1. The GTI’s 1.6-litre, fuel-injected, in-line 4-cylinder engine produced 81 kilowatts at 6100rpm, while the stock carburettor powered Golf 1.6 produced 55kW.
2. The Golf carried only less than 900kg so it managed to reach 180km/h in fourth gear quite easily.
3. Without power assistance steering you have to work is 3.5 turns lock-to-lock.
4. The Mk1 bodyshell lived on as the ‘Citi Golf’ (pictured above)until the year 2009 in South Africa.
5. The Golf Mk1 convertible was produced until 1992 in various specifications. There was no Golf Mk2 Golf convertible and only a Mk3 Golf convertible.
The Mk1 Volkswagen Golf first appeared in 1974, when the hatchback genre itself was in its infancy. The Golf was arguably the car that turned the sector into of the biggest market segments today. Now over 31 million sales later, the Golf is in its Mk7 with the Mk8 coming soon.
Designed as a front-engined, front-wheel drive replacement for the Beetle, the Golf’s tight boxy purposeful lines were penned by famed designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. So instant was its success that by October 1976 one million Golf’s had already rolled off the production line.
The Golf was a neat and efficient family car, but thanks to the efforts of a small group of enthusiastic VW engineers it became a bone fide performance car too. An after-hours project for a ‘Sport Golf’ grew into the sought after Golf GTi which was released in the late 1970s and this little car kicked off the hot hatch boom which continues till this day.
Sold in every continent across the world, the Golf MK1 and its various off-springs like the VW Jetta (also known as as the Vento) sedan and the drop top Cabriolet, gave Volkswagen more than 6.72 million sales.
