Volkswagen were struggling somewhat back in the 1970's, after Beetle sales started to drop off they needed a new angle, there air cooled rear engines started to see a drop in buyers. The type 3 and 4 Beetle failed to interest,and the NSU K70 never even got a look. Volkswagen had acquired the Ingolstadt Company Auto Union in 1964 from Daimler-Benz, this gave the German manufacturer some hope, they now had access to Audi technology including front mounted water-cooled engine design expertise and front wheel drive.
It was decided that to save the German car company from financial meltdown they would need design a car, somthing new. Therefore outside work various VW engineers got together and designed and engineered a car that appealed to them. The Mk1 Golf was the result, this auto turned out to be the most desired hot hatch ever made.
Golf Mk1 1.8T V's Porsche 911 and Toyota Supra Twin Turbo
The coming of the Mk1
The Golf was introduced in 1974, it came with engines ranging from 1.1 upto 1.6 all with a 4 speed gearbox, this automobile is still being manufactured in Africa and Brazil today along with the camper van. The Mk1 was the very first hot hatch which spawned a breed of cars which made the pulse race.
Mk1 Rabbit / Golf (1974–present) - The car was launched in 1974, and rebranded in Canada and the US and kitted out with unique parts including chrome bumpers etc in 1975 to 1984 as the VW Rabbit, in Mexico the motor was named the Caribe.
This new breed of hot hatch came with a front wheel drive system, 4 gears and a water-cooled engine.
Wheels magazine 'Car of the Year 1975 VW Golf'
A Euro Mk1 Golf GTI with european / US chrome strip bumpers, euro styling and deep dish rims.
Matey - Matey 2006
The concept car was designed and engineered by a VW team out of work, the deisgn for the final version of VW Golf was by Italdesign studio designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The GTI model was fuel injected therefore increasing the 1588 cc engine to 108 bhp.
In 2004 the Rabbit / Mk1 GTI was named 3rd best car of the 1980's by Sports Car International. Jeremy Clarkson even says its the best hot hatch ever made.
A Euro Mk1 with cross hair crystal headlamps dropped on Porsche rims
Matey - Matey 2006
VW in the US
In 1978 Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Volkswagen were the first Euro car manufacturer to manufacture vehicles in the US. James McLernon former Chevrolet exec was giving the task of making it run. McLernon for some unkown reason attempted to "Americanise" the Rabbit by reducing its qualities first he softened the sports suspension and made the interior from much lower quality materials. VW followers and German company execs were outraged. Therefore in 1983, the Pennsylvania VW plant went back back to fitting stiffer suspension and a high quality interior trim. The Rabbit GTI and first ever Caddy were manufactured at the US plant also.
A change?
In 1980 across the Euro range a face lift was applied, larger rear lamp clusters replaced the small design, jetta style headlamps in the US and a new dashboard with display.
Mk1 Clipper Convertible Anodised filler cap M3 lenses and deepdish wheels
Drop top cabby
The Golf convertible, Cabriolet or rag top was manufactured from 1980 to 1993 (A Mk2 Cab was never made, this meant the Mk1 was continued witha few slight modifications, until the intro of the Mk3). The Cabrio came in a range of limited edition designs including the Coco Channel, Karmann Ghia, Rivage and the Sportline, the newer version came with a transverse roll bar, reinforced body, luxury interior and on some models a power hood.
The A1 Mk1 drop top has a unibody construction and built exclusively a Karmann. VW supplied the interior, suspension luxury and water cooled engine and Karmann fitted it. There was a range of hoods available a budget vinyl, standard and a premium Mohair all insulated with horse hair and either manually or powered up and down, later models came equipped Mohair and glass rear window as standard.
2008 and in South Africa the Mk1 Golf is still manufactured, a four-door "Citi" & a Caddy known as the Pickup.
