Volkswagen Golf Mk1
Encyclopedia
In May 1974, Volkswagen presented the first-generation Golf as a modern front-wheel-drive, hatchback
replacement for the Volkswagen Beetle
.
, the Volkswagen Golf Mk1 has proven to be influential. In continuous production since 1974, the Golf was one of the first widely successful front-wheel drive
hatchback
s. In the USA, the Morris Mini, Honda N360
and Fiat 128
saw only limited success, but it was the Rabbit, along with the Honda Civic
that sparked another generation of European-derived front-wheel drive
American compacts, such as the Dodge Omni
, Escort and Cavalier in the 1980s, just as the Beetle inspired Falcon and Corvair in 1960s and subcompact Vega and Pinto in the 1970s.
Replacing the Beetle was a vital goal for Volkswagen's continued survival. By the early 1970s, the company had fallen into financial difficulties and Beetle
sales began to decline sharply. Water-cooled, front-engine, rear-wheel drive small cars began enjoying customer loyalty.
The solution arrived with Auto Union
. They had attracted a small following with their technologically advanced Audi
front wheel drive medium sedans. Volkswagen had acquired the Ingolstadt
-based company in 1964 from Daimler-Benz
. Audi's expertise in water-cooled engines and front-wheel drive would be essential in developing a new generation of Volkswagens. FWD offered more performance with lighter weight and more room in a smaller package. The Audi technology in the Golf would regain for Volkswagen the engineering lead over rear drive cars that Ferdinand Porsche
had bestowed on the original Beetle over its large conventional peers. The small Golf had to succeed in replacing the high volume Volkswagen sedan. The upmarket Dasher/Passat would be VW's first front wheel drive car, and it was relatively well received for its lower volume market. The Golf would adopt an efficient "two-box" layout with a steep hatch rather than a formal trunk, which would be later added in the Jetta
. The water-cooled engine would be mounted transversely in the front. Work on the Golf began in 1969, shortly after Kurt Lotz
became head of Volkswagen.
and Canada
from 1975 to 1984 as the Volkswagen Rabbit and in Mexico
as the Volkswagen Caribe. It was a water-cooled, front wheel drive design in a hatchback
body style. It featured firmly sprung and damped, independent Macpherson strut
front suspension and semi-independent Twist-beam rear suspension
, that gave crisp handling and good roadholding, without being too uncomfortable. The Golf was Australian Wheels
magazine's Car of the Year
for 1975 and Irish Semperit Irish Car of the Year
for 1978 and British What Car?
magazine's Car of the Year
for 1981. The Golf name is derived from the German word for Gulf Stream
— and the period in its history when VW named vehicles after prominent winds, including also the Passat (after the German word for Trade wind
), Jetta (after the Jet stream
), Bora (after Bora
) and Scirocco (after Sirocco
). "Golf
" is also a sport, a theme that is shared with the Volkswagen Polo
. Much was made of the pun in advertising and special editions (Golf Match, Driver, etc.) and the 'golf ball' gearchange knob on the early Golf GTI.
The Golf was designed by Italian
automobile architect / designer Giorgetto Giugiaro
, of the ItalDesign design studio. Giugiaro had also designed the Alfasud and the Lotus Esprit Mk1.
The car changed little before being replaced (in Europe) by the Mark 2 version in 1984. However, air conditioning became available as an option on the domestic market in August 1975. The possibility to retrofit the installation, together with a larger battery, was offered to existing owners.
Contrary to popular myth, the Mk1 Golf GTI was not the first hot hatch
by quite a margin. The Renault 5 Alpine (called Gordini in the UK) comfortably predates the GTI, and is actually slightly faster than the Mk1 Golf GTI, managing 0-60 mph in the same 9.6 seconds or so as the first 1600 GTI, but squeezing out a further 2 mi/h over the Golf. Nevertheless, the Golf GTI was perhaps the first hot hatch with mass market appeal, and many other manufacturers since have created special sports models of their regular volume-selling small hatchbacks. The idea behind was rather straightforward - take a basic-transportation economy car
and give it a high-performance package, making it practical and sporty. It was one of the first small cars to adopt mechanical fuel injection
for its sports version, which raised power output of the 1588 cc engine to 110 PS. In 2004, Sports Car International
declared the Golf Mk1 GTI to be the 3rd best car of the 1980s.
There was a minor facelift in 1980 which saw the adoption of larger rear lamp clusters (more in line with Giugiaro's original concepts), moulded black plastic bumpers, a new dashboard with a more modern-looking instrument display featuring LED warning lights, and for US versions rectangular headlights.
The convertible version, named the Golf Cabriolet (or Typ 155) in Europe and Canada ("Rabbit Convertible" in America originally and renamed in 1985 to "Cabriolet"), was sold from 1980 to 1993 (a convertible version of the Mk2 Golf
was not made, so the Mk1 Cabrio with slight modification was produced until the introduction of the Mk3 Cabrio
). It had a reinforced body, transverse roll bar, and a high level of trim, and kept the pre-1980 style of rear lamp clusters. The Mk1 Cabriolet is of unibody construction built entirely at the factory of Karmann
, from stamping to final assembly; Volkswagen supplied the engine, suspension, interior, etc. for Karmann to install. The vinyl or cloth tops were heavily insulated and manually - or beginning in 1991, electrically - operated, with a heated glass rear window.
The body of the Cabriolet did not change through the entire production run except for a larger fuel tank and smaller spare tyre introduced in the 1984 model year. In an attempt by Volkswagen to keep the car's styling current, all Cabriolets from 1988 on were fitted with a "Clipper" kit out of the factory, featuring smooth body-coloured bumpers, wheelarch extensions, and side skirts.
There were a few special editions of the Cabriolet including the Etienne Aigner
, Carat, CC, Wolfsburg, and Best Seller editions. One of them was produced in Italy using Golf II Country engine and transmission by ACM, called "Golf Country Cabrio" and sold as "Biagini Passo
".
From 1984 to 2009, Volkswagen of South Africa
manufactured two variants of the Mk1 Golf, the five-door Citi Golf and the Volkswagen Caddy
pickup
.
On September 22, 2006 in order to celebrate the continued success of the Mk1 based Citi Golf in South Africa, Volkswagen SA announced the limited edition Citi R which is powered by a 90 kW (120 hp
/123 PS) 1.8L fuel injected
engine with a five-speed manual transmission as well as a GTI trademark red outlined front grill.
There was a special version, named LX with 1.1L engine, which produced more power than the 1.3L engine. This version had a tuned GTI-like front grill, four front headlights, spoiler, alloy wheels and Recaro seats.
The 2007 VW South Africa Citi Golf range starts with a standard Citi Golf, in either 1.4 or 1.6 litre fuel injected models. Many variants of the standard version are/were available with different extras packages, which included the Citi Rhythm, Citi.com and so on. The range topper is the CitiRox, also available in 1.4i and 1.6i, made as sportier versions of the standard Citi to replace the previous sports version, Velociti and Citi Life. The later Citi Golfs produced feature modern features, such as a new dashboard adapted from a Škoda Fabia
, and minor body "facelifts" such as revised tail-light clusters.
The 2009 VW South Africa Citi Golf range consisted of four new models:
Production of the Citi Golf ended on 2 November 2009, after 377,484 cars.
In 1978, Volkswagen began producing the North American "Rabbit" version of the Mk1 Golf in New Stanton, Pennsylvania
, thus becoming the first Europe
an car manufacturer since Rolls-Royce
in the 1920s to produce a vehicle in the United States. (The plant was called Westmoreland
due to New Stanton being located in Pennsylvania
's Westmoreland County.) Former Chevrolet
engineer James McLernon
was chosen to run the factory, which was built to lower the cost of the Rabbit in North America by producing it locally. Unfortunately, McLernon tried to "Americanize" the Golf/Rabbit (Volkswagen executive Werner Schmidt referred to the act as "Malibuing" the car) by softening the suspension and using cheaper materials for the interior. VW purists in America and company executives in Germany were displeased, and for the 1983 model year the Pennsylvania plant went back to using stiffer shocks and suspension with higher-quality interior trim
. The plant also began producing the GTI for the North American market. ('Rabbits' were built in Pennsylvania until 1984). The first VW Caddy pick-up, based on the Mk1 Golf, was also created at the Pennsylvania plant.
The Volkswagen Rabbit GTI, the North American version of the high-performance Golf GTI, debuted in Canada and the United States for 1983 model year. Assembled from parts made in Mexico, Canada, Germany and the U.S. in Volkswagen's Westmoreland
assembly plant, it had the same Mk1 chassis, and the same A1 body type as the Mk1 Golf GTI that had been on sale in Europe since 1976, with a few exceptions. Key distinct features of the Rabbit GTI were its squared front end styling, and its alloy "snowflake" wheels. The interior came in red or blue felt and leatherette trim. The squared styling of the front end, particularly the wraparound direction indicator lights, gave it added safety and slight improvement in performance. Under the hood, the engine was a JH 1.8 litre
4-cylinder gasoline engine that ran on unleaded fuel. The JH 1.8l was transversely mounted, and it would peak in stock condition at 90 hp, delivered through a close-ratio five-speed manual transmission
. Claims for gas mileage of near-perfectly tuned Rabbit GTIs range between 25 miles per US gallon and 30 miles per US gallon.
When the Rabbit GTI first appeared in Canada, it featured the 78 hp 1.6l K-Jetronic engine and wide ratio five-speed transmission. It was initially available in red, white, and black. These Canadian cars were German-built and were nearly identical in bodyshell and interior appearance to the 110 hp Golfs built in Europe. Unfortunately for enthusiasts, the entire driveline and running gear was identical to the other Canadian versions. Five-MPH bumpers were fitted as well as anti-intrusion bars within the doors. The towing eye integral to the front of the European car was deleted as the crashworthy bumper's shock absorbers had towing facilities as part of their design and the car had been crash-tested for Canada with the North American front apron. The car was very attractive but drove no better or worse than a Rabbit of the same era. Only with the arrival of the American GTI was a faster Golf available in Canada, and it was down 22 hp compared to the 1.8 litre Golf GTI Mk1. A small number of European specification GTIs made it to Canada under an agreement with the government that allowed foreign soldiers training at Canadian military facilities to bring their personal vehicles with them. As a result of this, VW made available (for many years) all unique European model parts required through VW of Canada. It was possible then, although expensive, to build a "real" GTI. Some enthusiasts did so based on the reputation of the European car.
as the Volkswagen Caribe in May 1977 as a 5 door hatchback
. It came standard with a 4-speed manual gearbox and 1.6 liter 66 HP engine. The car was an instant success. As the 1978 model year lineup expanded with the 3-door vehicle, it was divided into two different trims: Normal and L. Both trims had a manual, 4-speed, 1.6 liter engine. In 1979 the GL trim was added.
). In 1983 and 1984, due to the financial crisis in Mexico, the Normal version was renamed 'C' and the L was discontinued, leaving the C and GL as the only trims offered. Both versions received a new dashboard from the 1980 European Golf. In 1984 the slow-selling diesel Caribe C was officially dropped, but the Caribe GT appeared, derived from the Golf and Rabbit GTI. This souped-up version featured a 1.8 litre engine with 85 hp and included a carburettor.
after 10 years of success.
Hatchback
A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
replacement for the Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
.
History
Like its predecessor the Volkswagen BeetleVolkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
, the Volkswagen Golf Mk1 has proven to be influential. In continuous production since 1974, the Golf was one of the first widely successful front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
hatchback
Hatchback
A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
s. In the USA, the Morris Mini, Honda N360
Honda N360
The Honda N360 is a kei car, designed and built by Honda and produced from March 1967 through 1970, while its larger N600 brother lasted three more years. After a January 1970 facelift, the N360 became the NIII360 and continued in production until 1972...
and Fiat 128
Fiat 128
The Fiat 128 is a small family car manufactured by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1969 to 1985. The engine was designed by the famous Ferrari racing engine designer Aurelio Lampredi.-History:...
saw only limited success, but it was the Rabbit, along with the Honda Civic
Honda Civic
The Honda Civic is a line of subcompact and subsequently compact cars made and manufactured by Honda. The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded...
that sparked another generation of European-derived front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
American compacts, such as the Dodge Omni
Dodge Omni
The Dodge Omni and the similar Plymouth Horizon were front wheel drive cars introduced by the Dodge and Plymouth divisions of the Chrysler Corporation in North America in 1978, and were based on a European Simca-based design of the same name...
, Escort and Cavalier in the 1980s, just as the Beetle inspired Falcon and Corvair in 1960s and subcompact Vega and Pinto in the 1970s.
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
sales began to decline sharply. Water-cooled, front-engine, rear-wheel drive small cars began enjoying customer loyalty.
The solution arrived with Auto Union
Auto Union
Auto Union was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company has evolved into present day Audi, as a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group....
. They had attracted a small following with their technologically advanced Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
front wheel drive medium sedans. Volkswagen had acquired the Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...
-based company in 1964 from Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had...
. Audi's expertise in water-cooled engines and front-wheel drive would be essential in developing a new generation of Volkswagens. FWD offered more performance with lighter weight and more room in a smaller package. The Audi technology in the Golf would regain for Volkswagen the engineering lead over rear drive cars that Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian automotive engineer and honorary Doctor of Engineering. He is best known for creating the first hybrid vehicle , the Volkswagen Beetle, and the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, as well as the first of many Porsche automobiles...
had bestowed on the original Beetle over its large conventional peers. The small Golf had to succeed in replacing the high volume Volkswagen sedan. The upmarket Dasher/Passat would be VW's first front wheel drive car, and it was relatively well received for its lower volume market. The Golf would adopt an efficient "two-box" layout with a steep hatch rather than a formal trunk, which would be later added in the Jetta
Volkswagen Jetta
Although the Golf had reached considerable success, in the North American markets, Volkswagen observed that the hatchback body style lacked some of the appeal to those who preferred the traditional three-box configuration...
. The water-cooled engine would be mounted transversely in the front. Work on the Golf began in 1969, shortly after Kurt Lotz
Kurt Lotz
Dr. Kurt Lotz was the second post-war Chief executive officer of the Volkswagen automobile company in Germany. He was nominated in April 1967 to succeed the legendary Heinrich Nordhoff at the end of December 1968. Sadly, promotion arrived early when Nordhoff died in April 1968.Lotz was the son...
became head of Volkswagen.
Model history
The first Golf (VW internal designation Typ 17) began production in 1974, although it was marketed in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
from 1975 to 1984 as the Volkswagen Rabbit and in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
as the Volkswagen Caribe. It was a water-cooled, front wheel drive design in a hatchback
Hatchback
A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
body style. It featured firmly sprung and damped, independent Macpherson strut
MacPherson strut
The MacPherson strut is a type of car suspension system which uses the axis of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in modern vehicles and named after Earle S. MacPherson, who developed the design.-History:...
front suspension and semi-independent Twist-beam rear suspension
Twist-beam rear suspension
The twist-beam rear suspension, also known as torsion-beam axle is a type of automobile suspension based on a large H or C shaped member. The front of the H attaches to the body via rubber bushings, and the rear of the H carries each stub-axle assembly, on each side of the car...
, that gave crisp handling and good roadholding, without being too uncomfortable. The Golf was Australian Wheels
Wheels magazine
Wheels is an Australian automotive magazine published monthly by ACP Magazines. The publication is well-renowned by Australian car enthusiasts...
magazine's Car of the Year
Car of the Year
Car of the Year is a phrase usually considered to have been invented by Motor Trend magazine in the 1950s for their annual award for best American automobile...
for 1975 and Irish Semperit Irish Car of the Year
Semperit Irish Car of the Year
The Semperit Irish Car of the Year award was established in 1978. It is organised and judged by the Irish Motoring Writers Association . It is sponsored by tyre manufactuer Semperit and specifically by their brand - 'Semperit'....
for 1978 and British What Car?
What Car?
What Car? is a long-running UK monthly automobile magazine and website, currently edited by Steve Fowler and published by Haymarket Motoring. First published in 1973, it is intended primarily as a magazine for consumers rather than dedicated automobile enthusiasts...
magazine's Car of the Year
Car of the Year
Car of the Year is a phrase usually considered to have been invented by Motor Trend magazine in the 1950s for their annual award for best American automobile...
for 1981. The Golf name is derived from the German word for Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...
— and the period in its history when VW named vehicles after prominent winds, including also the Passat (after the German word for Trade wind
Trade wind
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...
), Jetta (after the Jet stream
Jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. The main jet streams are located near the tropopause, the transition between the troposphere and the stratosphere . The major jet streams on Earth are westerly winds...
), Bora (after Bora
Bora (wind)
Bora or Bura is a northern to north-eastern katabatic wind in the Adriatic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, and Turkey....
) and Scirocco (after Sirocco
Sirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...
). "Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
" is also a sport, a theme that is shared with the Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo
The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car manufactured by Volkswagen. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, coupé and estate variants....
. Much was made of the pun in advertising and special editions (Golf Match, Driver, etc.) and the 'golf ball' gearchange knob on the early Golf GTI.
The Golf was designed by Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
automobile architect / designer Giorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...
, of the ItalDesign design studio. Giugiaro had also designed the Alfasud and the Lotus Esprit Mk1.
The car changed little before being replaced (in Europe) by the Mark 2 version in 1984. However, air conditioning became available as an option on the domestic market in August 1975. The possibility to retrofit the installation, together with a larger battery, was offered to existing owners.
Contrary to popular myth, the Mk1 Golf GTI was not the first hot hatch
Hot hatch
Hot hatch was originally an informal automotive industry term, shortened from hot hatchback, initially coined by the British motoring press in 1984, for a high-performance derivative of a car body style consisting of a three- or five-door hatchback automobile.Vehicles of this class are based on...
by quite a margin. The Renault 5 Alpine (called Gordini in the UK) comfortably predates the GTI, and is actually slightly faster than the Mk1 Golf GTI, managing 0-60 mph in the same 9.6 seconds or so as the first 1600 GTI, but squeezing out a further 2 mi/h over the Golf. Nevertheless, the Golf GTI was perhaps the first hot hatch with mass market appeal, and many other manufacturers since have created special sports models of their regular volume-selling small hatchbacks. The idea behind was rather straightforward - take a basic-transportation economy car
Economy car
An economy car is an automobile that is designed for low cost operation. Typical economy cars are small, light weight, and inexpensive to buy. Economy car designers are forced by stringent design constraints to be inventive...
and give it a high-performance package, making it practical and sporty. It was one of the first small cars to adopt mechanical fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
for its sports version, which raised power output of the 1588 cc engine to 110 PS. In 2004, Sports Car International
Sports Car International
Sports Car International was an automobile magazine in the United States published by Ross Periodicals Inc. that was focused on sports cars. The magazine was published from 1986 to 2008. Its business offices were located in Novato, California....
declared the Golf Mk1 GTI to be the 3rd best car of the 1980s.
There was a minor facelift in 1980 which saw the adoption of larger rear lamp clusters (more in line with Giugiaro's original concepts), moulded black plastic bumpers, a new dashboard with a more modern-looking instrument display featuring LED warning lights, and for US versions rectangular headlights.
Golf Cabriolet
Volkswagen Golf Mk2
The Volkswagen Golf Mk2 succeeded the Mk1 as Volkswagen's volume seller from 1983 and remained in production until late 1992. In comparison to its predecessor, its wheelbase grew slightly , as did exterior dimensions . Weight was up accordingly by about...
was not made, so the Mk1 Cabrio with slight modification was produced until the introduction of the Mk3 Cabrio
Volkswagen Golf Mk3
The third-generation Volkswagen Golf Mk3 was a car launched in Europe in November 1991 , and in North America in the spring of 1993. The delay in North America was due to Volkswagen's decision to supply U.S. and Canadian dealerships with Mk3 Golfs from the VW plant in Puebla, Mexico...
). It had a reinforced body, transverse roll bar, and a high level of trim, and kept the pre-1980 style of rear lamp clusters. The Mk1 Cabriolet is of unibody construction built entirely at the factory of Karmann
Karmann
Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, commonly known simply as Karmann, in Osnabrück, Germany was until 2009 the largest independent motor vehicle manufacturing company in Germany...
, from stamping to final assembly; Volkswagen supplied the engine, suspension, interior, etc. for Karmann to install. The vinyl or cloth tops were heavily insulated and manually - or beginning in 1991, electrically - operated, with a heated glass rear window.
The body of the Cabriolet did not change through the entire production run except for a larger fuel tank and smaller spare tyre introduced in the 1984 model year. In an attempt by Volkswagen to keep the car's styling current, all Cabriolets from 1988 on were fitted with a "Clipper" kit out of the factory, featuring smooth body-coloured bumpers, wheelarch extensions, and side skirts.
There were a few special editions of the Cabriolet including the Etienne Aigner
Etienne Aigner
Etienne Aigner AG is a high fashion house based in Munich, Germany, that specializes in luxury goods such as handbags, luggage, belts, wallets, leather accessories and so on...
, Carat, CC, Wolfsburg, and Best Seller editions. One of them was produced in Italy using Golf II Country engine and transmission by ACM, called "Golf Country Cabrio" and sold as "Biagini Passo
Biagini Passo - Golf Country Cabrio
Biagini Passo - Golf Country CabrioThe convertible version of VW Golf MK I , named the Golf Cabriolet in Europe and Canada , was sold from 1980 to 1993....
".
South Africa (Citi Golf)
From 1984 to 2009, Volkswagen of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
manufactured two variants of the Mk1 Golf, the five-door Citi Golf and the Volkswagen Caddy
Volkswagen Caddy
Released in 1980, the first Volkswagen Caddy is a coupe utility, and van based on the Volkswagen Group A1 platform, shared with the small family car Volkswagen Golf Mk1.Volkswagen Typ is:*147 = LHD*148 = RHD-Caddy debuts internationally as a Rabbit:...
pickup
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
.
On September 22, 2006 in order to celebrate the continued success of the Mk1 based Citi Golf in South Africa, Volkswagen SA announced the limited edition Citi R which is powered by a 90 kW (120 hp
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
/123 PS) 1.8L fuel injected
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
engine with a five-speed manual transmission as well as a GTI trademark red outlined front grill.
There was a special version, named LX with 1.1L engine, which produced more power than the 1.3L engine. This version had a tuned GTI-like front grill, four front headlights, spoiler, alloy wheels and Recaro seats.
The 2007 VW South Africa Citi Golf range starts with a standard Citi Golf, in either 1.4 or 1.6 litre fuel injected models. Many variants of the standard version are/were available with different extras packages, which included the Citi Rhythm, Citi.com and so on. The range topper is the CitiRox, also available in 1.4i and 1.6i, made as sportier versions of the standard Citi to replace the previous sports version, Velociti and Citi Life. The later Citi Golfs produced feature modern features, such as a new dashboard adapted from a Škoda Fabia
Škoda Fabia
The Škoda Fabia is a supermini produced by Czech manufacturer Škoda Auto since 1999. It was the successor to the Škoda Felicia, which was discontinued in 2001...
, and minor body "facelifts" such as revised tail-light clusters.
The 2009 VW South Africa Citi Golf range consisted of four new models:
- CitiRox 1.4i and 1.6i
- CitiSport 1.4i and 1.6i
- TenaCiti 1.4i
- CitiStorm 1.4i
Production of the Citi Golf ended on 2 November 2009, after 377,484 cars.
North America
New Stanton, Pennsylvania
New Stanton is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,906 at the 2000 census. New Stanton is often used as a control city in western parts of Pennsylvania, as I-70 joins the Pennsylvania Turnpike eastbound towards Breezewood, Pennsylvania in New...
, thus becoming the first Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an car manufacturer since Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
in the 1920s to produce a vehicle in the United States. (The plant was called Westmoreland
Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant
The Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant is a manufacturing plant formerly operated by Volkswagen of America , south of Pittsburgh in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania near New Stanton. The complex manufactured 1.15 million vehicles from 1978 to 1988...
due to New Stanton being located in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
's Westmoreland County.) Former Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
engineer James McLernon
James McLernon
James W. McLernon is a retired automobile company executive who worked for Chevrolet while at General Motors as an engineer. In 1976, He became the first president of manufacturing at Volkswagen of America, the U.S. division of Volkswagen AG...
was chosen to run the factory, which was built to lower the cost of the Rabbit in North America by producing it locally. Unfortunately, McLernon tried to "Americanize" the Golf/Rabbit (Volkswagen executive Werner Schmidt referred to the act as "Malibuing" the car) by softening the suspension and using cheaper materials for the interior. VW purists in America and company executives in Germany were displeased, and for the 1983 model year the Pennsylvania plant went back to using stiffer shocks and suspension with higher-quality interior trim
Trim package
A trim package is an automotive package composed by a set of cosmetic embellishments to a vehicle. In some cases the trim package may include a specific model or ending name...
. The plant also began producing the GTI for the North American market. ('Rabbits' were built in Pennsylvania until 1984). The first VW Caddy pick-up, based on the Mk1 Golf, was also created at the Pennsylvania plant.
The Volkswagen Rabbit GTI, the North American version of the high-performance Golf GTI, debuted in Canada and the United States for 1983 model year. Assembled from parts made in Mexico, Canada, Germany and the U.S. in Volkswagen's Westmoreland
Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant
The Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant is a manufacturing plant formerly operated by Volkswagen of America , south of Pittsburgh in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania near New Stanton. The complex manufactured 1.15 million vehicles from 1978 to 1988...
assembly plant, it had the same Mk1 chassis, and the same A1 body type as the Mk1 Golf GTI that had been on sale in Europe since 1976, with a few exceptions. Key distinct features of the Rabbit GTI were its squared front end styling, and its alloy "snowflake" wheels. The interior came in red or blue felt and leatherette trim. The squared styling of the front end, particularly the wraparound direction indicator lights, gave it added safety and slight improvement in performance. Under the hood, the engine was a JH 1.8 litre
Litre
pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
4-cylinder gasoline engine that ran on unleaded fuel. The JH 1.8l was transversely mounted, and it would peak in stock condition at 90 hp, delivered through a close-ratio five-speed manual transmission
Manual transmission
A manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...
. Claims for gas mileage of near-perfectly tuned Rabbit GTIs range between 25 miles per US gallon and 30 miles per US gallon.
When the Rabbit GTI first appeared in Canada, it featured the 78 hp 1.6l K-Jetronic engine and wide ratio five-speed transmission. It was initially available in red, white, and black. These Canadian cars were German-built and were nearly identical in bodyshell and interior appearance to the 110 hp Golfs built in Europe. Unfortunately for enthusiasts, the entire driveline and running gear was identical to the other Canadian versions. Five-MPH bumpers were fitted as well as anti-intrusion bars within the doors. The towing eye integral to the front of the European car was deleted as the crashworthy bumper's shock absorbers had towing facilities as part of their design and the car had been crash-tested for Canada with the North American front apron. The car was very attractive but drove no better or worse than a Rabbit of the same era. Only with the arrival of the American GTI was a faster Golf available in Canada, and it was down 22 hp compared to the 1.8 litre Golf GTI Mk1. A small number of European specification GTIs made it to Canada under an agreement with the government that allowed foreign soldiers training at Canadian military facilities to bring their personal vehicles with them. As a result of this, VW made available (for many years) all unique European model parts required through VW of Canada. It was possible then, although expensive, to build a "real" GTI. Some enthusiasts did so based on the reputation of the European car.
Caribe (Mexico) (1977-1987)
The 1970s
The Golf MkI was introduced in MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
as the Volkswagen Caribe in May 1977 as a 5 door hatchback
Hatchback
A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
. It came standard with a 4-speed manual gearbox and 1.6 liter 66 HP engine. The car was an instant success. As the 1978 model year lineup expanded with the 3-door vehicle, it was divided into two different trims: Normal and L. Both trims had a manual, 4-speed, 1.6 liter engine. In 1979 the GL trim was added.
The 1980s
In 1980 the Caribe received rectangular headlamps as well as some new colours. In 1981 the Caribe changed to include many features from the American 1981 Rabbit (an alternate name for the GolfVolkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...
). In 1983 and 1984, due to the financial crisis in Mexico, the Normal version was renamed 'C' and the L was discontinued, leaving the C and GL as the only trims offered. Both versions received a new dashboard from the 1980 European Golf. In 1984 the slow-selling diesel Caribe C was officially dropped, but the Caribe GT appeared, derived from the Golf and Rabbit GTI. This souped-up version featured a 1.8 litre engine with 85 hp and included a carburettor.
Limited editions
In 1986 the limited edition Caribe City emerged, based on the Caribe C, but painted only in Pearl Grey. In 1987 new colors and two other limited editions emerged: The Caribe Plus, and the Caribe Pro. The Caribe Plus was based on the Caribe GL, and was painted only in Alpine White. The Caribe Pro was based on the Caribe GT, but was painted in Black and Tornado Red. In March 1987 the Caribe was replaced by the Golf MkIIVolkswagen Golf Mk2
The Volkswagen Golf Mk2 succeeded the Mk1 as Volkswagen's volume seller from 1983 and remained in production until late 1992. In comparison to its predecessor, its wheelbase grew slightly , as did exterior dimensions . Weight was up accordingly by about...
after 10 years of success.
See also
- Volkswagen Group A platform
- Volkswagen GolfVolkswagen GolfThe Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...
for an overview of all generations of VW Golf - VDubVDubVDub was a parody tagline, used in a short series of commercials for German car manufacturer Volkswagen. As part of a 2006 advertising campaign for Volkswagen, advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky created a series of three television commercials directed by Jonas Åkerlund, starring Swedish...
- list of discontinued Volkswagen Group petrol engines
- list of discontinued Volkswagen Group diesel engines
- Hot hatchHot hatchHot hatch was originally an informal automotive industry term, shortened from hot hatchback, initially coined by the British motoring press in 1984, for a high-performance derivative of a car body style consisting of a three- or five-door hatchback automobile.Vehicles of this class are based on...
- Small family car