The VW Golf is undisputedly one of the most successful vehicles in the world – and its release came not a second too soon. Although Volkswagen celebrated great success with the Beetle, interest in the everyday car waned significantly in the 1960s. The group therefore had to notice an unprecedented decline in sales and take action.
The Golf (and the Passat) finally managed to stop the sales crisis. But the path there was rocky and had to be overcome under great pressure.
While other manufacturers such as Fiat, Renault and Peugeot already had compact models on the market, Volkswagen lagged behind. It was only when Kurt Lotz took over that the company set a new course. Until then, however, a lot of time had been wasted.
VW prototypes and tanks
There were different designs for the production vehicle, such as the EA 266 by Ferdinand Piëch or the EA 276. This development order (that’s what “EA” stands for) was already very close to the later Golf, but used the wrong engine and was considered too rudimentary.
The development of Piëch’s EA 266 ended spectacularly: at a test site in Weissach near Stuttgart, the then boss Rudolf Leiding had the two tanks that had been produced up to that point flattened. Number 276 was kept in mind.
At the Turin Motor Show in 1970, the Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro was recruited to complete the design based on previous knowledge and requirements. In an interview with the star The now 85-year-old talks about this time and his idea of good design – spoiler: it probably wasn’t the Golf in this form.
Series production of the Golf began in March 1974. To date, over 37 million copies have been shipped worldwide.
The Golf owes its success not only to its modern, angular design, which was obviously well received. Better equipment, greater comfort and higher performance also helped Volkswagen save sales.
But everything has an end. With the facelift of the current Golf 8, Wolfsburg recently showed what is probably the last VW Golf with a classic combustion engine – in the future the group will continue to go electric. But you won’t give up the name, like “Top gear” reports. Volkswagen is quoted there as saying: “It is the heart of our brand. We’re not going to get rid of golf.”