The Volkswagen Golf is an iconic and revolutionary car. It is one of the bestselling cars of all time. Since it was a revolutionary vehicle at its time of release, there are many facts and details about the Golf that are interesting. Here are just a few for you.
The Golf was based on a design by Giorgetto Giugiaro
The process to replace the Beetle was long and arduous. Concepts for the Beetle’s successor can be traced back to as early as 1955- nearly 20 years before the Golf began production. However, it was in 1969 that the final design for the golf was actually made. Volkswagen asked renowned designer Giorgetto Giugiaro to create a design, which became known as the EA276. Giugiaro took inspiration from the angular designs of NSU, a company that VW had recently acquired.
The Golf was supposed to have an air-cooled engine.
The EA276 prototype originally featured an updated version of Volkswagen’s air-cooled engine. However, many people in Volkswagen’s engineering team felt that the engine was too old and not powerful enough for a modern car. As such, Volkswagen decided to build a brand new engine for their new generation of cars. What resulted was a larger, more powerful inline-four engine. The engine was water-cooled, using technology from the Audi-NSU engines.
The original Golf GTI was a skunkworks project
The Golf GTI is one of the best performance hatchbacks of all time. However, it was never supposed to exist. The original GTI was based on an after-hours project by VW’s engineers. They took a regular Golf and upgraded the suspension, tyres and powertrain on the car. They replaced the standard engine with a 1.6L engine with twin-carburettors. After testing, this car was then shown to the Volkswagen board, who approved it for production.
The Golf is the second most produced car of all time
The Volkswagen Golf was blessed with the same level of longevity as its predecessor, the Beetle. However, the Golf changed massively through time, adapting to customer demands through its many generations. To date, over 35 million Golfs have been produced, making it the second
most produced car of all time, and the third most produced vehicle of all time.
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