That was a GTI?

A GTI what exactly? It was a VW Golf GTI.

This car almost single-handedly killed off the small cheap British sports car. It could manage almost 110mph, wasn’t drafty inside, didn’t shake, rattle or roll, didn’t get stuck on sleeping policemen, could easily seat two adults and two kids, and there was room for golf clubs in the back.

You didn’t have to fight with it to keep it on the road either. There were no nasty quirks like lever arm suspension, a la MGB, swing axles a la Spitfire, and cart springs a la Midget. It was built like a tank, and it didn’t lose bits to the side of the road. To add insult to injury, it would start every morning, first turn of the key.

What we were witnessing was the birth of the ‘hot’ hatchback, a sporting theme applied to a ‘shopping trolley’. This car could give a Triumph TR6 a good run for its money. What it lacked on the straight (a theoretical 7mph) was easily made up at the first corner.

As with all good things, they come to an end. The Golf put on weight, losing the crisp lines of the original, and some of the raw performance too. The sprightly character was lost, something that never happened to the British affordable soft-tops. They were originally designed as upholstered roller-skates, and stayed that way into oblivion.