There are a few nameplates in the car world that can be considered iconic. There’s Porsche’s 911 in the sports car world and BMW 3 Series in the premium compact segment. Japanese stalwarts Corolla and Civic are strong in Asia and North America, and the European equivalent of those is the Volkswagen Golf with over 35 million units sold since 1974.
These models have grown to be household names and have come to define their segment over many generations, spanning decades. People love these cars and are loyal to them. Some pass on their affection for the marque to the next generation, which creates more new stories for the old names.
This was the message pushed by Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) at the “For the love of Golf” event held at Sepang International Circuit this week. The event saw the local launch of the eighth-generation hatchback in Golf GTI and Golf R forms, plus the opening of order books for the starter Golf R-Line. As expected, the organisers gathered a couple of old Golfs to emphasise the nameplate’s heritage and longevity.
At the heritage corner of the paddock were a collection of Golfs starting from the Giugiaro-penned original Mk1. In this gallery, you’ll see a clean Mk1 GTI, an Mk1 Cabriolet, an Mk2 GTI, a bright yellow Mk3, my favourite Mk4 (has to be in the boring yet perfect silver, like the Mk1 Audi TT) and the Mk5 in GTI and R32 variants.
That’s it? Didn’t we say all seven previous generations? While not accounted for in the official display, the car park was filled with the Mk6 and Mk7 Golfs (mostly GTIs) driven by VW club members and dealers, and the two most recent editions are a common sight on our roads, so they’re not terribly missed.
We’ve enjoyed a couple of heritage displays throughout the years of attending launches of cars with famous nameplates, but this is easily the most diverse bunch I’ve seen. Usually, stock or near-stock examples (or stock-looking ones; we don’t know what’s lurking beneath) are chosen to best represent the original design, but that’s not the case here.
My guess is that perhaps, it’s hard to find stock old Golfs because most owners would have modded them to be more sporting – it’s from this family that the original hot hatch came about after all.
As such, let’s enjoy this very real-life representation of the Golf family. Check out the lowered stance of the Mk2 GTI (I’m not so good with my rims, are those Speedlines?), the mega exhaust on the yellow Mk3, the subtle ABT styling of the Mk4 and the Mk5 R32 in a rather unconventional look – green body, Japanese alloys.
Having to do this post reminds me of the series we did on the Golf through the years, six years ago. The videos are no longer online, but go on and enjoy the official image galleries from Volkswagen Classic – showing each generation of the hatch in original launch form – plus the commentary. Click these links for the 1974 Mk1, the 1991 Mk3, the 1997 Mk4, the Mk5 and Mk6 from the 2000s and the 2012 Mk7.
To recap, the Mk8 Golf GTI is now CKD locally assembled and goes for RM212,711. The CBU Mk8 Golf R – with 320 PS/400 Nm and AWD – is priced at RM357,584. The Mk8 Golf R-Line – now with an 8AT instead of DSG – is open for booking with an estimated price of between RM155k and RM165k.
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Where’s the buggy version? Feel like hitting a few on the green later today.
Reminds me of the mk7 launch where a heritage lineup was displayed.
Would have loved to visit the exhibition.
Such iconic cars. Have had plenty of mark 2, 3 and 4 around when growing-up and cars were still much smaller and more special (subjectively ) in these days.
Have seen the Mark 8 in back in Germany recently. The design didn’t really grow on me as I hoped VW could be less conservative but the R variant eventually is quite nice indeed. Technically great cars overall with very few weaknesses.
Keen to see some Mark 8 on the roads in KL soon. If they could only be a bit cheaper as I’d still rather purchase a Honda, Mazda, Toyota, perudoa in Malaysia with regard to value for $$$
Happy to see all cars. Well done VW for sharing this heritage collection
Looking closely and these are all RHD models, Germany is LHD country so their heritage collection are prolly LHD models.
So these cars on display here came from a collection in UK or sourced locally. Either way it is a keen effort from VPCM in bringing together RHD models and not take the lazy way out thru borrowing from VW history museum. Bravo!
at least the msian mk7 & mk6 have an electric folding side mirror….hahahahaha…now the mk8 golf in msia when u park it, fold it manually like an old Proton Saga…hahahahahaahhahahahaha