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volkswagen introduced their first Golf in 1974, and it arguably saved the company. Up to that point VW had been largely relying on the Beetle to keep it afloat, but that had become a classic in its own lifetime and a replacement was long overdue. The Golf was so dramatically different with its crisp, angular styling and water-cooled engine driving the front wheels that it could all have gone horribly wrong, but the basic concept was spot on while the engineering and build quality were both exemplary and VW never looked back.
The Golf nameplate is still on sale and currently in its eight generation, which was introduced in 2019. For Classics Monthly it is the Mk1 (1974- 1983) and the Mk2 (1983- 1991) that are of real interest, though the convertible Mk3 is already nudging at the door of classic status. And while everybody gushes over the GTI versions, there are many options further down the food chain that can give just as much pleasure, if not quite the same turn of speed.
It is just such a car that we have on test today, a Driver from close to the end of Mk2 production. As such it had most of the styling cues of the GTI and some little added luxuries, but a carburettor-fed engine with only eight valves. It belongs to Jaime-Lea Roberts, and is used today