![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/VW_Golf_I_GTI_white_v_TCE-1024x771.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\nThe first Volkswagen Golf was introduced in 1974 as the successor to the Beetle. It was a radical departure from the previous Volkswagen approach of air-cooled rear engines. While the Golf surely wasn’t the first front-wheel drive car (the Mini used the concept much earlier) or car with rear hatch (likewise for the Renault R4), it nevertheless set a benchmark, probably because it was bigger than earlier offerings and thus was the first front-wheel-drive hatchback that was large enough to serve as family car.<\/p>\n
It was initially available with a 50 HP 1.1l and 70 HP 1.5l four-cylinder. In 1976, a Diesel model and the 110 HP 1.6l GTI was introduced. 1978 saw a facelift with new bumpers and improved steel quality. In 1980, new larger tail lights and a new dash were added. The GTI’s engine displacement was increased to 1.8l in 1982. In 1983, the successor Golf II was announced.<\/p>\n
While the 70 HP model was considered sporty at the time (certainly true when compared to a 44 HP Beetle), only the GTI can be considered sporty by modern standards. Wikipedia lists 10s as 0-100kph time for the 1.6l model, which I think is a bit pessimistic for a car of around 850kg. I have never driven a Golf I GTI, but I have been told that they feel very lightweight and nimble and provide lots of driving pleasure.<\/p>\n
The GTI is the original hot hatch, and as such an icon that is sure to further increase in price. Reliable technology result in a car that is cheap to run.<\/p>\n
If you want true sports car performance, look elsewhere. The availability of original true GTIs is limited, and GTI-specific parts are difficult to find.<\/p>\n
An original white GTI, 1.6l or 1.8l doesn’t really matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
History The first Volkswagen Golf was introduced in 1974 as the successor to the Beetle. It was a radical departure from the previous Volkswagen approach of air-cooled rear engines. While the Golf surely wasn’t the first front-wheel drive car (the Mini used the concept much earlier) or car with rear hatch (likewise for the Renault […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[92,89],"tags":[88],"class_list":{"0":"post-2052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-1970s","8":"category-carsofinterest","9":"tag-cars","10":"czr-hentry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/VW_Golf_I_GTI_white_v_TCE.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/plKIk-x6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2052"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2066,"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052\/revisions\/2066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wittwer.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}