Although it had no equivalent in the U.S. VW line until 1983, I daresay most American enthusiasts are familiar with the original Volkswagen Golf GTI, the trend-setting “hot hatch” that profoundly reshaped the sporty car market in Europe. The West German magazine auto motor und sport (AMS) got their hands on the new sporty model around the time of its launch in June 1976. Let’s take a look at their first full test of a car AMS called a “Golf in sheep’s clothing,” which CC is pleased to offer in English translation.
(The title on the page above reads, “Golf in Sheep’s Clothing: New sporty model with fuel injection.” The photo caption at the bottom of the page reads, “Golf GTI: Compact VW with 110 PS engine feels most at home in curves.”)
This road test by Klaus Westrup originally appeared in AMS 15/1976, cover-dated 21 July 1976. By that time, the editors of AMS had been waiting many months for the production version of the fastest-ever Volkswagen production car, having briefly driven a prototype at the Volkswagen works in Wolfsburg the previous summer (AMS 20/1975). Westrup began:
When the Golf GTI was presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in the fall of 1975, fans of powerful compact cars were delighted. But those who wanted to buy the new model had rejoined too soon: the good thing still had to wait a while before it was ready for series production.
As the preview in AMS 20/1975 had explained, the Golf GTI was not part of the original plans for the Golf I, which went into pilot production in May 1974. The GTI, originally described as the Sports Golf, was conceived sometime in 1973 by a small group of enthusiastic engineers, including Herbert Schuster, Friedrich Goes, and Alfons Löwenburg, as an after-hours, off-the-books project to create a version of the Golf suitable for touring car competition.
1977 Volkswagen Golf GTI / Bring a Trailer
Volkswagen was deep in the red in 1974, struggling to reestablish its market position with an all-new line of water-cooled FWD cars. Considering the company’s shaky financial position, and given that the U.S. and many European markets were then reeling from the 1973–1974 OPEC oil embargo, VW management was not enthusiastic about the Sports Golf project when they finally learned about it. PR chief Anton Konrad was in favor, but VW sales and marketing were only grudgingly interested, and then only as a limited-production (5,000-unit) homologation special. According to AMS, even displaying the prototype at the IAA show in Frankfurt in September 1975 had been a hasty, last-minute decision, and Volkswagen cautioned the journalists who were allowed to drive early preproduction examples that the specifications hadn’t been finalized.
Westrup continued:
This development period has now passed. The Golf with the 110 PS injection engine of the Audi 80 GTE can now be seen in dealers’ shop windows and, with a recommended price of almost 14,000 marks, is not exactly a cheap item.
Price had been among the sticking points for the Sports Golf project. After the Frankfurt show, Volkswagen had suggested that the model would list for less than DM 13,000, but the actual price at launch in mid-1976 ended up being DM 13,850. That was a hefty 3,060 marks (around $1,210 USD) more than a 1.6-liter Golf GLS and 5,050 marks (roughly $2,000 USD) more than the basic 1.1-liter model, which probably had a lot to do with why the sales organization feared it wouldn’t sell.
1977 Volkswagen Golf GTI / Bring a Trailer
I assume this was another reason there wasn’t originally any serious consideration of bringing the Golf GTI to the U.S.: When the original Volkswagen Rabbit (as the Golf I was known in the States) first debuted, Volkswagen of America had priced it aggressively at just $2,999, but inflation and shifting exchange rates were making it very difficult to hold the line on price. Most Americans saw C-segment hatchbacks like this as dinky economy cars — what market could there be for a $6,000 Volkswagen, especially one that didn’t look much different from the $3,000 version?
Red grille surround, front spoiler, and grille badge were all that distinguished the GTI in the rear-view mirrors of slower cars / Bring a Trailer
Westrup continued:
“A Plain Suit”
From the outside, the most powerful Golf is strikingly inconspicuous. In contrast to some of its class competitors, you have to look more closely to be aware of its position in the speed hierarchy. It does have flared fenders, wide 175[mm] tires underneath, and a large front spoiler, but all these ingredients — although added to the bodywork after the fact — seem almost natural. If the basic normal Golf model looked like this, the average Golf buyer probably wouldn’t mind.
In this area, the VW stylists have undoubtedly succeeded in achieving the desired understatement. And when you open the doors, you find the seriousness of the exterior lines reaffirmed. Everything appears sporty and functional, but nowhere is there a detail that screams its sportiness.
In all likelihood, the “desired understatement” was driven more by cost limitations than aesthetic considerations. Volkswagen had originally planned to built only 5,000 of these cars, and minimizing tooling costs was undoubtedly a high priority for in-house design chief Herbert Schäfer. Italdesign chief Giorgetto Giugiaro, who designed the first-generation Golf, was not pleased about the tacked-on black plastic fender flares, but he acknowledged that they were a much less expensive way to accommodate the wider wheels than tooling for wider steel fenders.
1977 Volkswagen Golf GTI / Bring a Trailer
Westrup continued:
Compared to the basic Golf LS model, the quality and utility of the interior have increased considerably. The most important upgrade is the installation of excellently profiled sports seats with a cheerful check pattern. The author was able to convince himself of the seats’ special qualities during an 800-kilometer drive on French country roads. He has hardly ever sat so comfortably for so long in any other car.
The GTI also has a black dashboard; a speedometer with a range of up to 220 km/h [137 mph]; an oil temperature gauge, and a clock, both of which were located in the center console; a sports steering wheel with a plastic cover; and black velour carpets. The headliner and sun visors are also in this color — as is the gearshift knob, which in the GTI bears the contours of a golf ball and thus recalls the name of Wolfsburg’s most successful product.
Both the Tartan check upholstery and the golf ball shift knob were proposed by Volkswagen fabrics and colors designer Gunhild Lijequist. She later explained that she “wanted color and quality” rather than the usual black interior of contemporary sporty cars. Lijequist thought the plaid fabric gave the GTI “an element of British sportiness,” and admitted the golf ball was “a completely spontaneous idea,” adding a touch of whimsy to the interior. I must say for the record that I find both elements intensely tacky, but the golf ball shift knob did effectively table the tiresome debate about whether the “Golf” name referred to the sport of golf or to the Gulf Stream (as VW had originally insisted).
Sport wheel, golf ball shifter, center console with oil temperature gauge and clock, but no glove box lid / Bring a Trailer
Westrup went on:
It remains to be said that the GTI is also equipped with a rear window wiper and washer as standard, and that it is only available as a two-door model and only in two colors. The test car was painted silver metallic, and a dark red can also be requested.
Although Volkswagen originally indicated that the GTI would only be available in Diamond Silver or Mars Red, I believe black was also available very early — if not at launch, then very soon after.
In many respects, the original Golf GTI was a parts-bin special. The early test mules had used the carbureted 1.6-liter engine from the Audi 80 GT, which had 100 PS, but the production car shared the engine of the new Audi 80 GTE, which had some internal changes and traded the Solex carburetor for Bosch K-Jetronic mechanical injection, giving 10 percent more power.
1976 Audi 80 GTE / Audi AG
“A Powerful Engine”
Under the hood, the GTI is also tidy. Two things in particular catch the eye: the fuel injection (K-Jetronic) and an additional oil cooler, which is located next to the water cooler in the air flow.
The modifications to the engine itself are obviously not visible. The intake valves were enlarged and the combustion chambers were completely redesigned. They were relocated to the pistons (a so-called Heron head) and the compression ratio increased to 9.5:1.
All this enables the four-cylinder engine, also used in the Audi 80 GTE, to produce 110 PS (91.0 kW) [108 bhp] and a maximum torque of 14 mkg (137.3 Nm) [101 lb-ft]. This output in turn spurs on the sporty Golf, which weighs just under 900 kg [1,929 lb], to such an extent that hardly anything is left to be desired in terms of driving performance. A top speed of 185 km/h [115 mph] and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h [62 mph] in 9.4 seconds — who would have thought just a few years ago that these would be the performance figures for a series-produced Volkswagen?
Their 9.4-second 0 to 62 mph acceleration time was actually a bit off VW’s claim of 9.0 seconds, but AMS bettered the factory’s claimed 113 mph top speed, so there wasn’t much to apologize for.
The 1,588 cc EA827 engine in the VW Golf GTI and Audi 80GTE had Heron heads, Bosch K-Jetronic, 110 PS DIN / Bring a Trailer
Eight years earlier, Opel had shaken up the West German market with the powerful Rallye-Kadett 1900, which had offered performance unheard of in its price class. The new GTI raised the stakes again, offering a 1.6-liter car with performance that equaled or exceeded that of rivals with bigger engines, including the latest 1.9-liter Kadett GT/E and the 2-liter Ford Escort RS2000.
1975 Ford Escort RS2000 / Ford Motor Company
1976 Opel Kadett GT/E Coupé
Although it’s not listed in the table above, the all-around performance of the Golf GTI was also a formidable match for the new BMW 320i, which was substantially more expensive.
Westrup added:
All this happens without a ruckus and soon seems just as natural to the GTI driver as the widened fenders or the well-profiled Recaro sports seat. A feeling of reassuring superiority quickly sets in, especially as the fuel-injected engine also accelerates well in the lower rev range and — if necessary — requires little shifting. However, the GTI is not quite as flexible as the 75 PS carburetor model. From 40 to 100 km/h [25 to 62 mph] in fourth gear, the nominally weaker LS gets there in 16.7 seconds. The GTI takes two seconds longer — the result of the taller overall gear ratio.
Volkswagen did not yet have a five-speed transaxle at this time (a five-speed was added to the GTI in the fall of 1979), so to ensure that the GTI could take advantage of its extra power at higher speeds, the axle ratio for the standard four-speed was reduced (numerically) from 3.9 to 3.7. This was still rather busy (17.3 mph per 1,000 rpm in top gear), and it did cost something in top-gear acceleration.
Golf ball shifter, four-speed manual gearbox / Collecting Cars
However, the taller axle ratio did contribute to impressive fuel economy for a car with such performance. Said AMS:
One particularly pleasing aspect of the fuel-injected Golf is its fuel consumption. Although the compact saloon enters the sports car domain with its performance, it needs no more than a small car to achieve this lively performance. Getting by on 8.5 liters per 100 km [27.7 mpg] is not the slightest problem with the GTI.
The spec panel on the above page gives an overall test consumption of 9.9 liters per 100 km, which is 23.8 mpg (U.S. gallons). AMS recorded 24.8 to 27.7 mpg in short trips, 25.6 mpg on country roads, and 27.0 mpg on the Autobahn at around 68 mph — all very good for a car of this performance, although the GTI engine did require premium fuel. Also, with an 11.9-gallon fuel tank, overall range was modest when driving hard.
(The photo captions above read: “Sportiness in the interior with black dashboard”; “Sports seats with checkered upholstery”; “GTI emblem and wide fenders”; and “The GTI engine produces 110 hp with petrol injection.”)
Tartan check upholstery distinguished the GTI from less-sporty Golfs / Bring a Trailer
On this final page, someone on the AMS production staff appears to have put the subheading (“Ein Fahrwerk mit Reserven”) in the wrong place in the text — an embarrassing glitch. I’ve placed it where I think it was probably supposed to go for coherent text flow.
“Chassis With Plenty to Spare”
VW engineers accounted for the greater speed potential of the fuel-injected Golf with a series of chassis modifications. The GTI was lowered by 20 mm at the front and rear, it was fitted with 175/70HR13 radial tires on 5½-inch rims, anti-roll bars were installed front and rear, and finally there were upgrades in the deceleration department: the GTI has ventilated disc brakes at the front and a brake force regulator at the rear axle to prevent rear-wheel lockup during hard braking.
By the standards of later decades, the Golf GTI’s 175/70R13 tires sound ludicrously skinny, even if they did put more rubber on the road than the 145SR13 or 155SR13 tires on lesser Golfs or the early U.S. Rabbit. However, the smallish wheels and tires made a lot of sense for hot hatches this size, providing reasonable grip without excessive unsprung weight or short, stiff sidewalls. Bigger and/or lower-profile tires would have made it much harder to maintain decent ride quality, especially with the lower ride height and firmer suspension.
The early VW Golf GTI had 175/70HR-13 tires on 5½-13 steel wheels / Bring a Trailer
In any case, AMS felt the the combination worked exceptionally well:
Together with a complete re-tuning of the suspension, the result was consistently positive. The GTI is only slightly less comfortable to drive than the basic car, but offers more stability when cornering at speed. It is particularly astonishing how little the steering characteristics have suffered as a result of the 110 PS engine, and how smoothly and safely the most powerful Wolfsburg product can be driven on winding roads. Climbing an Alpine pass in the GTI is certainly one of the most exciting tasks a motorist can undertake.
The compact vehicle is also a joy to drive on the Autobahn. Wind noise is low and the suspension remains comfortable for a car of this size, which results in very satisfactory overall comfort. However, it must be said that the normally precise straight-line stability of the GTI diminishes somewhat in the high speed range; from 170 km/h [105.7 mph], the Golf feels “light” at the front, which indicates a considerable amount of lift despite the spoiler.
Volkswagen claimed that the front spoiler on the Golf GTI reduced front-end lift by about 65 lb at 100 mph, which was evidently not enough. Since none of the lesser Golf or Rabbit models were capable of such speeds (VW claimed a top speed of 97 mph for the carbureted Golf LS), I assume high-speed aerodynamics had not been a major design priority for the standard Golf/Rabbit.
The original Golf GTI had a simple MacPherson strut front suspension, with a rear torsion beam and front and rear anti-roll bars / Bring a Trailer
Westrup nonetheless concluded:
However, this does not change the fact that the GTI is one of the most harmonious models in the category of sporty small saloons. It is therefore not difficult to promise it a favorite role in this circle. After all, anyone who sees the new Golf GTI as the true successor to the small BMW is certainly not entirely wrong.
Whether or not anyone compared the GTI to a 320i or the outgoing BMW 2002tii, European buyers responded with enthusiasm: Volkswagen built 10,366 Golf GTIs in 1976, twice as many as originally planned, followed by 31,746 in 1977 and 42,293 in 1978. In its best year, 1981, VW sold 72,394 LHD GTIs, plus 3,834 RHD cars for the UK. This wasn’t a huge chunk of European Golf sales (VW sold more than 527,000 Golfs in 1976 and around 800,000 in 1981), but it was a very healthy total for a European sporty car, especially one that didn’t cost much to produce.
Rear windshield wiper/washer were standard on the Golf GTI / Bring a Trailer
It was the latter point that made the hot hatch a killer app in the European market. Sports cars and sporty coupes with their own body shells (including the Golf’s Scirocco cousin) cost more to build, so they cost more to buy, which made them a harder sell for European buyers. Souped-up B- and C-segment hatchbacks were a different story: Not only were they more affordable — in 1976, a German Golf GTI cost little more than the much less powerful VW Scirocco TS — they gave up much less in utility. If you could tolerate a stiffer ride, slightly higher fuel bills, and elevated insurance rates, a Golf GTI was about as well-suited for all-around family car duty as a lesser Golf, making it a practical choice for a single-car household. At the same time, it was capable of humiliating a variety of sportier-looking cars, including some that cost a lot more.
1976 German magazine ad — the headline (“To 100 [km/h] in 9 [seconds]”) refers to its claimed performance
American sporty-car fans who were aware of the European Golf GTI could only stare longingly in the general direction of the Atlantic Ocean. By 1970s standards, the U.S. Rabbit was reasonably spry, at least with gasoline engines, but it wasn’t in the same league as its hotter European cousin. The 1977 Rabbit offered the injected 1,588 cc engine, but it was de-tuned and emissions-controlled to 78 hp, down 30 horsepower from the GTI, in a car that weighed about as much. (The additional equipment of the GTI seems to have more or less equaled the additional weight of the U.S.-spec bumpers, door beams, and emissions gear.)
For 1983, Volkswagen of America belatedly introduced a Rabbit GTI, which sold an impressive 44,449 units before the end of Golf I/Rabbit I production, despite being up about 200 lb and down some 20 bhp from the latest European Golf GTI 1.8. This was enough to earn the GTI a spot in subsequent U.S. Golf lineups, although the GTI has only ever been a niche item here.
1978 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI / Bring a Trailer
Assigned from the damage Volkswagen had done to its own reputation with its various poor marketing choices and appalling repair record (the number of times I have personally been stranded by Golf I and Golf II derivatives is more than I can ever forgive, and parts and service weren’t cheap), U.S. buyers never stopped seeing three- and five-door family hatchbacks as cheap and downmarket. The VW GTI is still available here, and has a devoted cult following, but it’s remained a marginal seller: Volkswagen of America sold only 11,072 of them in 2024 (plus 4,196 of the related Golf R), and that was up almost 50 percent from 2023.
1978 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI / Bring a Trailer
Since Americans have never been crazy about hatchbacks, the hot hatch never really caught on here as it did in some other markets. In that respect, you could say that even when we did get the GTI, we still didn’t get it.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1975 VW Golf Mk1/Rabbit – The Most Influential Modern Global Compact Car (by Paul N)
Vintage 48,000 Mile Test: 1976 VW Rabbit – How VW Handed Over The US Import Market to the Japanese (by Paul N)
Vintage R&T Extended (24,000 Mile) Use Report: 1975 VW Rabbit – Issues, and More to Come (by Paul N)
Vintage R&T Review: 1975 VW Rabbit 36,000 Mile Long-Term Test Update – Serious Teething Pains (by Paul N)
Curbside Classic: 1979 Volkswagen Golf – Is this CC’s Favourite Car? (by Tatra87)
Curbside Classic: 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit – Lucky (by Joseph Dennis)
COAL: 1980 VW Rabbit — Hellish Ride in GTI Guise via Westmoreland! (by Rich Baron)
Curbside Classic: 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI — When Fun Hopped Across The Ocean (by Eric703)
COAL: 1983 VW GTI – A Fit Like a Custom Made Glove (by RetroJerry)
Cars Of A Lifetime: 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI -The Black Death (by junkharvester)
I didn’t appreciate the impact the GTI had on the Euro market till I started watching You Tube of late. Most every manufacturer got into a Euro GTI muscle car war via fat tires, fuel injection, orange pin stripping, tach, plaid interior, fat sway bars, etc. Even the Austin Metro got into the act via the MG brand.
And I always thought Europeans were above the fray.
Yes, through the 1980’s this car really shaped the European scene for compact, sporty premium models. In the UK, the 1.8 Mk2 GTi particularly, with its more grown up image and feel, and all-round capability, became the first choice for young professionals carving through traffic on the way to a business meeting, who could afford its premium price or lease rate.
So it captured a wider market, than just the petrolhead crowd. ( The subsequent 130 mph, 16 valve Mk2 was more of a hardcore choice ).
In the UK, our family had a Mk2 for a while, unusually a 5 door, easier for loading small kids into the back and strapping them in, another little market segment which rival models didn’t cover.
Compliments, to the trendsetting understated packaging. And enhanced performance, using affordable technology, and parts. Brilliant marketing.
Imagine if Chrysler had progressively followed suit, and introduced the GLH in the late ’70’s. Rather than, late to the game. Instead, they promoted the 024 and TC3, as their pocket performance cars. Not really offering much performance, until the 2.2 litre four came along. The much better space efficiency of the Horizon/Omni five doors, would have been the smart way to go. As the visual packaging on the Shelby Charger and Charger 2.2, was also too gaudy.
I don’t recall seeing, any of the 1979 era Canadian Rabbits, with the GTI trim package. To be fair, the visual cues of the quietly promoted GTI package, were subtle to the casual observer.
I would have been attracted to a GTI version of the VW pickup. As I liked the Dodge Rampage 2.2.
Likely an influence on Chevrolet launching, and packaging the X-II. With its similar low key appearance. The X-II deserved a much better fate.
This package would have been well received in the US and Canada. upon launch in 1975. The Mk. I Rabbit/Golf is one car I really miss. A highly desirable car, then and now.
I bought a ’78 A1 Scirocco in 1981, sentimentally my favorite of the 3 VWs I’ve since owned (and still own, I have a 2000 Golf 4 door). But it was good I bought it while I was young; my sister still has her 1997 Nissan 240SX and I’m amazed that I bent down to enter the similarly low Scirocco without problem whereas today my ’00 Golf seems low to me.
The one in the middle was an A2 1986 GTi. Mine was 8v, 1.8l CIS-e. It lacked the tartan upholstery, but I managed to wear out the front bolsters the 14 years I owned it, got some OEM material and got handy with curved sewing needle and hogring pliers. It weighed quite a bit more than the A1 I believe, and mine didn’t have power steering but did have the then wide 60 series tires, it was a handful when parking, especially till my shoulder and ribs healed after a bicycle accident I had while I owned it. I think the Scirocco was under 2000 lbs and the GTi maybe 2400 or so. Fortunately didn’t have problems with self-machining circlip that the close ratio transmission was known for, but did have other issues…had to replace clutch when the transaxle seal leaked and contaminated it, also the weatherstripping went and couldn’t find anything in wrecking yard even as good as mine (I live in the sunbelt) so had to send away to northern one who shipped it, looked like a big hockey stick, went from A to C pillar attached to it was the weatherstripping I needed. Also went through lots of voltage regulators (headlights would pulse) but easy to get at, right at top left front of the engine.
I’m a big hatchback fan, which isn’t a good thing these days. With my Golf at 25 years, I keep my eye on potential replacements, right now seems the best bet is a Mazda 3 hatch. Honda and Toyota have hatches, but the automatics are CVTs which I’d like to avoid (my next car needs to be automatic; no one else in my family can drive my car). I’d consider a GTi, but I think I’m a bit too old for one; don’t care for the kidney breaking ride, and I don’t need the horsepower, have turned quite conservative in my driving as I’ve gotten older. Don’t want to get a crossover nor SUV, so pretty sparce choices unless I go down a few sizes.
Wow…50 years now, hard to imagine.
Unlike many of the not innovative, retro-looking plaids used in 1970’s interiors, this design is quite progressive, and foretelling of early 1980’s visual design. Grid patterns were very popular in graphic design, at the start of the ’80s. Grids were seen everywhere, including integrated within some instrument cluster facings. The black. red, and silver colour scheme, and consistent square pattern works here. If used in ’80’s design, the pattern would likely have been toned down some.
But all design cues used on this ’76 GTI, would have still been contemporary in ’83. Ahead of its time, in more ways than one.
Sample progressive ’80’s interior, using a grid pattern, from the Ford Sierra XR4i
Porsche 928 interior design was very modern for 1978. But the Op Art fabric inserts, gave the interior a distinct 1960’s feel.
I like the Porsche Op Art seats a lot more than Tartan check. It is a bit much for a production model, and I agree that it feels very ’60s concept car, but at least it looks intentional, whereas I think the Tartan check inevitably looks like someone has lashed a cheap blanket or aftermarket seat cover over seats whose original upholstery is shot.
I’m no fan either, of the ‘granddad’s favourite chesterfield’, look of plaid. But plaid was a thing at the time. And inevitably, was going to be on their radar, as a insert pattern choice.
The way I look at it, they got so much right with the first GTI, that I accept the plaid inserts, as a compromise. It should have been a delet option for a more progressive pattern. Or no pattern. The fact they went with a more modern-like plaid pattern, with a clear grid-like pattern, makes it salvageable to me.
It seems to be forgotten that the plaid upholstery didn’t show up on a US-market GTI until the Mk5 in 2006. The Mk1 got subtly ribbed velour in either burgundy red or dark blue, with a fully color-keyed interior. Much as I like the plaid, I liked those US Mk1 seats even better.
The plaid seats did show up for a single year in the US-spec Jetta GLI for 1984, after which it too had to wait until the Mk5 model before plaid was offered again.
I always thought this pattern style would have looked best in the more upscale and mature Quantum. Particularly, the wagon.
Tangentially related… what ever happened to the Heron head design? As a Certified Volvo Nut™ I recall that Volvo built a “redblock” engine with a Heron head (B230K) in the 1980s, but it never made it to the US. I suspect emissions issues, but I really don’t know.
Cheap to make and easy to dieselise, they were fashionable/everywhere in the 1960s/70s.
They weren’t as efficient as a good wedge head or proper part-spherical and the necessarily heavy piston crowns could produce rough running.
The rise of efficient multi-valve heads (thanks to the Japanese & to smog regulations) means they’re largely redundant.
Even the US Rabbit GTI had an interesting interior, with a velour fabric that looked a few years out of date here. Another example of that German whimsy? 🙂
These were a real hoot to drive, and I think VW really nailed the trim details.
I remember this review vividly. Oh how I lusted for one, but we in the US were deprived of it until much later and then with a slower-revving 1.8. You didn’t touch on the reason why these weren’t sold in the US; I distinctly remember reading that VWoA said it wasn’t possible to make it meet US emission standards. This was at a time (before 3-way cats) when that was decidedly more difficult for genuine high-output engines, although I suspect it could have been done. VW didn’t want to spend the money on it. And in the end, the 1.8 was actually better suited to the American driving style.
My SIL’s high school BF (in Beverly Hills) got an early US GTI and let me drive it up into the hills and on Mulholland Dr. What an absolute ball!
I must say for the record that I find both elements intensely tacky, but the golf ball shift knob did effectively table the tiresome debate about whether the “Golf” name referred to the sport of golf or to the Gulf Stream (as VW had originally insisted).
I will take issue on all of this. Obviously taste in upholstery fabric (or shifter balls) is subjective, but “intensely tacky” seems a bit strong for such a breath of fresh air, on both counts. And although the interior designer may claim British influence, it was very much the Germans who had been using plaid upholstery (unlike the Brits) on some of their most revered sports/sports racing cars, including the 300SL and 911. It had become a German tradition, and regardless of what she said, undoubtedly the VW execs who approved it knew that. I instantly saw that for what it was.
And of course the gold ball is a Greta bit of whimsy, but it felt good too. As to the golf ball shifter “effectively tabling” the tiresome debate about the Golf’s name, you’re forgetting a few key facts. VW’s naming convention of using winds/currents started several years earlier, with the Passat (trade winds), then the Scirocco (desert wind) and then the Golf (gulf stream). I will also point out that the game of golf was very much an Anglo-American thing, especially back then. I don’t have stats, but playing golf was just not something that Germans did, very much so back then. I have no reason to doubt that VW was sincere in saying what the basis of the name was. And of course putting the golf ball shifter in the GTI was a lovely play on the name. It doesn’t negate the basis of the name; it simply acknowledges that the word has more than one meaning.
It’s playful, like the paid upholstery. And the GTI was inherently a very playful car, in the best way possible.
I just hate plaid, and I’ve always thought it looked both bad and cheap, even when I was a kid. My associations with it ran to the “toss a plaid blanket over the worn-out chair or seat because we can’t afford to replace it and the plaid won’t show stains so much” variety.
Regarding the engine, as I said in the text, the U.S. Rabbit (and Audi Fox) did get the 1,588 cc K-Jetronic engine at this point, so it could be made to pass U.S. emissions standards, just not intact, since it lost 30 hp in the process. (I assume that was the best they could reliably do, since the engine remained in that state of tune in U.S. Audi Fox and 4000 models through I think 1980.) They could have still offered the rest of the package on U.S. Rabbits earlier than they did. The car magazines would have groused about how they were emasculated compared to the European version, but a 1.6-liter Rabbit was not egregiously slow by late ’70s standards, and the chassis upgrades would have been a counterpoint to the “Oldsmobilification” that began to afflict VWoA. That was essentially what Motor Trend asked for in their famous open letter a couple years later.
Regarding the engine, as I said in the text, the U.S. Rabbit (and Audi Fox) did get the 1,588 cc K-Jetronic engine at this point, so it could be made to pass U.S. emissions standards, just not intact, since it lost 30 hp in the process.
But that’s not the same engine by a significant degree. The GTI (and Audi GTE) engine had a different cylinder head with larger valves and undoubtedly a hotter camshaft. It was a hi-po version. And hi-po engines were harder to de-smog.
The engine that was sold here was just the basic 1588 with K-Jetronic added, undoubtedly to help it pass emission regs. No bigger valves or hotter cam.
GTI is always one of my favorite vehicles despite its spotty reliability reputation. I almost pulled a trigger to buy one around 2015. I did a test drive, it was very good indeed but it did not wow me as my first taste of Audi A4 Turbo with 5speed manual. Back then, VW Hamliton in Central NJ often had promotional sale, mid-level GTI with automatic often sold for mid-20k, and occasionally the lower trim GTI with manual transmission for the same price. It was a bargain considering what a good driving car was and is. Also there was not close match-up from Japan, Toyota had not yet offer GR, Honda offered Si even later its type R was offering, but it is totally different car — we need to compare with Golf. Mazda Speed was dead. Probably only Subaru WRS was fair competition, but for daily driving Golf GTI is much more better provided it doesn’t act up.
However, my trusted mechanic pointed out many times based his own experience that GTI did not behave as bad as other like Audi, newer BMW 3series if the owners didn’t modify the vehicle. So now if price is right and vehicle is in reasonable condition, I consider to own a ten year old Golf regular or GTI, even Golf Sportwagon. These cars are much more sophisticated than Corolla, Civic , Santra, 3 and Impreza
Was thinking the “GTI” came along after I graduated from “h/s”. That “77” is quite nice looking. “Classy”, and “sported up”.
Remember riding in a “79, Rabbit”. Wasn’t a sporty one, looked quite nice (was relatively new at time). The ride, as I recall though, was very harsh.
Many, many years later, driving a rental “Neon” over a rough “PA” road, the feeling came right back to me. (combo of “wow” and “yikes”)
One of the most memorable ad campaigns of the eighties in my book… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zcm4oS9IaM&t=30s
I lusted after the Golf GTI when it came out here in North America. In 1986, I bought a Jetta. I really wanted a GTI but couldn’t afford it.
Fast forward to 2018 and I was GTI shopping then. The GTI was a good $10,000 more expensive than a base Golf and $7000 more than a SportWagen. Both cars were equipped with the EA888, which responds to tuning very well. Thus, I went with SportWagen manual transmission and added an APR performance tune.
The car makes tons ‘o torque and the top end power is massively increased over stock.
VW wrongly assumed everyone that wanted a more powerful car also wanted slim pickings for paint colors, an interior that was any color you wanted as long as it was black, and just two doors. When Volkswagen finally offered a GTI with four doors partway into the Mk5’s run, it immediately outsold the two-door version. Shortly after the Mk7 GTI went on sale, two-door Golfs of all varieties were discontinued due to slow sales.
And at that VW offered a 4-door GTI in Europe during the MkI’s run.
Last two photo captions should say 1983.
Ack, that was a typo I managed to replicate by cutting and pasting the caption text. Fixed now, thanks!
The 1.6 liter GTi was a much revvier motor than the later 1.8s. The MK2 was heavier and more refined, but that first little firecracker that established the hot hatch, especially with the 5speed was such an agile, sweet natured little machine. I worked a summer at a VW Audi dealer, so got to drive various GTis, but the older 1.6s were my favorites.
@zwep Hang onto that 2000 Golf. The MkIVs are great cars! Still daily my ALH TDI 5-sp.
These really were fun to drive .
I briefly had a black 1984 GTI with sunroof, it came to me with “bad clutch”, I scrapped it out for the engine it turned out it had a new clutch improperly installed .
Cheap and cheerful , well not really cheap but very good little cars once one understood their quirks and needs .
-Nate
Great write-up about a great car. VW’s value proposition was no longer reliability that comes with simplicity. Instead, the cars were accepted as deficient against Japan because they offered something Japan didn’t: genuine German performance. Ahh… Fahrvergnügen. I almost bought a 4-year old ’86 Jetta GLI but couldn’t live with the seats. Did enjoy an ’84 Jetta GL and ’87 PA-built Golf through most of the Nineties. But in the 30 years that followed, the company just couldn’t break its habit of snatching defeat from the jaws a victory.