Skip advert
Advertisement

Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk1 road trip - Wolfsburg Calling

We drive an original Mk1 Golf GTI 850 miles back to its birthplace to celebrate four decades since the first rolled down the Wolfsburg line

You should never buy a car with the intention of making money, but it’s long vexed me that various cars that have at one time or another resided on my shopping list have inexorably risen in value, while those I’ve actually bought have evaporated worth like petrol spilt on a forecourt.

Advertisement - Article continues below

This first-generation Golf GTI is a painful reminder of this. In around 2009 my shortlist for a characterful, fun car was narrowing, and a Mk1 Golf GTI was one of the few remaining candidates. The reason for this wasn’t any specific love of Volkswagens, more the fact I could pick up a very tidy example for about fifteen-hundred quid, which seemed like a bit of a bargain.

Predictably, values of ’70s and ’80s icons are now rising sharply and today you’d be lucky to get a ropey project Mk1 for that. Around five grand seems a more common starter figure, and there’s an ever-growing maximum above that. Okay, it would hardly have been a windfall, and I’m certain the cost of upkeep in the intervening years would have matched any gains. I’ve never really thought about it since, but with a box-fresh GTI at my disposal, it’s put a new spin on the next few days and poses my first question: did I miss out?

Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

Over the next 850 miles or so there’ll be plenty of time to ponder that question. This particular GTI, from Volkswagen’s UK heritage fleet and seen before on these pages, is a 1984 example, making it a late very Mk1. The first Mk2 GTIs landed in the UK in March that same year, but a series of subtle tweaks had kept the Mk1 fresh enough to overlap its replacement at dealers. Our mission is to drive this one to Wolfsburg – home of Volkswagen – and pick up the very latest Golf GTI, a Mk7 in Clubsport form. My second question writes itself: can a GTI from 1984 make the journey as easily as an example built over three decades later?

We needn’t deconstruct the GTI’s conception here (to summarise: originally a skunkworks ‘Sport Golf’ project built after-hours by Golf engineers, picked up by the board, launched to great acclaim), but a history of the GTI is ostensibly a history of the hot hatchback itself. Simple in the early days, gradually putting on weight and losing precision, subsequently turbocharged and then benefitting from tyre and engineering improvements that turned the concept into the immensely talented all-rounders we have today. Question three: does the original GTI still feel like a proper hot hatchback in a modern context?

Advertisement - Article continues below
Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

By the time ‘our’ GTI was rolling off the production line, the Golf was under fire from all angles and the concept of the ‘hot hatch’ was in full swing. Virtually all followed the simple formula of dropping a potent engine into an otherwise standard production hatchback shell, spritzing it up with some visual fripperies inside and out and tuning the suspension for greater cornering prowess.

It’s easy to see the Mk1’s in influence in today’s hatches – performance that punches above its weight, practicality, precision, a wieldy size, and relative affordability. A modern Golf GTI is to something like the Mazda MX-5 what the original was to an MGB – a car that offers more in performance and usability than it sacrifices from an unremarkably square-edged silhouette. To my eyes, it looks great: four-square stance, pristine Pirelli P-slot alloys and that red stripe around the grille – broken only by the outer pair of headlights, this later car sporting an extra pair of driving lights over early models. My fourth and final question: does the boxy little Golf have the visual clout to attract attention, as any good GTI should?

Having collected photographer Aston Parrott from Hertford on the way to the Channel Tunnel, the Mk1 is already demonstrating its abilities as an all-rounder. The boot has swallowed all but one item of luggage, Aston’s car-cleaning gear having to reside on the back seat, and the Golf cruises happily along the motorway at an indicated 3500rpm and 80mph. No wanton speeding here though, officer – my ageing satnav highlights the Golf’s wildly optimistic speedometer (source of much amusement later in the trip), and we sit on the nail of 70mph until our exit appears.

Speeds climb through France. The GTI laps it up. Being a later car, this example uses a 112bhp, 1.8-litre engine rather than the original 108bhp 1.6. It’s a long way from being powerful by modern standards, but in its day there was enough punch to see off the more traditional sports car choices, and even today its 8.1sec 0-60mph dash would dispatch a Suzuki Swift Sport and snap at the heels of a Mini Cooper.

What’s more surprising from a modern perspective is how smoothly the eight-valve four-pot revs. The 1.8 develops 109lb ft at 3500rpm (compared to a less relaxed 103lb ft at 5000rpm from the 1.6), and while there’s a bit of spluttering at very low engine speeds as the Bosch K-Jetronic injection struggles to meet the fuel-air ratio required for progress, it pulls with admirable strength all the way to the red line. Light weight helps: at 840kg, the GTI is 14kg lighter than a VW Up.

Skip advert
Advertisement

Recommended

Toyota Yaris GRMN (2017 - 2018) review – the forgotten Ford Fiesta ST killer?
Toyota Yaris GRMN
Reviews

Toyota Yaris GRMN (2017 - 2018) review – the forgotten Ford Fiesta ST killer?

Toyota Gazoo Racing sprung out the gates with the supercharged Yaris GRMN, a bombastic hot hatch that now hides in the shadow of the GR Yaris
21 Jan 2025
The Alpine A290 is ready to hit the road – UK pricing announced
Alpine A290
News

The Alpine A290 is ready to hit the road – UK pricing announced

Alpine's long-awaited electric hot hatch is here in its final form, and it's ready to hit UK roads
21 Jan 2025
Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo – the car world's greatest misses
Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo
Features

Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo – the car world's greatest misses

This misguided departure from the French brand’s hot hatch heritage saw the Clio fall from grace
18 Jan 2025
Toyota GR Yaris 2025 review – the modern homologation special gets even better
Toyota GR Yaris – front
In-depth reviews

Toyota GR Yaris 2025 review – the modern homologation special gets even better

Toyota’s GR Yaris was always brilliant but has received a number of key and welcome updates. It’s even better but also, a lot more expensive.
17 Jan 2025
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

The 2025 Mazda MX-5 is all the sports car you need
Mazda MX-5 2025
Opinion

The 2025 Mazda MX-5 is all the sports car you need

Far from being dismissed, the brilliance of the Mazda MX-5 had us questioning the superfluous performance of its competitors on eCoty 2024
20 Jan 2025
Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo – the car world's greatest misses
Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo
Features

Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo – the car world's greatest misses

This misguided departure from the French brand’s hot hatch heritage saw the Clio fall from grace
18 Jan 2025
New performance cars that depreciate the least (and most)
Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and Cayman GT4 RS
News

New performance cars that depreciate the least (and most)

What new cars depreciate the least after three years or 36,000 miles? These projections feature some predictable models and some surprises…
17 Jan 2025