It should be a surprise to no one that in Brazil, world famous for its love of futbol, the most popular car nameplate for over three decades has been Gol – Portuguese for “goal,” of course. The Volkswagen Gol has been Volkswagen do Brasil’s entry level model since 1980, when it replaced the Beetle as the mainstream low priced car. In the 35 years since the Gol’s introduction, more than 5 million have been sold, a figure that exceeds 10 million when combined with the entire family of models derived from the Gol. In addition to having an appropriate name, the most popular car in Brazil – one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world – also was born with the most diverse set of Volkswagen genes ever combined into one design. It even used Ford engines for several years, before it matured into part of the Volkswagen engineering mainstream. Here is a brief look at the origins and evolution of this best-selling Volkswagen that is unfamiliar to Americans but a fixture in Brazil.
The first generation Gol debuted in 1980 with a drivetrain that combined the longitudinal engine front wheel drive system of the Audi 80/Fox with the air-cooled flat four engine of the Beetle, creating the only Volkswagen model with a front-mounted air cooled engine. No doubt some VW fanatics have created their own custom front wheel drive installations of air cooled VW engines, but this one was engineered by Volkswagen and mass produced. The chassis was a shortened version of the VW/Audi B1 platform of the larger Audi 80/Fox, not the A1 platform of the similarly sized VW Golf, developed by VW in Brazil and called the BX.
Introducing a third strand of VW DNA into the design was a two door hatchback body style that clearly owed much to the first generation VW Scirocco.
The resemblance was especially strong in the treatment of the roofline and tail, the main difference being the outline of the rear quarter windows.
VW in Brazil did not merely raid the company parts bin; they combined major elements of three completely separate VW/Audi designs in a way that the parent company in Germany would not have dreamed of doing. The Gol replaced the VW Brasilia, itself a unique creation of VW in Brazil, and it displaced the Beetle as VW’s most popular model, although the Beetle continued in production in Brazil until 1996.
Unlike Dr. Frankenstein’s combination of human parts, the Gol’s Beetle/Fox/Scirocco chimaera came together well. The Beetle engine fit quite neatly into its unfamiliar position in the Gol, with a lower fan housing to fit under the hood. The engine delivered its familiar power and performance, however, debuting with a single carburetor 1.3 liter producing 42 horsepower (shown), with a twin carburetor 1.6 liter producing 51 horsepower coming later. Acceleration was similar to the Beetle’s; slow by U.S. standards, but adequate in a country where small four cylinder economy cars predominated.
The first generation Gol lasted until 1994, with numerous additional engines used in place of the original Beetle flat four and the arrival of several additional body style using new names. The VW Voyage two door sedan appeared in 1981, with the 1.5 liter water cooled engine used in the Audi 80 and VW Golf, upgraded to 1.6 liters in 1982; the VW Parati two door station wagon followed in 1982, along with a four door Voyage in 1983, and the VW Saveiro pickup truck in 1983. In 1985, the Gol followed its siblings by adopting the 1.6 liter water cooled engine in place of its original Beetle engine. Sport versions of the Gol used water cooled engines first, in larger displacements: the Gol GT of 1984-86 with a 1.8 liter engine from the Passat, the Gol GTS of 1987-94 with the 1.8 liter engine and spoiler package, and the Gol GTI 2000 of 1989-94 (shown), whose 2.0 liter engine marked Brazil’s first use of electronic fuel injection.
The U.S. market received its only exposure to the Gol in 1987-93, when VW imported the Voyage sedan and Parati two door wagon into the U.S. as the VW Fox, with the 1.8 liter engine of the U.S.-market Golf and Jetta.
A joint venture between VW and Ford in Brazil called Autolatina, which lasted from 1987 to 1996, led to the use of Ford engines from 1991 to 1995. Ford 1.0 and 1.6 liter fours drove the Audi 80/Fox longitudinal front wheel drive system in most Gols during those years, with the GTS and GTI sports versions continuing to use VW 1.8 and 2.0 liter engines.
Squeezing an inline four and its radiator north-south into the short engine compartment required an offset radiator and a slanted engine, as was the case in the Audi 80/Fox/VW Passat/Dasher.
The second generation Gol introduced in 1994 still used the BX platform and drivetrain of the first generation, but with a larger and more rounded body. The Gol continued as only a two door hatchback and the Parati as a two door wagon, but four door versions appeared in 1997, and VW dropped the two door body styles in 1999. VW phased in its own engines in place of the Ford units in 1996 as the Autolatina joint venture wound down, and 16 valve versions of its 1.0 and 2.0 liter engines arrived, with the Gol GTI using the 16 valve 2.0 liter. The post-1998 economic recession caused further revision to the engine lineup, with VW dropping the 16 valve 2.0 liter and concentrating on smaller displacement engines, releasing a turbocharged 16 valve 1.0 liter in 2000. The second generation Gol was as long lived as the first, also lasting 14 years until 2008, with the Parati wagon continuing until 2013.
The Gol continues today in its third generation, which debuted in 2008 as a 2009 model. It continues to be Brazil’s best-selling model, as it has been every year since 1987. The BX platform and Audi 80/Fox longitudinal engine front wheel drive system are history. The Gol now is a transverse engine design built on a modified version of the VW PQ24 platform used by the 2001-09 VW Polo, falsely suggesting it is what its name implies it is – a shortened Golf. The Gol now is a far more modern vehicle that is closer to VW’s worldwide standards, but it’s lost the Brazilian uniqueness that defined its first 28 years of production.
Cool! Never heard of this one…would be neat to import one of the front beetle-engined models to Canada…Nobody up here would know what it is!
Love it (the air-cooled version). Wonder if it sounded like a Beetle (“fweem”)?
1st generation Gols are everywhere, but I have yet to notice one sounding similar to any air-cooled, rear-engine VW. Either the survival rate of the earliest Gols is almost nil, or the full-length exhaust changes the exhaust sound so much that it is no longer distinctive.
Okay so the Gol was introduced in 1980. The Golf was around since 1974 in Europe and the Polo since 1975. I initially wondered why VW du Brazil had the gall to hack together a bunch of stuff to make this unique model instead of just manufacturing the Golf or Polo locally.
Then I followed the link to the CC article on the first generation Gol, which says that the parent company gave Brazil the tooling for the previous generation Fox. So their goal was to make the best use of what they were given. Looks like they scored!
Neat Article.
I don’t know about anyone else but every time I read about one of these “not in the U.S.” cars I feel as though we have had a sheltered life. Used to feel the same way when I went overseas.
I haven’t thought about what it would be but I doubt if my choice of new car (if I could have anything from any time) would be one we think of. There are some Brazilian cars that would be close to the top. Maybe a new 96 beetle, a VW pickup, or some sort of hatch like that red one with the slant four and offset radiator. Have to think about that. Thinking is free.
By the way, around 2004 the third-gen VW Gol was briefly available in Russia as the VW Pointer 5-dr hatchback – not to be confused with the Brazilian VW Pointer, which was essentially a Ford Escort !
It was a total failure – a stripper VW was seen as a joke on the market where VW was still viewed as a semi-luxury brand, and it’s Brazilian origin was received almost as an insult. It had a very “cheep” feel, too, both inside and out. I still remember that Pointers rusting on used cars lots in 2009 – never seen any of them since then !
It is remarkable, however, as the very first attempt at an affordable foreign built car for the Russian market – Dacia/Renault Logan followed the suit soon enough, and with a great success. Things got a little different now, obviously, considering the popularity of the so called “Polo sedan”, which is essentially an Indian VW Vento.
Brazil has for a long time had unique VW’s. Wondered what a front drive Rabbit/Golf with an air cooled VW would be like, now I have my answer. OK looks like a Golf but longitudinal like a Dasher. Always liked the looks of the Fox 2 door wagon, they don’t hold up well in accidents, however. Looks like the strange combinations will not return, all pretty much standard VW now. Always thought it was cool how VW allowed Brazil to be it’s “wild child”. Would like to own one of the air cooled Gol’s, too bad they were never sold here. Thanks Robert for this great write up on cars I never knew about. Now I want one! (cut it down to three I’s).
It continues to be Brazil’s best-selling model, as it has been almost every year since 1987 losing out once to the FIAT Uno in 1994.
There. Fixed it for you
🙂
http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/2013/01/07/brazil-full-year-2012-vw-gol-celebrates-25th-year-at-1-fiat-palio-up-to-3/
Seriously though, nice write up on a car I’ve only ever heard of and never seen but always been curious about.
Don’t all the cars in Brazil run on E-85 ethanol?
Definitely not, although I have yet to make complete sense out of the fuel situation. There is gasoline, which I think is required to be E15, and straight 100% ethanol. Older cars use only one or the other, with newer models being flex fuel – in the final photo, note that a “Total Flex” sticker appears in the Gol’s rear window, indicating a flex fuel engine. Diesel is trucks only; Brazil has never allowed diesel powered passenger cars, for some reason that I don’t know.
Diesel fuel has lower prices than gasoline, to reduce transportation costs. Since most goods travel by truck, this subsidy has a huge impact on the economy. And it is paid by gasoline consumers. If diesel were allowed for cars, it would be neccessary to import large quantities of this fuel, with severe disruption of the foreign exchange balance. And the VW Gol was a development of the EA 276 prototype of 1969 (check Google about it).
This Volkswagen do Brasil, the Fox, was available in Europe too. A tiny low-budget hatchback. As such, it was the predecessor of the current Volkswagen Up!
So I now have a definitive answer on where the US-market Fox came from–I’ve had a number of people try to tell me it was a (very) heavily freshened Audi Fox. So while that’s sort of true for the platform, this article puts the lie to any other direct ties. As soon as I saw the photo of the GTI 2000 I had an “I’ve seen that somewhere before…” moment. Sharp-looking car BTW, it’s kind of a shame we didn’t get the hatchback version here as part of the Fox family, or any GTI variant. While they probably would have sold approximately 12, can you imagine how cool a Fox Wagon GTI would have been? I love 2-door wagons anyway, but come on…that would have been badass.
Hi!
Here is a Gol 2014.
My Gol GT 86.
And my 92, sold years ago.
Squeezing an inline four and its radiator north-south into the short engine compartment required an offset radiator and a slanted engine, as was the case in the Audi 80/Fox/VW Passat/Dasher.
That offset radiator was an Audi thing. The 100LS and Super 90 that Audi made it’s US debut around 1970 with had the same setup.
The early Audis were a rework of a DKW, but the DKW had a 3 cylinder, 2 stroke. The longer 4 stroke 4 required the radiator be offset.
The C3 100/5000 was set up the same way–longitudinal inline 5, canted way over to one side to clear the low hood line, and almost completely forward of the front axle with an offset radiator and dual fans (one electric). Odd to look at, but the cars drove well.
Well ya learn something every day Ive heard of these but thought they were a Brazillian built Golf, but no they’re a real mish mash of VW parts with Ford engines cool.
Wasn’t one of the original Golf/Rabbit Beetle replacement proposals similar to this? A Rabbit with a front mounted Beetle engine.
The first gen. GOL was equipped with a 1,3l air cooled engine from the Beetle. As the automotive audience was not very happy with its poor performance, a 1,6l double carbureted engine was added. Soon the air cooled engines were desconitnued and a water cooled 1,6l was available in the entire line.
By 1984 it was launched the very first GOL GT 1.8, the top of GOL line in both features and perfomance. By 1985 the whole line received its first facelift and again by the end of ’87. This facelift went until 1991 when it received its second facelift. At that time, VW descontinued the belove 1.6l in favor of a Renault derived Ford engine. VM used this because the joint venture between FORD and VW here in Brazil, the AUTOLATINA. In my opinion, Ford was the only side that gained. Basically, Ford used the same mentioned engine above in all the line, from sports car to luxury. Sin ce this joint venture existed, FORD was benefited with the use of 1.8l and 2.0l on ite products.
In 1996 tha last products of this joint venture ended this course. Noticeable, was the lauching of the very first fuel injected VW in Brazil, the sports GOL GTI. 2.0l engine with EFI. You can imagine the impact of it.
By 1995 the Gol received its mais facelift in that the edged shape was changed to the a completely new rounded one. From 1995 to now, there were some more gens, but the first, is remarkable. I believe the GT, GTS and GTi were the mainstream models of this model. I appreciate them very much.
As if on cue, VW debuts this ad starring famous “GOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!” announcer Andres Cantor on the same day as this CC. A whole new kind of CC Effect?
Also in Spanish, of course:
Is that Spanish or Portuguese?
Anyway, I travel to Brazil often and am always interested in their unique cars. They have a very full VW range there and some look great – the “”Cross Fox” is a favourite of mine and they make a small VW crossover ute that would be a hit in many markets. In Brazil local cars and vastly less expensive that imported ones due to tax. Believe it or not, they just last year stopped making the VW Kombi in Brazil – a casualty of new regulations requiring air bags.
Driving is very intense in Brazil – lots of Ayrton Senna’s – and the pace furious. Their home grown cars are quite small, but tough and practical.
The Gol wasn’t the first front wheel drive air cooled engine VW . Around 1950, there was the Tempo Matador VW air cooled engine front drive truck.
There was another front drive air cooled VW truck made for Mexico and other developing countries, the Basis Transporter.