Home » The First 5-Door VW Golf GTI Was Made Special For The Car’s Designer Who Specified Something I Bet You Didn’t Expect

The First 5-Door VW Golf GTI Was Made Special For The Car’s Designer Who Specified Something I Bet You Didn’t Expect

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The original Volkswagen Golf GTI is something of an icon, a milestone in the Hot Hatch Greater Cinematic Universe, and the car it’s based on, the regular Volkswagen Golf Mk.1, is an icon of automotive design on its own. The designer of the original Volkswagen Golf was Giorgetto Giugiaro, founder of ItalDesign, and I just learned that the only car he was ever given by an automaker he worked for was a Golf, given to him by VW. This was a special Golf for a number of reasons, one of which I find strangely satisfying. I’ll explain.

First a bit of a reminder about the level of achievement the Giugiaro-designed Golf was. By the late 1960s, VW realized they desperately needed a real replacement for the Beetle, which had carried them so far but was still fundamentally a 1938 design with incredible perseverance. It was just getting incredibly dated, and VW’s acquisition of NSU and Auto Union had brought them access to the new, modern mechanical formula of transverse engines and front-wheel drive.

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VW needed a car that filled the Beetle’s humble yet important niche, but with modern engineering. Giugiaro was given some incredibly severe and specific parameters in which to work – almost every dimension already decided, inside and out – and within these restrictions, Giugiaro managed to create something so timeless and simple and perfect it was almost hard to believe it hadn’t just always existed in some form.

Sketches

The crisp, folded-paper look of the car was the diametric opposite to the curvy, biomorphic design that had always defined Volkswagen, and yet, somehow, it still fit and it still worked. The result was a car, about the same size as the original Beetle, but modern and airy and practical, a genuine triumph of good, honest design.

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Now, here’s the part I just learned about: in the ’70s, Volkswagen offered to give Giugiaro a car, the only time the designer ever got a car from a carmaker. Giugiaro wanted a daily-driver family car, but he also wanted something fun to drive, so he requested a VW GTI, the sportier version of the Golf with a kicky 110 horsepower engine, about double what a base model Golf put out.

Being a family car, Giugiaro wanted a five-door model, for both convenience and the fact that he preferred the look of the 5-door Golf, with its very defined C-pillar. At the time, VW didn’t build the GTI in five-door form, but they made one special for ol’ GG, which is pretty fantastic.

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There was something else that Giugiaro, who lived in Europe, specified he’d like on his special GTI; see if you can spot it:

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See it? They’re big and obvious: the US-spec bumpers. They even have the optional rubber bumper guards!

This addition gives me a lot of satisfaction because, in the water-cooled VW world, it always seemed like everybody hated the US-spec bumpers. They were larger than the Euro-style bumpers, sure, as you can see here:

Volkswagen Golf Gtd 03a

There were also Euro-style sleeker bumpers, sometimes found on GTIs:

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Golf Gti 1

Everyone always seemed to prefer these other bumpers, for aesthetic reasons, even if they were, functionally, far less capable than the shock-absorber-mounted US-spec, no-damage-up-to-5mph bumpers. But people never had anything good to say about the US bumpers, and would often retrofit their cars to have the smaller Euro ones.

But I think it’s extremely significant that the person who actually designed the Golf, Giugiaro himself, when it came to the Golf that he wanted to drive around and be seen in, he went out of his way to request that VW build his European-market Golf, with its strange lone side indicator repeater on the front fender and special ItalDesign badges, would have the huge, strong American-spec bumpers.

After going on and on about how we need stronger bumpers, and anticipating the inevitable arguments against that for aesthetic reasons, it feels pretty good to find that one of the greatest car designers of all time was on Team Strong Bumper.

 

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Evan M
Evan M
26 days ago

I own a Piazza and my partner a mk1 Golf and somehow didn’t realize they were designed by the same guy…

Freelivin2713
Freelivin2713
26 days ago

Interesting…I love the VW Rabbit/Golf

Anonymous Person
Anonymous Person
27 days ago

Looks like a VW Rabbit to me.

EricTheViking
EricTheViking
27 days ago

Perhaps Giugiaro was sick of “Park à la Parisienne” technique used by other drivers that ruined his cars.

By the way, it’s common to see many of Mercedes-Benz SL (R107) roadsters plucked from California or sunny states and exported back to Germany. The German owners didn’t bother replacing the battle ram bumpers with slender European ones.

Black Peter
Black Peter
26 days ago
Reply to  EricTheViking

This actually makes a lot of sense..

MikeInTheWoods
MikeInTheWoods
27 days ago

I’m with the master designer on Team Strong Bumper. Can we get a TSB T-shirt? My first car was an 89 XJ that I hitched to a tree to pull the bumper back out when it got tapped. Then an old lady ran a stop sign and my 98 Tacoma’s front (plastic) bumper was badly damaged. Insurance paid me and I bought an ARB bull. The strongest TSB I could get. My wife loved that bumper since she felt safe from Bambi and the other idiot deer and drivers.

Do You Have a Moment To Talk About Renaults?
Do You Have a Moment To Talk About Renaults?
27 days ago

I mean, I totally get it. I always loved US-spec versions of popular European cars, because they’re so exotic this side of the pond. Just like some american car people have full EU-spec bumper/headlight sets shipped from over here, it’s not that uncommon for Europeans to source US-spec parts for their cars.

Nlpnt
Nlpnt
27 days ago

The big bumpers aren’t as much a tragedy as the color, or lack thereof. Sure this car looks about as good as a black car can, but come on there were so many great colors for the Golf 1 – Miami Blue, Viper Green, even Mars Red as cliched as it is on a GTI would’ve been a better pick.

Ford_Timelord
Ford_Timelord
26 days ago
Reply to  Nlpnt

The only car I ever bought for its colour. A Mk1 GLS 1.6 Australian delivered because of the Santos Green paint.

Martin Ibert
Martin Ibert
27 days ago

Why, oh why, are the indicators not placed at the extremes of the car? What sense does that make?

EricTheViking
EricTheViking
27 days ago
Reply to  Martin Ibert

The 1975 US bumper standards stipulated the protection from 5-mph frontal and rear collisions and at an angle without any damage to the body and lighting system. Moving the turn signal indicators further away from the edge offered the better protection (and probably satisfied this requirement).

You can see passengers cars built during the 1970s from Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.

Martin Ibert
Martin Ibert
26 days ago
Reply to  EricTheViking

Oh cool. I did know about the 8-km/h rule but not that it applied to angled collisions. Thanks for the explanation!

AWZ P70
AWZ P70
28 days ago

Living in Italy I am sure the bumpers helped preserve the car.

Phuzz
Phuzz
25 days ago
Reply to  AWZ P70

The original parking sensors.

Fred Fedurch
Fred Fedurch
28 days ago

Spotted them both.

Trewennack
Trewennack
28 days ago

“Looks like a frog that swallowed a box”. Bill Mitchell, GM head of Design. ????

J.N.
J.N.
28 days ago

I would buy a modern car with that design

Christo Arvanitis
Christo Arvanitis
28 days ago
Reply to  J.N.

RIvian R3, or the snappier R3X in this case should do the trick. Also gives off strong Rabbit/Golf inspired Dodge Omni vibes. https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/koEA9x/s1/rivian-r3x.webp

Last edited 28 days ago by Christo Arvanitis
EricTheViking
EricTheViking
27 days ago
Reply to  Fred Fedurch

Saw a few of them in Munich area. Really interesting car!

Nicholas Bianski
Nicholas Bianski
28 days ago

The R3X is gorgeous. It doesn’t look like a Golf or an Integrale to me, but it reminds me of both. Rivian absolutely killed it with the design on that one.

Scott
Scott
28 days ago

Geez, I hadn’t seen that before. It’s wonderful! Thanks Christo! 🙂

Scott Morrison
Scott Morrison
28 days ago

Also, if that is the pic of Giugiaro’s actual Euro GTI, the markers would be wrong.

Nlpnt
Nlpnt
28 days ago
Reply to  Scott Morrison

No, they’re correct but Italian-market specific.

EricTheViking
EricTheViking
27 days ago
Reply to  Scott Morrison

Italy requires side turn signal repeaters since 1950s (incidentially, the first country to require them). Volkswagen didn’t offer its factory-installed repeaters until the second-generation Golf in 1983. So, the importers and distributors in Italy (and those countries that also required them) had to install them individually prior to the sales.

If you bother to peruse Auto Scout 24 automobile classified website, you can see lot of Italian-specified Golf with that chunky orange side turn signal repeaters.

Widgetsltd
Widgetsltd
28 days ago

Sorry, but I’m on team Euro bumper. The only reason why I didn’t put those slim, trim Euro bumpers on my ’85 GTI is because I was a poor college student in 1991 when I had the car.

Dogisbadob
Dogisbadob
28 days ago

Why *didn’t* they make a 4-door GTI back then? Besides the one-off, of course.

Bram Oude Elberink
Bram Oude Elberink
27 days ago
Reply to  Dogisbadob

In that time 4/5 door hatchbacks were considered to be a family car (boring) and the 2/3 door hatchbacks were considered to be the more sporty versions for young people. So it made no sense to offer the GTI in family clothing, as it would not sell.

Last edited 27 days ago by Bram Oude Elberink
UnseenCat
UnseenCat
28 days ago

The US-spec bumpers cover a bit more of the curved sheetmetal at the front and rear overhangs of the car, and in doing so, they tend to emphasize the rest of the car’s more rectilinear shape. From certain angles, they bulk it up a little more and work well along with the GTI’s chunkier fender flare extensions. In the GTI form, they add a bit of aggressiveness to the look. So I can see possibly why Giugiaro wanted them.

Last edited 28 days ago by UnseenCat
Sucktastico!
Sucktastico!
28 days ago

The US spec are not the abominations like, for instance, the bumper car ones on a MGB (although I believe those to have been rated to 35mph, based on my friends experiences bouncing off walls and trees), plus given he was driving in Italy, I think it makes way more sense. He also much more liked the square sealed beams on US spec because his original design had square headlights.

Andy Tarnoff
Andy Tarnoff
28 days ago
Reply to  Sucktastico!

Ya know, having owned my ‘75 MGB since 2000, I’ve come to love the rubber bumper look. I prefer them to chrome bumpers. I know I’m in a tiny minority with this opinion.

Sucktastico!
Sucktastico!
26 days ago
Reply to  Andy Tarnoff

I think the designers did about as commendable a job blending them into the overall bodywork as could be hoped for sure

Andrea Petersen
Andrea Petersen
28 days ago

Simple. He knew what would likely happen to the car in the course of normal driving around Italy, so he had the ugly-but-tough bumpers put on for utilitarian reasons. On the other hand, thinking of Giugiaro sacrificing aesthetics for practicality is kinda making me a little nauseous.

Vortex
Vortex
28 days ago

or the vehicle was intended for his wife…woman driving, incident bending.

Fred Fedurch
Fred Fedurch
28 days ago
Reply to  Vortex
Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
28 days ago

Man was no fool. He knew what driving in Italy was like. They park by feel in Rome. Those bumpers probably got a work out.

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
28 days ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

I’m surprised he didn’t request a roll cage too.

Lardo
Lardo
28 days ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

I was told it was called Parisian Parking, but yeah.

Kevin B Rhodes
Kevin B Rhodes
23 days ago
Reply to  Lardo

The difference is that the Italians take a little bit of care – they will ease in and *gently* shove the car ahead to make room. The French have no fucks to give when it comes to cars.

Lardo
Lardo
23 days ago
Reply to  Kevin B Rhodes

typical

Adrian Clarke
Adrian Clarke
28 days ago

He was drunk when VW called. It’s the only possibly explanation.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
28 days ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Is that a designer thing?

Adrian Clarke
Adrian Clarke
28 days ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Luckily it’s a skill that passes over to working here as well. That skill being day drinking of course.

Bram Oude Elberink
Bram Oude Elberink
27 days ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

I think you refer to the US style bumpers, and not to the 5 door version. Because I would also choose the 5 door over the 3 door, because of the strong image of the C-pillar line.
Regarding the bumper, I would have to disagree with your explanation. I think quite a lot of the designers (*) have a strong pragmatic view on products. So if the US bumpers result in a longer lifetime of the car, especially in the environment of Italian cities, I can see why Giugiaro would choose US bumpers.
(*)case in point; I once had the privilege of participating in a masterclass car sketching by the late Robert Opron, designer of great automobiles such as the Citroën SM, GS, CX, Renault Apine, etc. His garage included an SM, however his daily driver was a humble Suzuki Wagon R+. In his mind everything you would ever need in a car, with as few character lines in the design as possible (his wording). Only improvement he could think of was plastic bumpers instead of coloured bumpers…

Dodsworth
Dodsworth
28 days ago

I might be working off failed memory, but I seem to remember that years ago many well-heeled Europeans wanted U.S. spec bumpers on their cars. Function before form, I guess. It occurs to me that if someone designed a new car with actual chrome bumpers, people might go for it. It would be something different to a new generation.

Mick Molte
Mick Molte
28 days ago
Reply to  Dodsworth

I always thought it was more a matter of the grass being greener. Like regardless of both function and aesthetics, the Europeans wanted US bumpers and vice versa because it’d make their cars standout in their home countries.

I’m a Volvo guy and I see it all the time with 2/7/9 series headlights. Europeans like putting the plastic US spec lights on, and Americans like putting the glass Euro spec lights on.

ReverendDC
ReverendDC
28 days ago

I’m reading way too much of JT…I noticed the bumpers, and was wondering why they were there for a VW for European use…and then I read further and felt vindicated…

SAABstory
SAABstory
28 days ago

Also that original Golf/GTI design is impeccable, even today.

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
28 days ago
Reply to  SAABstory

They would sell the shit out of them if they were reintroduced today.

TriangleRAD
TriangleRAD
28 days ago

He designed the car to be utilitarian, and those US-spec bumpers are nothing if not utilitarian.

SAABstory
SAABstory
28 days ago

First car was a 70 Beetle. Being 16 of course I backed into something. Bumper did it’s job, no problem. Current 12 Wrangler got bumped from behind in a parking lot. Bumper did it’s job, no problem.

Wife had a Prius. Got bumped. Big repair bill. Changed to a Grand Cherokee. Front bumper issue. Big repair bill.

I am FULLY on Team Strong Bumper.

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