Volkswagen Golf GTi review (13/11/2013)

THERE are few more iconic cars than the Volkswagen Golf GTi. If the Golf is as much of a monument to the automotive industry as, say, the Model T Ford, then its GTi is a watchword for motoring sportiness and class. All of which is funny.

Sure, the original GTi was a fantastic car: any male under 30 in the years following its launch, in 1975, was drawn magnetically to it, not only for its sportiness, but because it was a pioneer.

By today’s standards the Mk I GTi was a touch weedy — a slightly up-tuned 1.6 single-cam engine with fuel injection might have seemed sprightly back then, but compared with the modern hot hatch its performance was puny. Certainly, the later generation Mk I, with the 1.8-litre engine, was a gem.