1983 Volkswagen Mk1 GTI - The Original
Spanning over 4 decades the MK1 Golf has played a unique role in the South African motoring scene. The GTI itself has been a brand many of us petrolheads have either revered or even once owned. Some of us may still even own one. It is then an opportunity of a lifetime that I get to return to where it all started. This is all about how on one chilly Cape Town Winters afternoon I get acquainted with the original GTI that spawned the DNA that would be the benchmark of hot hatches.
The name Golf comes from the German name of ‘Golfstrom’ or Gulf stream, a trade wind and not the game you may think it was named after.
While the MK1 GTI wasn’t the first to carry the GTI moniker, it is, without doubt, the most important, setting the bar that others would need to match or try and beat. To gain further context, a hot hatch doesn’t necessarily need to have Porsche like performance but rather as a non-negotiable, it needs to evoke that sense of fun while simultaneously offering a level of practicality for modern-day life and be relatively affordable. Simple recipe, right? Then what gave the GTI the rite of passage to that special place sports car owners go to BUT only at a fraction of the cost.
Please take a seat for a brief history lesson. At the beginning, the European demand for the Mk1 Golf was off the charts. They were hungry and VW could not keep up. So much so that the MK1 only saw local markets four years post international launch in 1974 and the GTI arrived a further four years later, in 1982. It cost R12,500 new. Compare that to a Porsche 911 from the same era, pricing at R30,000. Big gap right? One can see why the GTI was and still is a very important car in our economy. It is the gateway drug the working class need. Now it might have taken its sweet time to get here but once it did we couldn’t get it to leave. The MK1 was like a family member who overstays a welcome at a Sunday roast but we were ok with it. It took another 40 years and 370,000 units produced before it eventually threw in the towel in 2009. Class is adjourned. School’s out, kids.
For a car that was never part of Volkswagens plan, the GTI more sure did well. In fact, the GTI was the side project of a group of engineers who worked in the evenings and weekends and when the concept was shown to the top brass, their response was less than impressed, giving approval of 5000 initial cars. Let’s just let the people decided thereon out with over 1.9 million units sold across the globe. Impressive.
The VDO analogue gauge cluster come alive at the turn of the key with a tachometer, speedometer, fuel economy gauge spurting into action. It even an LED shift light which for the time was advanced. All models had the Kamei Spoiler but the Duckbill front spoiler had been removed for fear of being damaged. Another nod of respect to Ian and his paternal ways. What’s sad is that the original GTI badging had been stolen. It is likely to have sat on some 1980's school kids desk until guilt got the better of him and he threw it away. Adding to the 1980’s nostalgia was an Alpine 8 track cassette player with a fully functional equalizer which was the chosen go-to audio mod for the day.
Stepping into the cabin, the GTI is an analogue adventure from the beginning. An old key, plastic dashboard with squared-off features, iconic for the time and an upright seating position with material bucket seats that would hug tightly serving up that race car feel. The steering wheel is in an almost “bus driver” position with the wolf insignia on the centre of the wheel. An ode to the hometown of Volkswagen, Wolfsburg. Nice touch.
What made the GTI remarkable for its time was this was the first time a performance hatch got the K-Jettronic fuel injection system which for the time of carburettor dominance was as much a jump in technology as the DSG gearbox is compared to the standard automatic gearbox.
Giorgetto Giugiaro designed the mk1 shape – Other designs penned by the man included the Lotus Esprit s1, Ferrari 250 GT SWB, De Loren DMC 12 and the De Tomaso Mangusta. Giurgiaro perfected what became known as the Folded Paper era where design had more flat surfaces and sharp edges, a look easily identified when casting eyes at the Mk1 aesthetic, which carries its uniqueness. Then, newly-appointed head of VW Rudolf Leiding seeking out the services of Giugiaro to come to Wolfsburg to pen the new car design that would replace the Volkswagen Beetle, a design dating back to pre-WWII era. It’s a move so smart that some say it was the reason for Volkswagens survival going into more modern eras.
Let’s talk numbers…94,000 kilometres travelled in 36 years. Those are the numbers, and a fitting testimony of meticulous car care Ian, the owner who I met at a recent Sentimetal car outrun, has clocked up, from new, which in addition to a sheltered life of garage queen dynasty this vehicle saw no modifications and carries a full-service history. Seems like everyone’s dream classic purchase in the waiting.
Driving impressions are surprisingly refreshing from a car this old. Even by today’s standard, the responsiveness serves as a reminder that you engaged with a driving experience. A hot hatch is supposed to impress in classic street fighting scenarios. That robot to robot knife fight during the 1980s against Mini GTS’, XR3’s and the odd Nissan EXA must have left the type of smile that is difficult to smear off even hours after the car is switched off. What strikes me is the rapid ability of the mk1 GTI to get through the gears. Manual gearboxes of the time tend to be quite wavy and non-responsive. The gear lever acting like a type of magic wand that, if waved correctly, would find a gear allowing you release the the clutch Pedal and propel forward. First, second, third comes quickly before the car settles into fourth before the cruising top gear in fifth, settling performance to a simmer, reminding you that the fun needs to settle down at some point. Boo-hoo. But that is a good thing because with the standard 13” wheels this was always going to be city brawler as opposed to a highway cruiser.
The 1961 Maserati 3500 GTI is the first car to use the GTI name that was later made famous in 1976 with the Volkswagen Golf GTI and also by the Peugeot 205 GTI launched in 1984.
Driving a GTI is an occasion each time and if you’re not smiling when thrashing it a corner or turning that little stretch of inner-city tarmac into your very own private race track then we need to have a serious chat. This car is going to give you the tools you need to have fun and the Mk1 GTI was every bit the pioneer in laying the foundations that 7 generations later, making the GTI name as revered as ever. Let’s see if the 8th generation can live up to it. No pressure.
And what about Jacking a rear left wheel mid-corner? It feels it can. But with Ian in the car with me so we needed to treat it with a degree of respect. But I was given the green light for a snap changing pull away and like most VW 8 valves, the power is instantly gratifying with no long waits a powerband in the instance of a 16valve would have. This further cemented my thoughts that this car is everything the legend says it is.
