It is the originator of the "small steel cannon" and the totem in the hearts of the wind chasers......
Rewind to 1997. That year, Hong Kong had just returned to China; That year, I had just started elementary school; That year, the roads in the urban area were not as dazzling as they are now, and even for me, who has been abroad for many years, many domestic new energy brands were heard of for the first time. On the road that year, there were only a handful of models, except for most of the summer cars used as taxis, the most common models were Beijing Jeep and Dongfeng Fukang. Of course, the most eye-catching thing on the road at that time must have been Volkswagen Santana. The old Poussin who used to accompany me through elementary school has always been fresh in my memory.
I believe that many people are like me, Volkswagen has left a deep imprint on our hearts many years ago. And if you want to say the most influential model under the Volkswagen brand, it is definitely the Golf. If it was the Beetle that laid the solid foundation for the Volkswagen brand, the golf became the spiritual and material backbone of the Volkswagen Group. Just as the popular saying "with Golf, there are all models of Volkswagen", although it is only a joke, it is enough to show the irreplaceable position of Golf in Volkswagen.
Since the birth of the Golf in 1974, after 50 years of precipitation and development, the cumulative global sales of more than 37 million units, ranking third in the world's single model sales, and also the most successful model in European history, Golf has become the brand totem of Volkswagen, popular all over the world.
At the beginning of its design, the Golf was positioned as a new generation of "national family cars" to replace the Beetle, and at the same time, from the very beginning, the sporting DNA was added to the design of the Golf. This is because at an early stage of design, it was decided that the future GTI would be certified according to the regulations of the FIA. This led to the release of the Golf GTI soon in 1976. GTI was originally created to allow consumers to enjoy driving at the same time even when buying an economy car. It wasn't until 2003 that engineers upgraded the Golf again in order to make it more powerful, and this was the famous Golf R32.
The Golf has also lived up to the expectations of its designers, and models such as the Golf GTI have continued to enrich its sporting and racing journey throughout its 50-year history. First of all, there is the Golf GTI Pierburg, which made history in the 80s of the 20th century in the Rally World Championship. This was followed by the Golf GTI becoming the winner of the 1986 FIA Rally World Championship.
Until recent years, the Golf GTI has been active on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, known as the "Green Hell". First up, in 2016, the Golf 7 GTI Clubsport set a new record for the fastest front-wheel drive car in New North China. At the 2024 Nürburgring 24 Hours, which just ended, the Golf VIII GTI Clubsport won the championship once again.
Over the past 50 years, the Golf GTI has evolved itself into the current Golf VIII GTI. At the same time, in order to increase performance and handling, Volkswagen's engineers also transplanted the heart of the Golf R to the GTI, thus giving birth to the Golf GTI Clubsport.
Although, the car market today is not as pure as it was 50 years ago. With the deepening of energy conservation and emission reduction, and the continuous development of new energy vehicles in China. As a result, there is less and less room for high-performance sports models such as the Golf GTI, even if Golf has launched hybrid models such as the GTE. However, the love of pure fuel performance cars among car enthusiasts has not diminished, and the Golf GTI's existence is still huge, even more relevant than ever.
Its continuation still inspires the love and passion of car enthusiasts. Let people still have hope to experience the most direct historical heritage, as well as the purest driving pleasure. It is also hoped that in the next 50 years, the GTI will remain active in the center of the high-performance car and motorsport stage.
本文作者为踢车帮 Stephan