VW Golf turns 50: revolutionary, swashbuckling and sinful

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First of all, he was lucky in golf. He was by no means in the front row when the revolution broke out at Volkswagen in the early 1970s. As early as 1973 the Passat blew the stink of stuffiness from VW factory salons, and the Scirocco sports car swept away the last remnants in March 1974. But the Golf, introduced two months later, suddenly catapulted the sleepy Volkswagen into the modern age. Only in this car can everyone agree and be. VW’s rise to becoming a global player begins with the angular compact car.

We can also say this: The company is just coming back from the brink of impending bankruptcy. Since 1946, the insect in particular has been leaving the production lines of the Wolfsburg (D) plant. It’s basically a car from the 1930s, and despite all the detailed upgrades, it’s technically a rolling antique that can only be brought to customers temporarily. Alternatives? VW’s authority-like structures are slowing down, the coffers are empty, management is directionless and engineers are clueless. There was a front-engine and water-cooled prototype to replace the Beetle as early as 1967. However, no one dares to buy the production model. VW remains true to the Beetle.

Giugiaro turns everything upside down

Only Kurt Lotz (1912–2005), the second CEO after the Second World War, finally dared to break free in 1970 – before unions forced him out a year later – and hired a young Italian designer. Giorgio Giugiaro (85) draws a few lines on paper, defines clear edges and reverses the technology: the engine and drive are at the front, but there is a huge trunk where the Beetle’s boxer engine is still rattling. Even though it’s only 3.70 meters long because the transmission is moved closer to the engine, there’s still relatively plenty of space inside. What about the name? After Passat and Scirocco, Gulf Stream’s name is now mentioned. Or is it ball sports or, rumor has it, a VW employee’s racehorse? It cannot be rebuilt.

And it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the unique success story. In Switzerland and many European countries, the Golf has been at the top of sales statistics for years and decades for eight generations. It fell from pole position in European sales only at the end of 2020, but in Switzerland it retained this position until 2016. Golf secret: Don’t change too much. You can buy a Golf blindfolded and still know exactly what to expect – right down to the location of the headlight switch and hazard lights. That’s probably why it makes an excellent driving school car.

The company’s heart rate monitor

If it works on Golf, it works on VW too. If he gets sick, all the alarm bells will ring. After a slow start, it was only in 1975 that the Golf excitement truly emerged: shape, suitability for everyday use – what an improvement over the Fossil Beetle. Even the rusted recycled steel that East Germany provided to VW in exchange for not spending foreign currency on Western products can hardly quell this enthusiasm. From 1977 West Germans were even able to give Golf to their relatives in the East in exchange for hard German Marks – so when the Eastern Bloc collapsed in 1989 Golf crossed the open border from both sides.

But the Golf was only good when VW really got down to business: as a revolutionary, the success of the first generation was already inevitable, and for the second generation from 1983, the company improved the weak points so much that there are still some examples floating around today. III. With the next generation, VW is forced to take out the red pen due to its cash situation – the Golf is frustrating with its mediocre workmanship. And VW boss Ferdinand Piëch pesters his engineers until the connections between panels are perfect again on the successor model.

While the interior of the first generation was still just metal, customer demands increased rapidly. Today you can spend hours on the equipment of a VW Golf without driving a single metre. At the same time, the five-seat model has also grown from its infancy: a current example is half a meter longer and half a tonne heavier than the original Golf.

Varieties come and go; only the GTI is here to stay. The sports version of the Golf in 1976 fascinated customers with its 1.6 liter displacement, 110 hp (81 kW) power and low weight. Sports car and family car at the same time; It has never been this affordable. Crazy special models across all generations (up to 333 hp in the current Golf R) follow, and some crude DIY tuning kits further exacerbate the Golf’s clean body lines. VW is still competing with itself when it comes to the Passat with the station wagon called Golf Variant; On the other hand, high-end versions with higher seating positions have long fallen victim to the SUV boom. And competitors did not sleep and launched innovations one after another in the so-called Golf class, which put more and more pressure on sales figures.

First avant-garde, now mainstream

Golf remains golf, but the world around it does not stand still. It initially bought avant-gardes, motorized families affordably in the 1980s, and still seemed a bit ahead of its time. Only after ten years at the latest did he reach the center of society; a car for the here and now that does not provoke, does not stand out, just harmonizes with it. Is the youth rebelling? Not so the “Generation Golf” invoked by author Florian Illies (52), who confirmed hedonism, lack of commitment and complete absence of political interest among young people in the 1980s. Just like the parents already play golf, the offspring pursue nothing else. Decals on special Genesis or Pink Floyd models show the maximum distance to the parent vehicle. The once revolutionary VW is going mainstream.

What about the future? This January, VW will launch the current VIII model, which aims to bring the old best-selling model up to date, especially in terms of software. It will pull the plug on a revamped version of the Generation. This Golf will be the last Golf with an internal combustion engine. But VW has learned that instead of replacing it with an ID model similar to the ID.3, it should be renamed Golf as a fully electric car in the future. So will it be innovative again?

Source: Blick