About Volkswagen Mk1 Golfs

The first generation, or Mark 1 (Mk1), Golf was released in 1974 and was to replace the aged VW Beetle. The Golf (the name had nothing to do with the sport but is the German spelling of Gulf, as in Gulf Stream) differed very much to the Beetle mechanically as well as aesthetically, moving from a rear-mounted air-cooled engine to a front mounted liquid-cooled engine using technology that came with purchasing Audi (that's why many Mk1 engine components have Audi logos stamped on them). The end goal, however, was the same: to build a small, economical, and affordable family car.

Several variations of the Golf were made, as follows.

GTi - the first hot hatch

The Golf was never meant to be fast, let alone a sports car. As a kind of gimmick, engineers at the Volkswagen factory fitted a light, little Golf with a Bosch mechanical fuel injection unit, usually reserved for sports and upmarket cars. The project caught the eye of a few higher-ups and a short production run was arranged. At first, VW execs were cautious of the idea and only intended to sell the quick GTi in Germany but demand from other countries, particularly the UK, influenced VW enough to take production seriously. Thus the concept of the 'hot hatch' was born.

GTis feature either a 1.6 or 1.8lt mechanical injected SOHC engine, slightly lowered suspension, slotted front discs, anti-roll bars, and are distinguished by a red trim line around the grill, tartan patterned seats, and commonly additional gauges in the centre console. GTi stands for 'Grand Touring Injected'.

Special edition GTis

• GTi Campaign (UK)
• GTi Pirelli (Germany)
• GTi Plus (France)
• GTi Trophy (Switzerland)
• GTi Special (Sweden)
• GTi Rabbit (France and Norway. Not to be confused with the North American VW Rabbit GTi)

 

Cabriolet (Rabbit Convertible)

The Cabriolet is simply the convertible version of the Golf. Sometimes these weren't badged as Golfs at all - just VW Cabriolet. These cars were not actually made by VW, but were built by the independent car factory Karmann (known, among other things, for the Karmann Ghia, which actually uses many components from the Beetle).

They were popular cars and, as a result, the Karmann factory kept churning out Mk1 Cabriolets well passed when Volkswagen themselves ceased production of the hatchback. That's why it's possible to buy car made in 1993 closely resembling the same model first made in 1974. Later model Cabriolets were fitted with body kits, the 1.8lt injected engine, and different, newer interiors in an effort to give the aging car a more modern appearance.

All Cabriolets came from the Karmann factory, and all Cabriolets built during the Mk2 Golf hatchback run are still Mk1s, though they are colloquially called Mk1.5s.

Photo by Conor Samuel on Unsplash

Due to it's long production run (1979 - 1993) there were many, many different special edition Cabriolets. You can read about special edition Cabrilets here or on  Cabby Info's excellent site.

"Mk1.5"

"Mk1.5" is a colloquial term for the Karmann factory built Cabriolet. When its production run coincided with the Mk2 Golf hatchback Karmann added some Mk2 components, like the alloy wheels.

"Clipper"

Refers to the generation of Mk1 Cabriolets that received the plastic colour-matched "Clipper" body kit introduced in 1988, replacing the chrome bumpers. The cars often also utilised the larger 1.8lt injected engine.

Diesel

Diesel Mk1s were first manufactured in 1976. Performance wise these cars were very comparable to smaller petrol engine Mk1s. Many engine components are also shared between both diesel and petrol models.

GTD

The GTD was the sporty version of the diesel Golf and incorporated the GTi's suspension. Extra power came from a Garret turbo, providing very competitive performance.

Rabbit

The Volkswagen Rabbit was name given to the Golf in the USA and Canada, built in Pennsylvania. They are essentially the same car as their European counterparts, though some later models had square headlights extra side mounted indicators. The Rabbit name was later dropped.

Special edition Rabbits

• Special Value Rabbit -  a late, base model version with a carburettor.

Caribe

This was the name given to Mexican produced Mk1 Golfs. Later models shared the same square headlights as the North American Mk1.

Special edition Caribes

• City
• Pro
• Plus

"Swallowtail"

Refers to early versions of the hatchback that have a slightly different design in the rear hatch between the taillights.

Citi Golf

Citi Golfs were made in South Africa between 1984 and 2009. They are still, fundamentally, Mk1 Golfs but with some subtle changes, including a slightly sloping front grill, different C pillar design, and integrated rear window wiper. The most significant change was the addition of a new Skoda dashboard in 2004.

Due to its long production run, a huge number of special editions and special trim level model Citi Golfs were produced.

Citi Golf trim levels and special editions

• Sport - 5 speed gearbox, wide tyres, quad headlamps, tachometer, sports seats, and sports decals
• Designa - 7 spoke wheels, sports seats and steering wheel, colour coded bumpers and mirrors
• Shuttle - Low cost, basic 1.3lt carburettor model
• Chico - Replacement for the Shuttle, with a brighter range of colours

• Chico Lux - Chico with quad headlamps and alloys
• Bafana Bafana - Chico with a 1.4lt engine
• Ritz - Citi Golf 10th anniversary special
• CTi - GTi derived engine, rear spoiler, auxilary gages, sports binacle, CTi decals
• Blues - factory equiped with an antenna and radio cassette player
• Deco - colour matched interior and exterior
• Sonic - factory equiped antenna and radio cassette player, silver dials, alloys, lowered suspension
• Life - 5 spoke alloys, sports seats, CD player
• Citi.com - ordered online
• VeloCiti - leather and cloth interior, silver dials, pedals, and vent accents, silver 'golf ball' gear stick, 15" 6 spoke alloys, dual exhaust tips, smoked brake lights
• Rythym - basic model with 14" alloys and CD player
• R-Line/iR - lowered suspension, painted brake calipers, sports exhaust with twin tips, modified camshaft, modified bumpers, red interior stitching, aluminium inlays, silver dials and pedals, 3 spoke steering wheel
• CitiRox
• TenaCiti
• Wolf - gunmental alloys, lowered suspension, tachometer, CD player, remote central locking, sports seats and steering wheel, digital trip meter
• Citi Billabong - styled in collaboration with Billabong surf-wear company
• Citi Xcite - factory installed Lightning Audio sound system
• GTS - red grill trim, gunmetal alloys, sports seats and wheel, lowered suspension, black and silver interior, special decals
• Citi Mk1 - celebratory final edition limited run Citi Golf, 15" alloys, silver side stripes

See more...

Caddy

Caddys are not technically Golfs. They're the pickup or ute version of the Mk1 hatchback (golf caddy - get it?). They are still considered Mk1s though and share many, many parts being almost incidental except for the rear body work. The Caddy name still lives on in the modern Golf-based small van.

 

Photo by Tim Meyer on Unsplash

Scirocco

Before the Golf GTi there was the sporty Scirocco coupe. In fact before the Golf, there was the Scirocco. VW used the sportscar to sort out any issues with the shared drive train before the Golf went into full scale mass-production.

The Scirocco is not really a Golf either, but they did share the engine, drivetrain and many other components. The body panels are the only major difference. 

 

Limited runs, concepts, and customs

• Boomerang Convertible Customs (1970s) - Converted hatchback golfs to convertibles before the Karmann Cabriolet came out. Uknown amount made. At least one has headlights from a Holden WB Ute.
• Artz Speedster (1979) - A Cabriolet with a lowered roof line. Between 6 and 10 made, with various different poer modifications.
• Rinspeed Golf Turbo (1980) - A GTi fitted with a turbo and square headlights. 1 made, probably converted to the Aliporta.
• Rinspeed Aliporta (1981) - An interation of the above, with gullwing doors, custom body kit, and 6 headlights. 1 known to be made.
• Sbarro Golf Turbo (1982) - Heavily modified with a rear mounted turbo Porsche flat 6. Only 1 known to be made.
• Sbarro Golf 300S (1983) - Another heavility modified Golf with a rear mounted Porsche V8 from a 928 S. At least 2 were built.
• Biagini Passo (1990-93) - A Mk1 Karmann Cabriolet, lifted, and with the AWD system from the Mk2 Golf Country, as well as some cosmetic changes. Unknown amount made, proabably between 65 - 300.

 

Not members of the Mk1 family

• Mk1 Polo - Sure, it looks like a very similar, smaller version of the Mk1 Golf, but the first generation Polo is actually a rebadged Audi 50 with a range of small capacity engines.
• Mk1 Gol - Though later models of the Brazilian-developed Gol did receive a watercooled engine, the initial generation still retained the air-cooled engine from the Beetle. Gols were based on an Audi platform and did not share many components at all with the Golf.
• VW Cabrio - This was the name VW/Karmann gave the successor of the Mk1 Cabriolet, which was based on a Mk3 Golf. Though they are seperate cars, some people mistakenly use the names 'Cabriolet' and 'Cabrio' interchangeably.