The Golf GTI was the Golf that shouldn’t exist, but since a team secretly developed it and impressed the VW management, they gave it the OK and changed the Golf forever.
Technically speaking, the Golf GTI was not the first hot-hatch globally, but it was the first that enjoyed huge success. While Volkswagen thought it would produce it in just about 5,000 units, it ended up building 462,000! That’s how “the results exceeded the expectations” looked for Volkswagen. The GTI letters stand for Grant Turismo Injection since it was the first fuel-injected engined Golf, and the 1.6-liter 100 hp engine was impressive for those times.

On the outside, the Golf 1 GTI looked very similar to the rest of the range. Its three-door bodywork sported an enhanced front fascia with a red surrounding for the black grille. A chromed GTI badge took its place on the driver’s side. Since Volkswagen equipped the car with wider wheels, it had to install black-plastic wheel-arches extensions. A black apron took its place under the front metallic panel, while the black plastic bumper featured the turn-signals.

Inside, the carmaker decided to create a unique interior with tartan-looking upholstery for the sport bucket seats. The same pattern covered the seating area for the rear bench. Instead of the regular, round, smooth knob for the gear-stick, the designer installed a golf-like ball.

But the essential part of the car was the drivetrain. Its 810 kg (1,786 lbs) weight was low enough so the car could do a 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) run in less than ten seconds. In 1979, Volkswagen introduced the five-speed manual gearbox as standard on the GTI and, three years later, it increased the displacement to 1.8-liter. The GTI showed a lower ground clearance than the rest of the range, and the suspension was stiffer, resulting in an ideal handling vehicle. Soon, it became a must-have vehicle for all petrolheads and ignited the hot-hatch revolution.