50 Years Of The VW Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is celebrating 50 years and 8 generations of pure automotive history. When the Mk1 Golf debuted in 1974 it came out at a time when the United States faced struggles with the oil and gas crisis and has continued to be a staple with hatchback fans. 

A Gas Crisis

Debuting during a gas crisis wasn’t the only hurdle the Golf had to jump; it was also the successor to the VW Beetle, which by the early 1970s had sold 20 million cars worldwide. The Golf, when compared to the Beetle, had a lot of things going for it. First off, it was styled by Italdesign, the firm behind some of the prettiest cars ever made, and also the designers of numerous Volkswagen automobiles, including the 1973 Passat, 1974 Scirocco, and the 1974 Audi 80. Next, the Golf was a front-wheel drive hatchback with the engine in the front, unlike the rear-engined Beetle. 

Financial Ruin

By the time the Golf showed up, Volkswagen was struggling as a brand. In 1974, Volkswagen posted a total company loss of 800,000,000 Deutsche Marks, or nearly 450,000,000 US dollars. So, the new Beetle replacement needed to be extraordinary and do exceptionally well. Spoiler alert: it did. 

More Variations

The Volkswagen Beetle, as a grandfather to the Porsche 911, had an air-cooled boxer engine. The Golf did away with air cooling and had a water-cooled inline-4. Like the Beetle, the new Golf would arrive in multiple flavors for different customers. While the Beetle was only available in a coupe and convertible, the Golf would sport a 3-door, 5-door, and a convertible. By October of 1976, the Golf had succeeded in selling a million cars. 

Grand Touring Injection

Also in 1976, VW debuted one of the most iconic cars to ever exist: the Golf GTI. The GTI was one of the first hot hatches, and back in the day, it could outhandle a new Ferrari 308 on some back roads. While it may not seem like much now, the 9-second 0-60 time of this hot hatch was enough to make sure it wasn’t far behind some of the fastest cars of its day. In its debut, the GTI had a 1.4-liter that was later upped to 1.8 liters. By the time the Mk2 Golf debuted, Volkswagen had sold nearly 7 million cars, effectively saving VW after a tumultuous time in the early ‘70s.  

All Of The Marks

The Mk2 Golf would bring more comfort and driveability with features like all-wheel drive, ABS, and power steering. The GTI would cement its iconic status by the mid-’80s by producing 127 horsepower from its 1.8-liter (up from 110 in the Mk1) and a four-valve gas engine. The Mk3 brought even more standard safety, which allowed the Mk4 to usher in a more premium interior, electronic stability control, a 6-speed manual, and one of the first cars with a dual-clutch transmission in what was called the R32, a higher-performance Golf with 4Motion AWD. 

When it came to the Mk5, it was hard to imagine the Golf getting any better. An even nicer interior was designed for the new car, which still holds up to this day. The GTI and R32 models had even more power and better suspension, and the Golf could now get Bi-Xenon headlights. New Golf Plus and Golf wagon variants were added to give Golf owners more than just a hatchback. With the Mk6, came Adaptive Cruise Control, adaptive suspension damping, Hill Start Assist, which holds the rear brakes of the car for a few seconds for manual drivers to be able to take off without rolling back, and adaptive headlights. The R32 was replaced by the Golf R with even more power for the 6th generation. You would think that it would be hard to top the features of the Mk6, but Volkswagen did it again with the Mk7, which added even more safety, such as emergency city braking, and various sensors to aid drivers. The Golf GTI was now available as a diesel, dubbed the GTD. When the Mk8 rolled around, it came with quite a bit more than the Mk7 with fantastic interior improvements. 

Current And Future Golf

Fast forward to the modern day and we are about to see the 9th generation Golf debut as an all-electric car. The current Mk8 Golf GTI produces 241 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque from a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder motor that is available with either a 6-speed manual transmission or a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic. 

All The Golf Generations By Year

1. Mk1 Golf: 1974-1983
2. Mk2 Golf: 1983-1991
3. Mk3 Golf: 1991-1997
4. Mk4 Golf: 1997-2003
5. Mk5 Golf: 2003-2008
6. Mk6 Golf: 2008-2012
7. Mk7 Golf: 2012-2020
8. Mk8 Golf: 2020-current

Since 1974, the Volkswagen Golf has sold more than 35 million cars worldwide. Cheers to Volkswagen and the Golf on bringing joy to millions for 50 years, and here’s to another 50 years and millions more happy stories. 

At Volkswagen of Duluth, we take great pride in providing the best sales and service experience possible. With dozens of new and used vehicles, our fantastic and friendly sales team and finance department will work hard to ensure you get the best possible price. And our superb service department will work tirelessly to keep your vehicle in the best possible condition to keep you and your family safe.

We look forward to serving you soon.