VW Golf Mk1 GTI - the original pocket rocket
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- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2024
- The Volkswagen Golf GTI is arguably one of the most loved cars in South Africa. Consider the fact that more than half of the Golfs sold in South Africa are GTI models, then you realise just how successful this model was, and is. We’ve even got a nickname for the sound the (modern) GTIs make - Vrr-pah!
Interestingly, the idea to develop a higher performance variant of the Golf was not very high on the agenda back in the mid-‘70s. Instead, the concept was largely driven by six people at Volkswagen in Germany. Originally named the “Sport Golf”, the idea was presented to the management board in March 1975, after which it officially became the development order EA195. The world premiere occurred only a few months later, in September at the Frankfurt International Motor Show. It went on sale the next year and in Germany it retailed for DM13 850.
Interestingly, names considered for the car included TS and even GTS, but GTI won at the end of the day. The chief designer, Herbert Schäfer, who was a keen golfer, got his way by changing the gear knob to what is now the legendary golf ball top of the gear lever. VW planned (hoped?) to sell 5 000 units to recoup the expense of the development and investment in this new compact model, but in the end 461 690 were manufactured.
It was several years later, near the end of 1982, that the GTI was finally launched in South Africa. The 1,8-litre, four-cylinder engine was good for 82 kW and 153 Nm at the time. CAR magazine tested it in January 1983 and achieved a top speed of 182 km/h and a sprint time from standstill to 100 km/h in 9,3 seconds. The one kilometre sprint was done in 30,7 seconds.
The König family of Johannesburg are all motoring enthusiasts and Stuart explains how they landed up owning this special hot hatch: “My dad always had this goal of participating in motorsport with my brother and myself. After teaching us how to drive, he got us Mark 1 VW Golfs which we raced for a number of years. After a while my brother said to me we need to find an original Golf 1 GTI, just to experience it.”
Stuart, with his brother and father, finally found the GTI featured here and purchased it. Since then they’ve tried to keep the car in as good a condition as possible, as well as entirely original. Apart from participating in breakfast runs or meeting up with fellow enthusiasts, the longest trip they have done with the car was from Johannesburg to Durban. “It was a very relaxed trip, as we drove down over the course of a weekend. We have really made some quality memories with both the car and people involved in the motoring world.”
There was more to the first-generation GTI than outright performance. Here was a “run-of-the-mill” car with an additional layer of performance that didn’t cost too much, but which was still able to provide driving thrills to the enthusiast. The GTI featured some notable styling differences to set it apart from the standard Golfs. These included the now-iconic GTi badge, the red lining around the grille, the rubber front spoiler and the wheelarch extensions.
CAR magazine ended its January 1983 road test with the following statement: “It is a prince among the light cars and sure to cause a wide ripple of excitement.” Its legend lives on.
Specifications
Car: Volkswagen Golf GTI MK1 (1984)
Engine: 1 781 cm3, in-line, four-cylinder, petrol
Power: 82 kW at 5 800 rpm
Compression ratio: 10:1
Torque: 153 N.m at 3 500 rpm
Top speed: 182 km/h
0-100 km/h: 9,3 seconds (tested by CAR magazine)
Gearbox: 5-speed manual
Wheelbase: 2 400 mm
Weight: 860 kg
0:00 Intro
1:16 How did you buy the VW Golf Mk1 GTI?
3:16 Initial drive experience
4:24 Golf Mk1 GTI comparison to Citi Golf
4:58 Manufacturing
5:41 MFA display
6:01 Engine
6:53 Driving the Golf Mk1 GTI
8:40 Outro 
Авто/Мото
The way you guys cut between the owner's dialogue while he was driving and while he was in the garage was epic.
epic indeed, cudos to the editor
The Mk1 golf will always be my first love, unfortunately I've never seen a GTI in person, hopefully I'll complete the circle of driving all the Mks one day by seeing and driving it.
Throwing it back and it ain't even a Thursday. I love this!
What a fantastic car and excellent example. I grew up with Golf 1 and 2 models. I have owned 2x Mk1 Golf's and a Mk2 GTI 8V and they are all amazing cars to drive. You right that you always feel connected when driving them they don't have power steering so you have alot more weight at parking speeds but alot more feedback and response than modern cars steering systems. The 8V 1.8 engine is a legend with excellent mid range torque and throttle response and with a nice throaty exhaust. 0-100 in 8.2sec what I recorded with my standard 82kw engine and top speed of 205kmh indicated. Not bad for a low powered hatch
I owned a 1984 Gti in the same color...what a great vehicle to own. I owned the car for 6 years and had very little problems with it..it was a real pocket rocket in its days...I had bigger valves fitted and boy did she run rings around the Gti 16v..I remember my drive to Cape Town and the guy with his Gti 16v..the look on his face was priceless..he got a solid whipping all the way into CT. I really miss my baby..😀😀
I also owned one - fond memories I will never foget. Gunmetal grey was the ultimate colour back then
I've never owned one. But I've had a citi golf for 5 years and driving it feels different from other cars.🤗
My First Gti was the same colour in a 1984 ,I just took delivery of my 2024 Gti , 40 years later and it’s still fun to drive.
That car was my first love. Still is. Great video and great owner.
Love my MK7.5, but this is where it all started. Legendary car
After long day of work there’s nothing better than seeing a new vid uploaded❤️this Is what motoring all about
Absolutely love it, I miss my mk1 GTI so much ! Would love to get another in a few years
I bought my 1984 Rabbit GTI mid year if I recall correctly. Sold it in 2002 for $1000 when I bought my first Honda CRV. I have a 2017 CRV today. Sold the Rabbit with 186,000 miles on it. Except for changing the Alternator every 2-3 years due to a engineering flaw, the car ran perfectly. To this day I miss that car. Fun to drive & very quick considering it only had 90 hp.
They so rare, I want to own one 😭😅👀😩
🤣🤣🤣🤣It's so common in the US I noticed that 🤣🤣🤣our rare cars IN S. A are soo common In the us
Having access to a 2 door GT i must say these are super cool a south african staple and still turns heads like crazy. Its needs that stealie wheels the GTi came with and that side sticker then it will look on point.😁👍
I'm speaking under correction but I don't think we got the 2 door GTI in SA. The 2 door was a GT and came without the fuel injection
@@ghatiem yes thats the one we have.. it looks just like a GTi just minus the Kjet 1.8 and has a 1.6 carby I actually dont know for sure if we got the 2 door GTi I've seen only a couple here so you could be spot on with that assumption. You can see it on my channel.
@@YusufPetersenCPT awesome man I'll check your channel.
I actually had a 1983 Mk1 GTI. Was absolutely amazing
@@YusufPetersenCPT it is posible that there might just be a 2door Gti somewhere volkswagen was very keen to produce what you want especialy if you knew someone in motorsport division vw motorsport was also responsible for special veichles ( cars made on order)
The footage and video editing is awesome 👌👏
Awesome video! Awesome car! Makes me love my little Uno Turbo even more. Hot hatches are the new collector cars.
This is what a love for a car is. U can see his joy
This review is amazing and the car looks EPIC. It's such a joy to see the owner's passion and excitement. I can totally relate to him, as I'm humbled and fortunate to still own an almost stock standard one myself. Thanks @konigcars
Hats off to this genuine bloke... awesome review
Somehow I’m getting the feeling that you like this car ? Great job, video. Thanks, RickGTI….. 🇺🇸🌴
Love the simplistic beauty of this car.
Awesome car, awesomely shot and edited video
Well done @Konigcars on the feature!
Never own one but some day i will, love these cars, a classic, a true rare gem❤😎🇳🇴
Congratulations for the video and the way you presented this magnificent Golf GTI.
Just a note! There are indeed 4-door Golf GTIs in Europe.
I'm from Portugal and I have one from 1983.
Regards!
Quite possibly South Africa's favourite car - after, of course, the Toyota Hilux, the Toyota Corolla and (my personal favourite) the Ford Cortina!
awe from durban
The editing is great but it just doesn't feel right when you hear the car revving up high and the footage shows the rev counter 3000rpm @ 3:11
Wow!! Love this video, absolutely amazing
So Glad I Found This Channel! Much Love From U.S.💚. I Wish We Got The 4 Door! Instead We Got The Dodge Omni GLH(Goes Like Hell)🤦🏽♂️😂
Love too see a opel GTC it was once of the golf GTI biggest rival back in the day . This car looks awesome no lie about that
Great review! Uitenhage, my hometown!!!😃
Awesome!
We had a white Mk1 GTS 1600 with a 4 speed gearbox and "GTS" decals running on the lower section of the rear doors
1st GTS 4speed 83 WAS 5 SPEED WITH THE SILVER STICKER ON THE FENDER IT LOOK LIKE A BIG 5 WITH THE LETTERING SPEED UNDER THE FOOT OF THE 5
@@piettskiett9123ours was a '76 model, I know what fender sticker you're referring to and the instrument cluster was different
@@piettskiett9123 I have a GTS.... The sticker is a big 5 and between the 5 it says Speed and Spoed
@@piettskiett9123 the car is being passed down from generation to generation. We are the original owners. Still have the original registration,books and receipt of the car.
@@husainmoosa3896 i would also keep such a car in the family
Awesome video 👍
I had a 1984 gunmetal GTi.
Still the most fun I ever had. Really miss that pocket rocket 😢
The fit and finishing was way superior to the later Citi Golf
My second new car ever was a 1983 Golf GTi 1.8. Bright red. A great car of its time but being right hand drive in the UK, just like S Africa, it got the nickname of 'The Exocet' after the French missile. It went like a bomb and nothing would stop it. Basically the brakes were absolutely terrible due to the servo being on the left and actuated by rods and bell cranks from the brake pedal.
I see that the featured model has wipers properly converted for right hand drive. The UK ones, two door only, didn't and had a big unwired area in the top right of the windscreen, which was a huge annoyance to most drivers in the wet. The gearshift was often quite reluctant to move out of second gear at times on my example.
Otherwise the featured car is very much like mine was.
The GTi featured one of the first ever low profile tyres. Can't remember the size but they would hardly qualify as being low profile these days being, iirc, 70 profile. Standard profile being 85% aspect ratio.
Yeah, I think they're fitted with 175/70/13 tyres, like the '90 1.8 CitiGolf Sport I recently acquired.
Great review... Awsome owner
Everything he said is true... I owned one, until it was stolen.
In good old South Africa.
Great Video! Great Car!
So beautiful 🤩
Awesome little legend! How about featuring an original Fiat Uno Turbo which was one of the first pocket rockets and left many cars standing and embarrassed a lot of bigger cars at the traffic lights.
Enjoy it mate🥰
Mine standing for years. Nice little car
How did I almost miss this!
There’s something about Mk1 Golfs. And this one is the granddaddy of them all. Unfortunately they stopped production way before I was born. But having owned the 2010 LTD edition golf. I loved it and forever will love it.
I’ve never seen the Mk1 GTI and I truly wish to
I wish I could upload a photo here for my MK1
Great car and a great review. The owner is such a passionate person, love his vibe.
Buuut, what I want to know is how the hell did you manage to shoot in Sandton with no cars on the road. I have worked in Sandton most of my life and I have never seen it so quiet unless it was during hard lockdown.
We shot it extremely early on a Sunday morning 😅
My first car. Bought one of the last models (1984) in 1985 with 10000 km on the clock for R10500-00 at VW Lyttleton. Traded it in 1988 with 76000 km on the clock and got R12500-00 for it.
I used to have a 3 door one the same colour as that. I wish I still had it, but I traded it in on a Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi. I wish I still had that too.
I absolutely loved mine , what a great car itwas
Very nice, I was sketchy at first when I saw GTI lol
Great car, I want one.
Golf GTI, GTX, GTS. GT GOLF'S ALL PRODUCED IN VOLKSWAGEN SOUTH AFRICA PLANT IN THE HEART OF UITENHAGE IN THE EASTERN CAPE JUST 30 KM FROM THEA NEAREST BEACH IN PORT ELIZABETH
Stunning! Just and its only a small just but a just nonetheless...the tow bar 🤦🏼♂️
What a DREAM car!!!
what a beauty!
Beautiful car which found it's perfect owner, knowing what pearl he owns. One small correction however, the four door gti was also available in e.g. Germany.
interesting , I did not know that
This is my dream car
I love this car have one myself
This one is the one super fresh
I'd love to have one of these cars! My friend has one but he doesn't know how to take care of it very well.................
It's feisty
How much did you guys pay for it? Like what would be the market value for one of these today? I heard you say you had to split 3 ways.
Hello😁
Can you please do a review on the new Kia Sonet🥰
Great stuff! Can we see more classics please?
We've got a few lovely classic car videos in post-production at the moment, stay tuned!
@@Carscoza Great news! Looking forward to it. Thank you.
Thinking man’s sport car. Perfect classic sport car to own is a Porsche 911 993. (1995-1998)
Does anyone know where in SA i could buy the gti badges
The mk1 GTI is similar to the CTI only difference is the pistons and gearbox both 82kw but 0-00 the GTI is quicker than the CTi
I'm a simple man...I see a gti I press play.
Is it for sale?? Very very rare!
Sentimental tail in dead! 👏👏👏👏
I prefer the CTI, epic car
My dad still has a CTI standing in his garage. He bought it in 1995.
Haval Jolion pleaseeeeeee
Old cars are the best
Awesome car. I’ll just remove the towbar for cleaner look and weight reduction 😂
You know it's genuinely South African if he refers Traffic Light as a robot.
Is you car for sale? Ok I am sure not, but where could one even find another like this?
This is the same car a dealership near wemmer pan Jhb south sold to someone else as I was on my way to collect it as agreed back in 1990..🤨🥺
Damn, they did you wrong there.
@@nqobaningidi4834 for sure ! We hand shook on the deal and said we will come back the same time the next day to pay for it as it was in the evening and one had to go inside the banks in those days, I settled for a 323 EGi 1.6 facelift which was also fun and more modern
@@kenrossaukrsa if you realy wanted the car you could have paid a deposit so i think you wasnt sure you wanted it so bad because you said you then bought a E G I
@@piettskiett9123 using IQ , I worked from 8-5, went to go look for a car with to dad as I was tired of lifts , so I saw it at 6pm as they were busy closing: locking up, in those days cash sales weren’t so popular like today’s time’s.. , I had cash in the bank saved up and had to be at work the next day. The EGi was across the road at Lindsay Sakers, after I drove that I didn’t want a shiti Golf again lol as it was chalk n cheese- the quality as it was newer and thereafter they weee stolen like hotcake, so The only regret I had was to keep the GTi stored, for many years original as I kept all my cars in oem condition.But Golf is probably worth R80-R100k today and if I kept the Mazda it would of been worth R60k today .. at the time of sale , the GTi’s selling price was R23995, I paid R21750 for the EGi lol. We all wanted to show our hot hatches off at Pure and a Cool roadhouse on a Sunday night in the old days..
@@kenrossaukrsa like ive said your heart wasnt ment for the golf and in those days they would have taken the deposit because its a sale lol but the mazda was acros the road so youve been caught in two shores you see and read my iq very fine hahaahaha and just a thought the mazda egi can also reach high prices aswel as the ford lazer tx5 i think it was called
Hyper Shame on Volkswagen for ending the Citi Golf!!!
#BringBackTheCiti
Don't see many 4door GTI around
How much would one of these cost nowadays?
150-200k
CTI VS GTI? SAME THING?
Genesis
I hate that it has a tow bar on it
Strange that thís one has the GTI in capital letters : the South African ones usually had it written like this : GTi
Correct and the typeface is different too. SA had a smaller sans serif typeface. These badges like the 16v ones just clipped off and were as popular with theives as Polo headlights.
@@weetbix2083 I agree. SA models did not have gti badge on the grill
Hushh my baby don't you cry Daddy bought a GTI! LOL. I'm inlove with FFFFFFF sound, Please keep it ass she is
☹️
4 doors GTI?lowe it..
Also the start of the trend that brought us the worst drivers on the road.
If I were the owner of this car, I'd turbo charge the shit out of it.
Oh my gosh, I just noticed this car has four doors. Sorry mate, this is NOT a true mk1 GTI.
You are wrong. This was the genuine Gti Mk1 in SA available in 1983. It was not availabe in 2 door here in SA. I had one just like this myself.
Where ciro
We miss him
What a nice review! PLEASE do more of these 😍
Blesswhat to thee nice car. Itits off cause making noise and going slow bud itits note a problem. We still admire it with gustow.