VW Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is an automobile manufactured by Volkswagen and sold worldwide.

History

\nThe Golf is an historically-important model of automobile, which has been in continuous production from 1974 until the present day. It was responsible for the mass-market acceptance of the hatchback design and created the concept of a hot hatch. The Golf was also a crucial model for VW itself; by the early 1970s the company was in serious financial trouble; Beetle sales were in terminal decline, and car buyers increasingly turned away from VW's quirky aircooled, rear-engined models. The Type 3 and Type 4 failed to attract any interest, whilst the NSU-developed K70 was an unmitigated disaster. The saviour of the German car giant came in the form of Auto Union, which owned the famous Audi brand. VW had acquired the Ingolstadt company in the mid 1960s from Daimler-Benz, and crucially gained access to Audi's expertise in water cooled engines and front wheel drive which were needed to produce a new generation of Volkswagens. The Golf was the central product of this new strategy.

Mk.1 Golf (1974 - 1983)

\nThe first version Golf began production in 1974. Marketed in the United States from 1975-1984 as the Volkswagen Rabbit, it featured the water-cooled, front transverse-engine, front-wheel-drive design pioneered by the Mini with the addition of a hatchback, revolutionizing small car design and manufacture. While the Golf was not the first design with this layout (that honour going to the Fiat 128 3P of the early 1970s), it was the first to be truly successful in the mass market, and it was this, rather than the Fiat, that was widely copied by others. The Golf was designed by Italian automobile architect Giorgetto Giugiaro, of the Ital design studio. A version of this original Golf model, known as the VW Citi is still produced in South Africa as an entry level car. The GTi version, launched in Europe 1977 and the US in 1983, created a whole new genre and market of car - the hot hatch, and was widely copied by all other manufacturers since.

Mk.2 Golf (1983 - 1991)

\nThe second generation Mark 2 Golf was launched in 1983 and featured a larger bodyshell and a wider range of engine options, including a turbo-diesel, a 16-valve version of the GTi and the supercharged G60.

Mk.3 Golf (1991 - 1998)

\nThe third generation Golf was elected Car of the Year in 1992. For the first time a station wagon derivative was produced.

Mk.4 Golf (1998 - 2003)

\nThe Mk.4 was the heaviest, largest and slowest version to date, but still became the biggest selling car in Europe at one point. The Mk.4 was a deliberate attempt to take the Golf further upmarket, with a high-quality interior and higher equipment levels.

Mk.5 Golf (2003 - )

\nThe 5th generation started to sell in November 2003. For the presentation of the new Golf Wolfsburg was renamed to Golfsburg for a week. It is expected to appear in the United States in 2005 (model year 2005 ½ or 2006).

Variants

The sedan version of the Golf was the Jetta, subsequently known as the Vento (from 1992) and later as the Bora from 1998, although the Jetta name is still used in North America and South Africa. The Golf shares the Volkswagen A platform with a number of other Volkswagen Group products including the Audi TT. A convertible version called the Volkswagen Cabriolet or Cabrio was also produced for the Mk.1, Mk.3 and Mk.4 variants.

External links

• http://dmoz.org/Recreation/Autos/Makes_and_Models/Volkswagen/Golf/

Golf