Even the children know it: the Volkswagen Golf legend turns 50 years old. The beginning was made when a famous Italian designer sketched the first Golf. Half a century later, the model is the best-selling in Europe.
This gem is a polished metallic, the engine has a power of 112 horsepower: the convertible of the first, the legendary Volkswagen Golf-1, which today is in the garage of Ingo Weissenfels. The German is a passionate golfer. “I am very upset because other drivers often think that I cannot drive very fast with this car,", Ingo told the public media ARD.
The 42-year-old car mechanic crafts everything on his jewelry himself. His convertible went down in history with the nickname “basket of strawberries" – because of a spoiler that looks a lot like a basket handle. At the time, this spoiler caused heated discussions, but today it is already a legend.
Sporty and edgy
Ingo's Golf is one of all 37 million cars of this Volkswagen series produced to date. The Golf is the car that Europeans drive most often. The story of his success began 50 years ago: in March 1974.
In fact, golf is born out of nowhere. At that time, Volkswagen was mired in a deep crisis, sales (mainly of the model known in Bulgaria as the “turtle") were going down, the concern was forced to introduce part-time work.
It was precisely in these difficult times that Volkswagen demonstrated bravery and on March 29 rolled off the assembly line the first examples of a car that Germans had never known before. The concern engaged the Italian designer Giorgio Giugiaro, who said goodbye to the oval shapes of the turtle and designed a compact car with clear and sharp contours and a sporty look, recalls the author of the article in ARD, Torben Hildebrandt.
The engine has been moved under the hood, and a trunk with a vertical door appears at the back. “The Golf rose like a phoenix from the ashes and immediately won people's hearts with its unusual design," says Rainer Fessel, who today runs the Volkswagen plants in Wolfsburg.
In just two years - 1 million units sold
The first version of the Golf costs 8,000 German marks and starts initially without headrests and side mirrors. For a while, the Golf and the Turtle were produced and sold in parallel, but it quickly became clear who won: already in 1976, just two years after its debut on the market, the Golf-1 took over the magical quota of 1 million cars sold. Diesel lovers have to wait nearly a year because the assembly lines of the concern are unable to produce.
After Golf-1, the next generations are loaded – today the Golf-8 is already coming off the assembly line. Some of these generations were very successful, others not so much, but each of these cars optically left no doubt that it belonged to the “family".
„The Eight" goes well. Last year, this Golf became the best-selling car in Germany – 81,000 new cars found a buyer. The Golf even won the indirect competition with SUVs, which have been enjoying a lot of interest lately.
In the 1970s and 1980s, with the first generations of Golfs, the Volkswagen concern created a new historical framework: since then, the automotive world has been talking about the “Golf class", which includes all cars with similar parameters. Even a very popular book at the time was dedicated to golf: “Generation Golf" by Florian Illies. Automotive expert Helena Visbert, professor at the "Ostfalia" University in Wolfsburg, explains the popularity of these cars by the fact that they are truly mass cars: “The Golf is all-powerful, it becomes both private users and company buyers - simply because it meets the maximum number of requirements that can be made to an everyday car," she says.
Golf can be exhilarating, but not stressful. For some people, it looks even a little boring, but they also buy it because of its reliability. The Golf can be a “family wagon", but also a powerful toy with lots of horsepower for people with a sports appetite. “The Golf is a classless car", says Rainer Fessel.
"Even children know this name"
When Volkswagen started to take the turn towards electric mobility and the new ID model came on the market, the Golf's days seemed to be numbered. “The Eight" may be the last golf, you will hear often. But that's not exactly what's happening. Electric Volkswagens obviously don't yet have the magnetism of icons. Last year, internal combustion Golfs sold three times better than electric ones.
It was already understood that golf would survive – only with an electric motor. “The Golf will play a role in the future as well, albeit with a different engine," says Fessel. “The name “Golf" children know it too, every person in this world knows it – why give it up?" But what will the new Golf look like? When will it be released? No one knows.
In fact, in the competition with other electric car manufacturers, the name “Golf" can bring a serious advantage, says Professor Helena Visbert. “In this way, Volkswagen can be distinguished from other brands that simply do not have this history and have recently been on the market," the professor explains to ARD.
Here's how the Golf can once again prove to be Volkswagen's hopeful – as then, 50 years ago.