By Stefan Lombard
As the car that popularized the hot hatch, the GTI turned the limited world of 1980s performance on its head
Volkswagen started production of the subcompact Golf in Wolfsburg, Germany, in 1974. As the Beetle’s heir apparent, VW had much riding on the diminutive hatchback’s suc- cess. With a pointy Giorgetto Giu- giaro design wrapped around an intelligent water-cooled transverse inline four and front-wheel drive, the Golf took on the “people’s car” label and ran with it.
Rebadged as the Rabbit, the car arrived in North America as a 1975 model, and in 1978 VW began building it in Westmoreland County,
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Pennsylvania. Westmoreland Rab- bits were powered by an increas- ingly larger range of fours with overhead cams and an alloy head, eventually reaching 1.7 liters, with available fuel injection, all for an ambling 74 horsepower and 90 ft-lb of torque. The range also included a 52-hp diesel that delivered over 50 mpg and incredible longevity. The Rabbit was a hit.
But so, too, were the little cars being churned out by Honda and Toyota, and even the Chevettes, Escorts and Omnis of the world
began eating into sales. By 1982, Volkswagen of America faced a sales decline of more than 40 percent and the consequent loss of dozens of dealers.
In response, Volkswagenwerk AG and the folks in Westmoreland conspired in 1982 to bring the GTI to America. Of course, there had been a GTI in Europe for years. The hotted-up Golf had long served as the de facto choice of young German professionals who couldn’t quite afford a Porsche. But it was just the thing for Americans who
PHOTO: KIMBALL STOCK
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