What was the MK1 Golf Based on?

[lewis1641]

i think the brasilia was the closest model visually to a mk1. you can certainly see where they were heading

[Seanl]

Hmm they look very much like 'Yugos' for those what remembers them!

I remember them too well, when they went under my grandad ended up with a warehouse full of them as he rented it to zastava or something.

But I digress....

I was thinking exactly the same.  not sure vw would be where they are today off the back of that as a hot hatch!

[SoundillusioN]

I want an E266.. There ugly but THERE COOL 

If it was at all possible to get your hands on one it would be a fun car to play with as it's RWD and designed for a rear mounted, water-cooled motor. Decent colour, rims and the infamous lowering stick and you've got yourself more scene points than you could possibly wish for.  It's rumored that this car had 105bhp which to me sounds ridiculous for what was meant be a "peoples car".  (it is fecking ugly though) 
Someone should tart it up in photoshop.

Hmm they look very much like 'Yugos' for those what remembers them!

I remember them too well, when they went under my grandad ended up with a warehouse full of them as he rented it to zastava or something.

But I digress....

I was thinking exactly the same.  not sure vw would be where they are today off the back of that as a hot hatch!

There is some Yugo in there but I cant help but think head on it shares the front of a Lada Riva! 

The MK1 golf was never conceived to be a Hot Hatch, merely a beetle replacement for the masses. A cheap practical runaround that was desirable enough for everybody to want one.  VW were not interested in making this something Sporty.

We are very lucky that the GTI was ever conceived, it was only a spare time pet project by engineers borrowing various bits and bobs from the VAG parts bin rather than a serious project from marketing numpties which is where a lot of sports cars usually start their lives. 

I could go on and on about the history of this car................................ 

[DOA]

The Yugo's were just Fiat 127's re-badged and made cheaper in the Eastern Block. You can certainly see the resemblence in those concepts and the Fiat came first and had the FWD layout first too...... What a horrid thought 

[SoundillusioN]

The Yugo's were just Fiat 127's re-badged and made cheaper in the Eastern Block. You can certainly see the resemblence in those concepts and the Fiat came first and had the FWD layout first too...... What a horrid thought 

Good old fiat, paved the way for many cheap cars, Like the Lada, wasn't that the old Fiat 124?

[Mortimer Hill]

Nothing I'm aware of, it was one of the first proper FWD boxy hatchbacks. The only hatch I can think that pe-dates it is the Talbot Sunbeam but that was RWD. The MKI Fiesta and MKI Astra followed later.

Nick

The Chrysler / Talbot Sunbeam was after the Golf, being introduced in 1977 and was heavily based on the Avenger. Like the Chevette, which was introduced in 75, it was rear wheel drive.

The hatches that pre dated the Golf included: Austin Maxi, Renault 16, Renault 5

Where the Golf set the standard was that it was the first car to combine all the element that define the modern hatch:

Hatchback
Front Wheel Drive
Transverse Engine
Gearbox next to the engine
Macpherson strut suspension.

There had been cars that had one or more of these, but not all of them.

[thai-wronghorse]

I do love reading all about this stuff. 

[DOA]

Good old fiat, paved the way for many cheap cars, Like the Lada, wasn't that the old Fiat 124?

Yeah, I think it was the Fiat 124/131 that they were based on. It was also used for the FSO Polonez as well as others and the 500/600 also got used elsewhere in things like the Steyr Puch etc. There was a lot of this sort of thing going on back in the 70's and 80's, I remember finding a Mk2 Cortina in the form of some other Eastern Block car (cant remember the name now lol) and nicking the uprights off it for future use.

Where the Golf set the standard was that it was the first car to combine all the element that define the modern hatch:

Hatchback
Front Wheel Drive
Transverse Engine
Gearbox next to the engine
Macpherson strut suspension.

There had been cars that had one or more of these, but not all of them.

Unfortunately, the 127 had all of those........

I always wanted a 127 Sport as they weighed fook all and would have seen off a friends Talbot Samba Rallye and nearly bought a left hooker once for about £200 in pretty good nick, I just couldnt get on with the left hand drive though.

[VW BUSH]

What about the mini? FWD made for the masses.............................copy of a WW2 VW 

[SoundillusioN]

Well I wasn't expecting this to turn into who actually made the first official "peoples" car, or the first small popular car that sported FWD, transverse mounted engines etc.   Originally this thread was about the roots of the Golf.   In the Golfs defense I would say that it can't be compared to something like a mini, to me they are in a different league. 

The original Mini was exactly what it's name suggests, a Mini, a supermini even. Yes it could seat 4/5 people at a push, was small, practical, economical, fwd and very popular etc etc, but it had a tiny boot, and when in the car you really did feel like you were in a mini.

The golf on the other hand was overall more practical, providing a comfortable sized cabin that often made you feel like you were in a bigger car, 5 door option, generous boot with a hatchback, was safer and over time offered many luxuries a mini or similar couldn't offer.  To me the MK1 golf was arguably the most practical and fun to own leader in the hatchback market of it's time and held on to this title for a very long time.