VOLKSWAGEN GOLF

3-door/5-door 4-seater hatchback.

VW's great leap forward, displacing the old Beetle from German factories. Chunky hatchback style by Giugiaro, with transverse four-cylinder water-cooled engines and front drive. As unlike Beetle as possible - with good looks, practical accommodation, excellent handling and performance. Diesels (in the UK from 1978) were a revelation - smooth and unsmelly. Hugely popular and deservedly so, but the GTI (see below) was the real trend-setter. Now replaced by the larger Golf 2.