Mark 1 (1974–present)
The first Golf (VW internal designation Typ 17) began production in 1974, although it was marketed in the United States and Canada from 1975 to 1984 as the Volkswagen Rabbit and in Latin America as the Volkswagen Caribe. It featured the water-cooled, front wheel drive design pioneered by the Citroën Traction Avant in 1934, with the addition of a hatchback as pioneered by the Renault 4 in 1961. The Golf was Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1975. The name is short for Golf-Strom, German for Gulf Stream; it was named for that oceanic current to reflect its international character. [citation needed]
The Golf was not the first design with this layout (earlier examples including the famous BMC Mini of 1959, and the Austin Maxi and Fiat 128 3P, both of 1969). It was, however, very successful thanks bringing these features to a "Beetle replacement", and marrying them with Volkswagen's reputation for solid build-quality and reliable engineering.
Front grill of the Mk1 Golf
The Golf was designed by Italian automobile architect / designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, of the ItalDesign design studio.
In 1978, Volkswagen began producing the North American "Rabbit" version of the Mark 1 Golf in New Stanton, Pennsylvania, thus becoming the first European car manufacturer in modern times to produce a vehicle in the United States. (The plant was called Westmoreland because New Stanton was in Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County.) Former Chevrolet executive James McLernon was chosen to run the factory, which was built to lower the cost of the Rabbit in North America by producing it locally. Unfortunately, McLernon tried to "Americanize" the Golf/Rabbit by softening the suspension and using cheaper materials for the interior. VW purists in America and company executives in Germany were displeased, and for the 1983 model year the Pennsylvania plant went back to using stiffer shocks and suspension with higher-quality interior trim. The plant also began producing the GTI for the North American market. ('Rabbits' were built in Pennsylvania until 1984.) The first VW Caddy pick-up, based on the Mark 1 Golf, was also created at the Pennsylvania plant.
Restored badge of the Mark 1 Golf
The GTI version, launched in Europe in 1976 and in the U.S. in 1983, virtually created the hot hatch genre overnight, and many other manufacturers since have created special sports models of their regular volume-selling small hatchbacks. It was one of the first small cars to adopt fuel injection for its sports version, which raised power output of the 1588 cc engine to 110 PS (81 kW/108 hp). In 2004, Sports Car International declared the Golf GTI Mark 1 to be the 3rd best car of the 1980s. For background to the development of the GTI, see "The People's Porsche", an undergraduate dissertation.
There was a minor facelift in 1980 which saw the adoption of larger rear lamp clusters (more in line with Giugiaro's original concepts), revised bumpers, and for US versions square headlights and a new dashboard with a more modern-looking instrument display.
Mark 1 Golf Cabriolet
The convertible version, named the Golf Cabriolet (or Typ 155), was sold from 1980 to 1993 (a convertible version of the Mark 2 Golf was not made, so the Mark 1 Cabrio with slight modification was produced until the introduction of the Mark 3 Cabrio). It had a reinforced body, transverse roll bar, and a high level of trim. The Mark 1 Cabriolet is of unibody construction built entirely at the factory of Karmann, from stamping to final assembly; Volkswagen supplied the engine, suspension, interior, etc. for Karmann to install. The vinyl tops were insulated and manually operated, with a glass rear window.
As of 2006, Volkswagen of South Africa still manufactures two variants of the Mark 1 Golf, the five-door Citi Golf and the Volkswagen Caddy pickup.
The Golf was not the first design with this layout (earlier examples including the famous BMC Mini of 1959, and the Austin Maxi and Fiat 128 3P, both of 1969). It was, however, very successful thanks bringing these features to a "Beetle replacement", and marrying them with Volkswagen's reputation for solid build-quality and reliable engineering.
Front grill of the Mk1 Golf
The Golf was designed by Italian automobile architect / designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, of the ItalDesign design studio.
In 1978, Volkswagen began producing the North American "Rabbit" version of the Mark 1 Golf in New Stanton, Pennsylvania, thus becoming the first European car manufacturer in modern times to produce a vehicle in the United States. (The plant was called Westmoreland because New Stanton was in Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County.) Former Chevrolet executive James McLernon was chosen to run the factory, which was built to lower the cost of the Rabbit in North America by producing it locally. Unfortunately, McLernon tried to "Americanize" the Golf/Rabbit by softening the suspension and using cheaper materials for the interior. VW purists in America and company executives in Germany were displeased, and for the 1983 model year the Pennsylvania plant went back to using stiffer shocks and suspension with higher-quality interior trim. The plant also began producing the GTI for the North American market. ('Rabbits' were built in Pennsylvania until 1984.) The first VW Caddy pick-up, based on the Mark 1 Golf, was also created at the Pennsylvania plant.
Restored badge of the Mark 1 Golf
The GTI version, launched in Europe in 1976 and in the U.S. in 1983, virtually created the hot hatch genre overnight, and many other manufacturers since have created special sports models of their regular volume-selling small hatchbacks. It was one of the first small cars to adopt fuel injection for its sports version, which raised power output of the 1588 cc engine to 110 PS (81 kW/108 hp). In 2004, Sports Car International declared the Golf GTI Mark 1 to be the 3rd best car of the 1980s. For background to the development of the GTI, see "The People's Porsche", an undergraduate dissertation.
There was a minor facelift in 1980 which saw the adoption of larger rear lamp clusters (more in line with Giugiaro's original concepts), revised bumpers, and for US versions square headlights and a new dashboard with a more modern-looking instrument display.
Mark 1 Golf Cabriolet
The convertible version, named the Golf Cabriolet (or Typ 155), was sold from 1980 to 1993 (a convertible version of the Mark 2 Golf was not made, so the Mark 1 Cabrio with slight modification was produced until the introduction of the Mark 3 Cabrio). It had a reinforced body, transverse roll bar, and a high level of trim. The Mark 1 Cabriolet is of unibody construction built entirely at the factory of Karmann, from stamping to final assembly; Volkswagen supplied the engine, suspension, interior, etc. for Karmann to install. The vinyl tops were insulated and manually operated, with a glass rear window.
As of 2006, Volkswagen of South Africa still manufactures two variants of the Mark 1 Golf, the five-door Citi Golf and the Volkswagen Caddy pickup.
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