rabbits (including GTIs) had rectangular sealed-beam headlights. It seems the owner has substituted the grille from a round-headlight overseas model, which is easily done, although this car lacks the inset fog lamps that were commonly fitted to European GTIs. It also lacks the American car's front side marker lights. The Golf came to America in early 1975, carrying the biggest available engine (1.5 L/90 cu. in.) and a new name: Rabbit. The Rabbit never became as beloved or ubiquitous as the Beetle, although it sold relatively well. Unfortunately, inflation and currency fluctuations meant that Volkswagen lost about $100 on every car sold in the U.S. In an attempt to reduce costs, Volkswagen took the unprecedented step of launched an American factory. The new plant, located in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, was the first foreign-owned auto plant in the U.S. since the 1920s. It would not be the last. TURNING UP THE HEATThe standard Golf was already entertaining to drive, particularly in 1.5 L form, and it was clear that much more could be extracted from it. In the spring of 1973, a group of VW engineers organized by test engineer Alfons Löwenberg, began development of a "Sportgolf" as a side project. The engineers found an ally in PR boss Anton Konrad, who had been a Formula V driver earlier in his life, and understood the publicity value of racing versions of family cars, like the Mini Cooper and Ford's Lotus Cortina. Despite that support, the engineers decided to keep the project below management's radar. The development costs of the standard Golf were already daunting enough; the group suspected that if their superiors knew what they were doing, they would shut it down.
After they developed a viable prototype, engineer Hermann Hablitzel decided to mention the Sportgolf to his boss, development chief Ernst Fiala, who told them they were out of their minds. Neither Konrad nor the engineers were dissuaded, however, and they kept working on the project in secret, using a Scirocco coupe (which shared its platform with the new Golf) as a development mule. In the spring of 1975, about a year after the Golf entered production, the engineering crew showed off their Scirocco-bodied chassis mule on Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track, with impressive results. By then, the Golf was off to a good start in the marketplace, and VW's sales organization was looking for ways to maintain customer interest. They were particularly interested in having something new to show off at that fall's Frankfurt Motor Show. In due course, the "Sportgolf" became an official project in May 1975. Audi engineer Herbert Schuster was transferred to Volkswagen to supervise it. A production prototype -- now dubbed Golf GTI -- made its public debut at the Frankfurt show on September 11, 1975. Public response was enthusiastic, and a production version went on sale the following summer.  For GTI duty, the standard Golf's suspension was lowered about 20 mm (0.8 in.), the track was widened, and both springs and shocks were stiffened. Anti-roll bars were fitted both front and rear, and an oil cooler was added to the engine. (GTIs also had an oil-temperature gauge.) European models had 13-inch wheels, but the American GTI substituted 14x6 alloys (requiring the pronounced fender flares seen on this car), with P185/60HR-14 Pirellis. ANATOMY OF A HOT HATCHThe GTI was a straightforward but thorough revamp of the basic Golf package. The engine was a 1.6 L (97 cu. in.) version of VW's "827" four, with higher-compression Heron heads, a hotter cam, and Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection. Originally created for the Audi 80, the 1.6 L engine produced 110 hp DIN (81 kW) -- more than enough for the 1,860 lb (845 kg) GTI. To match it, the suspension was lowered and stiffened, and the front brakes were replaced by vented discs for better cooling.
The GTI was noisy and rode stiffly, but it had brisk performance. VW claimed 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) in 9.0 seconds and a top speed of 113 mph (182 kph). This proved optimistic in third-party testing, but not by much -- some testers managed 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in a fraction over eight seconds, better than a Datsun 280ZX or a Porsche 924, either of which was far more expensive. Thanks to its light weight and uprated suspension, the GTI was as nimble as an Alfasud or Autobianchi A112 Abarth, and considerably faster in a straight line. The GTI was also a decided improvement on the aging sports cars of the time, like the MGB. More importantly, the GTI sacrificed little of the Golf's practicality, which wasn't always the case with high-strung sports versions of family cars. The GTI's fuel economy was nearly as good as a Golf's, and if one could accept the stiff ride and a higher level of mechanical noise, there was no reason it couldn't be owned by a one-car family. Better still, it was affordable. In Germany, it started at 13,850 DM (about $5,500 at contemporary exchange rates), which the German automotive press noted was some 5,000 DM ($2,000) less than the cheapest rival offering comparable performance. AMERICA LASTVolkswagen's sales organization did not see a big market for the GTI, with a conservative projection of 5,000 cars a year. The GTI's combination of performance and practicality was appealing enough, however, that it far better than that; Volkswagen had moved nearly 60,000 of them by 1979.
Despite the GTI's international popularity, it was not offered in the U.S. Volkswagen's U.S. sales strategy was shaped by an influx of former GM executives, hired around the time the Westmoreland plant opened. Thanks to their influence, the Rabbit became progressively more Americanized, with softened suspension, soggy seats, and Oldsmobile-like, color-keyed interior trim, often in very dubious taste. Following the 1979 energy crisis, a substantial number of American Volkswagens were sold with the 1.5 L diesel engine, which sacrificed performance for fuel economy. Volkswagen of America saw no market for the GTI. Not everyone was so convinced. In November 1981, Motor Trend published an open letter pleading with VW of America to create a U.S. version of the GTI. Other American critics felt that the decision to withhold models like the GTI epitomized the faulty logic that was rapidly eroding Volkswagen's U.S. sales. Jim Fuller, the vice president of Volkswagen of America's Porsche + Audi Division, agreed. Fuller was an automotive enthusiast, and he felt that VW was doing itself no favors by diluting its Germanic character. VWoA created a new position for him -- Vice President, Volkswagen Division -- and assigned him to turn things around.  American-market Mk 1 Golfs were called Rabbits; the Golf name wasn't adopted in the U.S. until the Mk 2 appeared as a 1985 model. Thanks in part to the 5-mph (8-kph) bumpers required by federal safety standards, the U.S. GTI was some 140 lb (64 kg) heavier than its European counterpart, which made the Rabbit GTI's power deficit that much more apparent. The first sign of Fuller's initiative was the Americanized GTI that debuted that fall as a 1983 model. It featured a version of the 1.8 L (109 cu. in.) engine introduced in Europe in 1981, but detuned to 90 hp SAE (67 kW), rather than the European engine's 112 hp DIN (82 kW). The suspension was similar to that of the German car, but retuned to account for the Rabbit's greater weight. With less power and more mass, the Rabbit GTI was naturally slower than the Golf GTI; in November 1982, Car and Driver clocked it from 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in 9.7 seconds, with a top speed of 104 mph (167 kph), which compared to 8.1 seconds and 112 mph (180 kph) for the European version. Still, that was quicker than a contemporary Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 305 (5.0 L), and, at $7,990, both cheaper and thriftier. The GTI was also fully two seconds quicker to 60 mph than a standard Rabbit. Even if it was slower, the American GTI was just as agile and fun to drive as its German counterpart. The enthusiast publications that had hoped for a federalized GTI were ecstatic. PROLIFERATIONOther manufacturers were by no means oblivious to the success of the GTI, and by the time it arrived in America, it had a growing array of competitors, including the Ford Escort XR3, the Mitsubishi-built Dodge Colt Turbo, the Lancia Delta HF, the Peugeot 205 GTi, and the Renault 5 Alpine/Gordini Turbo. By the mid-eighties, nearly every manufacturer in this market segment had at least one "hot hatch." The introduction of Group B rally racing in 1982 added fuel to the fire, spawning a host of technologically ambitious homologation specials. Many of these bore only a vague resemblance to the mundane family hatchbacks on which they were based, but they were pursued with the same enthusiasm that American manufacturers once lavished on NASCAR or Trans Am.
Many of these rivals were cheaper than the Volkswagen, some were faster, and some offered features VW did not, but the GTI remained the standard-bearer for the hot hatch market.  Today, the Mk 1 Rabbits look tiny, but they were nearly 10 inches (254 mm) longer than the original European Golf, thanks mostly to larger bumpers. A late-model Rabbit GTI had the same 94.5-inch (2,400-mm) wheelbase as the European car, but was 155.3 inches (3,945 mm) long, five inches (127 mm) longer than a late European-market Mk 1. It weighs about 2,070 lb (940 kg). The stub on the rear hatch is the mounting for the rear wiper/washer, which is missing on this particular car. EVOLUTIONVolkswagen introduced its second-generation Golf in August 1983. Inevitably, development boss Ernst Fiala was reluctant to meddle with success, opting for a cautious evolution of the original. In true Detroit fashion, the "Mk 2" Golf was significantly bigger than the Mk 1: 6.7 inches (170 mm) longer, 2.2 inches (55 mm) wider, on a longer, 97.2-inch (2,470 mm) wheelbase. Weight rose by more than 165 pounds (75 kg) on European cars, a hefty 250 lb (113 kg) on U.S. versions. Although the VW board considered 10 different styling proposals, including one from Giugiaro, they finally selected the one developed in-house, a cautious update of the original. Even VW design director Herbert Shäfer conceded that it looked somewhat conservative. Volkswagen spent $770 million on the new version, but only $195 million of that was for the car; the rest was to modernize the factory in Wolfsburg.
Naturally, the GTI continued, now offered in both three-door and five-door form. European models had a carryover 1.8 L engine, their extra weight making them somewhat slower than before. American GTIs had a new 100-horsepower (75 kW) version, which wasn't quite enough to compensate for the increased weight of the federalized Mk 2. On the plus side, both U.S. and European versions now had four-wheel disc brakes. That performance deficit was not enough to dampen sales of the GTI or the Golf on which it was based, which became Europe's best-selling car in the mid-eighties. Furthermore, the weakness of the initial car was soon rectified. In 1986, the basic GTI was supplemented by a new 16V model, with a 16-valve cylinder head that boosted the 1.8 L engine to 139 hp DIN (102 kW). European models were now capable of 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in under eight seconds, with a top speed of around 130 mph (209 kph). In 1989, there was a limited-production GTI Rallye model with a 160-hp (118-kW) supercharged engine and Syncro all-wheel drive, followed in 1990 by a FWD G60 model with the same engine. There were also a few Limited models, with all-wheel drive and a hotter supercharged engine.  This is one of only about 70 1989-90 supercharged G60 Limiteds. The Limited was the ultimate Mk 2 GTI; with 210 hp (154 kW), it was ran from 0-60 mph (97 kph) in less than seven seconds and had a top speed of nearly 140 mph (225 kph). The price was similarly impressive, more than twice that of a standard GTI. (Photo © 2006 ItsGrimUpNorth; released to the public domain by the photographer) LOSING THE PLOTThe second-generation U.S. GTI -- now called Golf, rather than Rabbit -- failed to win the hearts of American buyers. None of the supercharged or AWD models were ever sold in the States, leaving a milder 16V version, with 123 hp SAE (92 kW), as the top performer. It was capable of 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in around 8.5 seconds, with a top speed of more than 115 mph (185 kph), but by decade's end, it was falling behind the pace of the latest U.S.-market sporty cars in both performance and refinement. Worse, American Volkswagens were not built to the same standards as their European counterparts, suffering a host of reliability problems that further eroded Volkswagen's once-sterling reputation for quality.
Then, too, American buyers were cool to the Mk 2 Golf's boxy styling. In the seventies, when the Rabbit first debuted, most U.S.-market cars of any size were boxy, rectangular things -- often direct imitations of the Golf -- but by the eighties, the trend was toward sleeker coupes and sedans. The Golf's packaging was still superb, but American customers had come to associate boxy hatchbacks with the grim austerity of the late-seventies energy crisis, an era many were eager to forget. Even the sporting hatchbacks available in the U.S., like the Acura Integra, Ford Probe, or Mitsubishi Eclipse/Eagle Talon, were rapidly taking on more coupe-like proportions. With high prices and styling that seemed out of touch with American tastes, Volkswagen of America floundered. As sales dropped, the Westmoreland plant ended up at less than half its capacity. VW finally shut it down in September 1988, earning great enmity from workers and their union. (Ironically, by then, Japanese manufacturers like Honda and Toyota had begun to establish their own "transplant" factories in the U.S., which would prove far more successful.) That fall, Jim Fuller and VWoA's marketing director were killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, leaving the company's management adrift. By 1991, U.S. sales had dipped under 100,000 units a year, and by 1993, they were down to a dismal 44,000. MORE OF THE SAMEIf VWoA was waiting for salvation from the Mk 3 Golf, it was not forthcoming. Although Volkswagen reportedly spent $1.5 billion on the third-generation Golf, after selling 12.6 million Mk 1s and Mk 2s, the company was taking no chances with the familiar formula. The Mk 3, introduced for 1992, followed the same pattern as the Mk 2: a bigger, heavier, sleeker version of its predecessor. That was fine for Europe, where the Golf was the established gold standard for C-segment family cars, but it did nothing to help the U.S. organization. (Ironically, the revival of VW's American business required turning the Golf into a New Beetle, but that's another story.)
The four-cylinder Mk 3 GTI was looking rather anemic, thanks to unchanged power and extra weight, so Volkswagen added a new six-cylinder model, powered by VW's unique VR6 engine. The VR6 was a V6 with its two cylinder banks set only 15 degrees apart, close enough to allow both to share a single cylinder head. With 174 hp DIN (128 kW), it gave the GTI's straight-line performance a shot in the arm, but it didn't help handling that seemed flabby compared to the latest competition. Much the same was true of the Mk 4, launched in 1997. As new VW chief Ferdinand Piëch strove to take Volkswagen up-market, the Mk 4 GTI offered exceptional refinement and luxury with ample power, but the memory of the nimble Mk 1 was growing dim. It also suffered in-house competition from Volkswagen's SEAT and Skoda brands, which offered nearly identical mechanical packages -- and sometimes prettier styling -- for lower prices.  The Mk 4 GTI could be had with either VW's 1.8T turbocharged four or the VR6. This is a 2003 20th Anniversary Edition, which had a 180-hp 1.8T and a six-speed manual transmission, along with showy 18-inch alloy wheels. (Photo © 2007 Crzypdilly; released to the public domain by the photographer) Volkswagen tried to rectify things with the Mk 5 GTI, launched at the Frankfurt show in 2003. The Mk 5 again offered with either a turbocharged four-cylinder engine or a VR6, with up to 250 hp (184 kW). Stylistically, the Mk 5 remained unmistakably a Golf, but it had grown quite zaftig; the AWD six-cylinder R32 tipped the scales at around 3,400 pounds (1,538 kg), nearly twice the mass of a Mk 1 Golf. Still, with a new multilink independent rear suspension (replacing the old torsion beam), it had markedly better handling than the Mk 4, taking the GTI back to the forefront of its class. Earlier this year, Volkswagen unveiled the Mk 6 GTI, which is again an extremely conservative redesign of the Mk 5, with slightly more power and similarly hefty curb weight. The four-cylinder GTI still has a curb weight of over 3,000 pounds (1,360 kg), although it is alleged to be both quicker and greener than its predecessor. In Europe, it will face a host of formidable C-segment competitors, including the Peugeot 308 GT, Ford Focus RS, Renault Clio RS, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, Opel Astra OPC, Honda Civic Type R, and its own Seat Leon Cupra sibling. There is also now a thriving market in smaller B-segment hot hatches, like the VW Polo GTI, RenaultSport Twingo RS, and Peugeot 207 GT Turbo. WITHER THE (ORIGINAL) HOT HATCH?The Mk 6 Golf and GTI are likely to remain niche items in the U.S. market. Even in Europe, the Ford Focus and Opel/Vauxhall Astra are sorely testing the Golf's traditional dominance of the C-segment. Although VW's U.S. sales are better than they were in the early nineties, American buyers still prefer the four-door Jetta sedan to the three- and five-door Golf. It's significant that despite the modest success of Mazda's Protégé5 and Mazda3 five-doors, most of the C-segment cars sold in America abandoned their hatchback body styles years ago. There are a few hot hatches in the States, like Mazda's Mazdaspeed3, but many past examples, like the Honda Civic Si three-door or Acura Integra, have disappeared.
Why? Cost is one factor. As the size and sophistication of the hot hatch has grown, so have prices. In the U.S., a 2009 GTI three-door has a base MSRP of $23,930, $1,100 more with the DSG semi-automatic gearbox. A Subaru Impreza WRX five-door starts at $26,190, while the hotter STI is over $35,000 -- clearly not economy-car prices. By the nineties, insurance companies had also caught on to the hot-hatch game, and started slapping punitive surcharges onto any compact with a "GT" badge, even if it had less horsepower than any number of mundane family sedans. Fuel, maintenance, and insurance are more costly, as well. Where a Rabbit GTI could return 26-27 mpg (8.7 to 9.0 L/100 km) in routine driving, a modern GTI can dip under 18 mpg (13 L/100 km) in city traffic -- and on premium fuel, to boot.  The latest GTI is due stateside in the summer of 2009. It again carries a 2.0 L (122 cu. in.), rated at 204 hp DIN (150 kW) -- probably 210 hp in the U.S. As yet, VW has announced no plans to revive the six-cylinder or AWD versions, and they may be abandoned in the interests of better fuel economy and lower emissions. (Photo © 2009 Rudolf Stricker) Naturally, these factors are important in Europe and Japan, too, where fuel is even more expensive and the cars even costlier. The difference is that in the States, three- and five-door hatchbacks still have the stigma of low-end cars for college students. It takes a special kind of eye to appreciate the value of a GTI or STI badge, especially when the same money could get you a bigger sedan and/or a more prestigious badge. (We also cannot overlook VWoA's disastrous record for reliability and customer service, which in recent years have been among the worst in the U.S. market. In Europe, buyers will still pay a premium for the VW badge, but customers on this side of the Atlantic are more reticent, often for good reason.) Even if the hot hatch does see a revival with a new generation of American buyers, we're not likely to see the likes of the simple, tossable, frugal Mk 1 GTI again. It could be said that the game has simply moved on. Even subcompacts without any sporting pretensions, like the Honda Jazz/Fit and Mazda2, are about as quick as an early GTI, and nearly as nimble, while offering amenities and refinement a Mk 1 Golf owner could scarcely imagine. Still, whatever its virtues, the portly, pricey modern GTI doesn't induce many giggles, and that is a shame for anyone who remembers how much fun this model used to be. # # #
NOTES ON SOURCESOur principal source for the origins of the Golf was Graham Robson and the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, Volkswagen Chronicle (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, Ltd., 1996). Additional information on the Mk. 2, including Herbert Schäfer's admission of the conservatism of its design, also came from Fred Dillinger, "VW Golf/Rabbit Sneak Preview," Car and Driver, December 1983 (Vol. 29, No. 6), p. 59.
Information on the birth of the GTI comes from an official VW publication entitled "The Volkswagen GTI - The True Story Behind Number 1" (author unknown, 25 October 2004, VW Vortex, http://www.billswebspace.com/GTiHistory.pdf, accessed 30 May 2009) and "History of the origins of the first Golf GTI" (author and date unknown, http://vwphaetonfan.blogspot.com/2009/03/golf-gti-in-depth.html, accessed 30 May 2009). Motor Trend's plea for a U.S. GTI appeared in the November 1981 issue of that magazine. That article, along with Rich Ceppos, "Preview Test: Volkswagen Rabbit GTI" (Car and Driver, November 1982), is reprinted in R.M. Clarke, ed., VW Golf GTI 1976-1991 Limited Edition Extra (Cobham, Surrey: Brooklands Books Ltd., 2006). We also consulted the following period road tests: Philip Turner, "Injected VWs top 110 mph," The Motor, 19 June 1976; "AutoTest: Volkswagen Golf GTI," Autocar, 12 March 1977; "The Golf GTI: A superb 110 m.p.h. VW," Motor Sport, March 1977; "Test extra: Volkswagen Golf GI: Still sparklingly smooth," Autocar, 4 April 1981; Jim McCraw, "Road Test: Golf GTI," Motor Trend, November 1981; "Preview Test: Volkswagen Rabbit GTI: The car we've all been waiting for," Car and Driver, November 1982; "RoadTest: Volkswagen Golf GTi," The Motor, 27 November 1982; "Volkswagen Rabbit GTI: Street racer in a bunny suit," Road & Track, November 1982; "CAR Test: VW Golf 1,8 GTI, Five-Speed," CAR South Africa, January 1983; Mark Hughes, "Playing better Golf," Autosport, January 1983; "RoadTest: Volkswagen Golf GTI," The Motor, 5 May 1984; "Volkswagen GTI: A pocket pistol to win the West, and everywhere else," Car and Driver, March 1985; "Road Test: Volkswagen Golf GTi 16V," The Motor, 13 December 1986; "Road Impressions: VW Golf GTI 16V," Motor Sport, February 1987; "Volkswagen GTI 16V: The long-awaited 4-valve-head sports sedan," Road & Track, June 1987; Rich Ceppos, "Volkswagen GTI 16V: Fighting the good fight," Car and Driver, August 1987; Mark Harrop, "Master stroke," Autocar, 13 March 1991; Tiff Needell, "Four wheels good..." Autocar, 21 March 1991; and John Evans, "Buying Used: Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk II," Autocar, 16 October 1996, all of which are reprinted in R.M. Clarke, ed., VW Golf GTI 1976-1991 Limited Edition Extra (Cobham, Surrey: Brooklands Books Ltd., 2006). Details on the modern Mk. 4, Mk. 5, and Mk. 6 GTI came principally from Mark Wan, "Volkswagen Golf Mark IV," (17 October 2002, AutoZine.org, http://www.autozine.org/Archive/Volkswagen/old/Golf_Mk4.html, accessed 3 June 2009); "Volkswagen Golf V" (1 January 2007, AutoZine.org, http://www.autozine.org/Archive/Volkswagen/old/Golf_Mk5.html, accessed 30 May 2009) and "Volkswagen Golf VI" (2 June 2009, AutoZine.org, http://www.autozine.org/Archive/Volkswagen/new/Golf_VI.html, accessed 3 June 2009). Additional details came from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Volkswagen_Golf_Mk2, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Volkswagen_Golf_Mk3, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Volkswagen_Golf_Mk4, accessed 3 June 2009. This article's title was suggested by a bit of dialogue the comic book We3, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely, which was originally published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 2004.
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Interesting article as usual. But believe the Polo GTI is the current successor to the original Golf you write about. It is some four meters in length and has 150 hp. Fun to toss around and has all the attributes to talk about. Also I would argue the FIAT 128 was originator of the FWD hatchback class. Not VW.