It goes and goes and goes! This time however on schedule. And much sooner than its predecessor, whose successor was then officially allowed - the Golf I. Nevertheless, almost incredible, this replacement after only ten years. Rested on the Golf I 1974 but all the hopes of the lurching Volkswagen factory. Workers, employees and top-linker Rudolf Leiding groaned under the pressure released by the flagging Beetle heel and the grades 3 and 4 at the end of their success. Although the original Golf did not seem outdated in 1983, it was again in danger. By imitators, it had created by its own success.
The alarm bell in Wolfsburg shrieked! Do not make the mistake again, guys! They did not. From the mid-1970s, the long years of Nordhoff loyalty were history. Chief Development Officer Ernst Fiala, a man of higher education and science, began reconciling VW and modernity with numerous research vehicles and safety prototypes. Then the Golf II slowed him down. Yes. But you have to know the whole story. This has a lot to do with the concept car "Auto 2000" from 1981. Equipped with a 45-hp three-cylinder diesel direct injection engine, a cw value of 0.25 and a completely closed front, the car moved 2000 at its fair The competition in fear and terror. Particularly shocked were they at Opel: Rüsselsheim should have slipped in the face of the Wolfsburg study to face the announced Golf II. That's why Opel once again turned the production-ready e-cadet around, insiders say. Then came the true Golf II. So it has remained in principle since then.
People did not want a culture shock, but a golf that looks (again) like a golf, CEO VW Hahn said - not without reason. They wanted the Golf, just spacious, larger, comfortable. Which brings us the benefits of the second generation Golf. And the central problem of the Golf II GTI. Had become fat, the nr. 2. In order not to have to once again experience a rust disaster as the one, the Wolfsburg pumped their bestseller number two with corrosion protection. To central locking and power steering, in addition, the catalyst corrected the power output down. So had the GTI II only 107 hp, but weighed in the extreme case, 150 kilos more than its predecessor and suffered from sprinting shortness of breath. Because: Ford sent the escort XR3i, Opel the cadet GSi, Fiat whipped with the Ritmo Abarth the blade, at Lancia thundered the Delta HF, a young lion named Peugeot 205 GTI roared successfully for buyer's favor. After all, the British MG Maestro was negligible. It called for new golf strength. And she came. With the GTI 16V. The presented in January 1985 sixteen valves drew from maintained capacity 139 hp - without Kat. Who went! Finally again. Fortunately, nothing had changed visually: With his GTI Regatta from Mars red, black trim, lower chassis by 20 millimeters, black Radlaufverbreiterungen, foiled rear window frame, a narrow spoiler lip, and GTI's own upholstery and the golf ball gear knob was also the GTI II a true GTI remained.
In contrast, in addition to the doubled number of valves of the double exhaust from the final pot and - so nice simple were the 80s - the sloping roof antenna. The steel wheels had left the GTI. So is recognition. Even with values like 8.5 seconds from zero to 100 and a top of 208 km / h, the 16V was again a GTI. The rest was provided by tuners - who often gave the car the rest. Which is why there are hardly any original two-seater GTI today. Oh, yes: today. Nice? Crisp? Icon? Hmmm. In any case, a collector's item is the GTI II - especially as a 16V. But there was more to come quickly in the 80s, underpinned by the hastily realized full throttle brothers Golf G60, Limited, Rallye Golf. By the time of the Golf IV R32, the sports car had become a sports car. Moreover, for a long time, Golf I and IV appeared formally the only serious aspirants to later classics consecrations. How to be fooled. Speaking of mistakes: In 2000, a young Brunswick restored its own GTI true to the original - and was therefore laughed out. It is in the museum today, spinning fast laps from time to time. No, not the young man. The GTI. Eternally young, the type even as an eternal twosome.
Exactly twelve months after the debut of the Golf II GTI, VW presented the GTI 16V in January 1985. Slogan: "The new force". Half new would be right, because the GTI 16V is powered by the proven 1781 cc engine, supplemented by a four-valve head. The optional three-way catalytic converter robs 10 hp, there are 129 instead of 139. For model year 1986, the 16V gets the facelift of the weaker models (barbecues, elimination of the front triangle windows, new exterior mirrors, rear end plate with central large VW emblem). Oil leaks on the cylinder head of the models from 1986 to 1988 deal with customers and customer service. For model year 1988 receives the 16V next to GTI and GL voluminous bumper on the front and rear. On request, fog lights can be found in the front bumper. As standard, the 16V on steel disc wheels with Tiefbettfelgen ago, as extra popular are the BBS cross-spoke wheels. Special models "Edition One" (1989), "Edition Blue" (1991) and the "Wolfsburg Edition" are richly equipped. Rarely is the "GTI Special" (1988/89). In summer 1991 VW builds the last Golf II GTI 16V.
Do not worry about missing spare parts: there is almost everything. The parts shelves of accessory and free dealers as well as specialists such as the Volkswagen Classic Parts Center really do everything in terms of chassis, engine and transmission. Even with the sheet metal, there is no reason to buy hamsters. Specifically, it does with some specific GTI equipment details. This is true, experts know it long ago, as the one-s GTI for trim such as GTI logos and emblems, but especially for upholstery. But here, too, something is happening, old stocks are now professionally scoured for existing material.
There is nothing that does not exist: From the ridden, effect-painted tuning monster in its final state to the original grandma specimen, the Golf II GTI 16V is available. However, originals (price range 5000 to 10,000 euros) are already rare and attract as unobtrusively as the car generally comes along.
To buy or not?. Buy Now. Whether before facelift specimens with triangular windows or cars after the "big product appreciation" (official VW language regulation) from model year 1989, whether with or without catalyst converter they can only become rarer, the jokers among the two Golf. Today, in contrast to former new vehicles, 2-door cars are trading higher than "not sporty" four-door cars. Really Funny this Golf.
