JP’s A to Z Challenge – G is for GTI

I could have saved this one for R (Rabbit) or for V (Volkswagen), but I liked this one too much to wait. The Volkswagen Rabbit made a big splash when it was introduced to the U.S. market in 1975, a year after its introduction to the German market as the Volkswagen Golf. Which is another reason this car deserves the G. But the GTI version was something else altogether.

The GTI model was conceived as a sports version of the Golf in Germany, and was introduced there as a 1976 model. We in the U.S. (who always grumbled that we never got the really good German versions of Volkswagens) finally got this one in 1983.

The GTI has been called the original pocket rocket – meaning a small-but-potent car. In U.S. trim, the car boasted 90 horsepower from its fuel-injected four cylinder engine. Which sounds like small potatoes today, but it was a lot for the time in such a lightweight car. Car & Driver Magazine said the GTI would accelerate 0-60 a full second faster than a 1983 Pontiac Trans Am with a V8 and a 4 speed. With the addition of a taut suspension, good brakes and fat tires, these little Rabbit GTIs were an absolute hoot to drive.

VW of America had some fun with its advertising when it adapted the 1964 hit record “Little GTO” by Ronnie and the Daytonas to “Little GTI”, only with all German lyrics to the original instrumental music. (You can watch it here). The idea was that this was the 1980’s version of a 1960’s muscle car. At least in a Volkswagen kind of way.

I still vividly remember the day I was out driving around, mulling over what I wanted to buy for my first new car. I had test driven several different models, but couldn’t make up my mind. Then a Rabbit GTI just like this one, only painted silver, came into my view and I remember thinking “That’s It!”

Unfortunately, they had stopped making this original version by the time I was in the market for a car, so I got the 1985 model – one that was had assumed the German Golf name. It was a little bigger, a little heavier, and a little more powerful. And it was still a hoot to drive.

But I always thought mine lacked a little something – was it playfulness? – that was just brimming from this original version. Which was why I was so excited to get these shots when a guy who had bought this car brand new drove it to the bank when I happened to be there one day. I immediately saw those three red letters and knew this wasn’t just an ordinary white Rabbit.

Photos by the author, March 12, 2013, Indianapolis, Indiana

27 thoughts on “JP’s A to Z Challenge – G is for GTI”

  1. The rear windshield (and wiper) might be the largest I’ve ever seen relative to the size of the vehicle body! Looks similar to my own first car (1984), a white Mazda 626 hatchback.

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  3. My wife and I held off from becoming a two-car family until after our second son was born. Both vehicles were Volkswagen Rabbits. After our third son came along, we caved in and started making sure one vehicle was always an SUV.

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  4. The Golf GTI is still around, probably still one of the most fun hot hatches you can get.
    But cars have become too bloated with both size and tech to be as much fun as these things were.

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  5. That’s great stuff! I loved the commercial and I remember that tagline, “It’s not a car. It’s a Volkswagen.” We used to have fun with that, of course. I didn’t know all the stuff about the GTI. I usually learn things when I read your blog.

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  6. JP, I vaguely remember the Rabbit, but not the commercial, although the song sounds just as cool in German. I’m really liking the Volkswagen commercial they’ve been playing on TV lately, with the retro van. Are You Having Any Fun – Elaine Stritch. Love the song and the retro look of the van. The ad is really well done – especially the shot of the little girl at the end with the beach towel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGxM2KDI6Qg Is Elaine Stritch a singer you are familiar with?

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    • Your link to it is the first time I have seen that commercial. The song and the retro vibe seem to match the van. And I had to look up Elaine Stritch – she had quite a career!

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      • It plays all the time on the TV channel I watch the news on…..but a shorter version than on youtube. It’s a catchy song….this week I’m definitely NOT having any fun! It seems repairs come in threes….Mon (glasses), Tues (Car A/C topped up refrigerant), and today I’m waiting for the plumber…..

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      • He is here – $279 plus tax to fix a leaky valve….not covered under my maintenance plan of course not. Thankfully he is an older older experienced man, but he took one look at the corroded valve and said, who put this in? The guy from the kitchen reno…..

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      • Had to laugh, Elaine Stritch, I think she worked every day of her life! Including ending up as Alec Baldwin’s mother on 30 Rock, showing she still had it in spades!

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  7. I thought I remembered that fun commercial JP, so I listened to it and do remember that catchy tune of course, but I couldn’t remember the German words to it. 🙂 I think it looks a little like the AMC Pacer with that big rear hatchback window. I love the window wiper and wonder why my Pacer with its equally big hatchback window didn’t have a back window wiper like this one?

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    • I think the Pacer hit before the rear wiper became something people expected. I have always been a hatchback fan – I love the ability to carry bulky stuff in a small car.

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      • Well, that is a good reason for the Pacer not having the rear window wiper. Yes, the hatchback feature was great and I think I mentioned before that I did all the landscaping in my backyard in the Summer of 1985 by toting it in umpteen trips in my Pacer. I also had to get new springs because of that landscaping. This was long before Lowes delivery was a “thing”.

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  8. I remember the excitement when the Rabbit debuted. People were waiting for the Beetle’s replacement, and were initially impressed by the Rabbit. That is, until they began spending as much time in the shop as on the road. VW bought an unfinished Chrysler factory in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and began producing Rabbits there. Unfortunately, they hired some former GM officials for poduct planning, who then “Americanized” the Rabbit, which seriously diluted its appeal. The GTI was an attempt to overcome these mistakes and get some good PR for a car that had been on the market for a few years (and was losing to the more reliable Japanese competition). The GTI was a good move – the boxy, no-nonsense shape of the Rabbit fit the GTI perfectly.

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  10. A very good choice for G. Back when we were car shopping, I did find a Jetta GLI or two on the lot; not sure of the reasonings for the mild name change, but VW has kept the good things going with the GTI / GLI.

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    • I always wondered why the GTI badge didn’t go on Jettas too, but the sporty Jetta was a GLI from the first. I remember that its specs were a little milder, at least at first.

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