Changing faces of the Golf GTI
Launched at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt in September 1975, the first Golf GTI was fresh and wild. As of the summer of 1976, it stormed into an automotive category that hadn’t actually existed until that moment – sporty front-wheel-drive hatchbacks, or as they were more commonly known, hot hatches.
Originally, 5,000 were planned, but the affordable Golf GTI turned the automotive order upside down, bringing driving dynamics previously relegated to the world of expensive sports cars to the masses. Consequently, nearly half a million Golf GTI Mk1 models rolled off the production lines. With its six successors to date, it has become the world’s most successful hot hatch.
Now, as the eighth generation of the GTI readies itself for launch, Volkswagen has released these sketches showing the changing faces of the Golf GTI.
Images © Volkswagen