1974 VW Golf review

I’ve had all of the first three Golf GTi’s. Mark one was great but very little in the way of creature comforts. The mark 2 was epic. I had the 8 valve version, no power steering, windy windows but a superb car. I bought the Mark 3 and it was a nightmare.

Everything went wrong with it and I hated it. Never had a VW since.
 


Churchlanelad said:
driventowrite.com

1974 Volkswagen Golf Review

Volkswagen hits one into the rough. In this transcript of a period review, motoring writer Archie Vicar casts a critical eye over the new Golf, successor to the much-loved Beetle. From The London I…
driventowrite.com driventowrite.com

I found this today and could not believe how wrong this reviewer got this car. It mentions British makes and models long since gone to the scrap yard and is even disparaging of Toyota and Datsun (Nissan). A good laugh.
Click to expand...
Never been fussed about VW. A bit of a bland car and although at 50 odd, never drove one. Got a rental at the as car in the garage. It’s just a polo. New one and its a lovely solid car. You can feel the quality of the drive if again not a lot going on onside. Bit small so quite fancy a golf now. Might treat myself from the grandland ;skip: which is getting a new clutch and gear box after owning it for 7!weeks…at 11k miles.
Big Jeff said:
I’ve had all of the first three Golf GTi’s. Mark one was great but very little in the way of creature comforts. The mark 2 was epic. I had the 8 valve version, no power steering, windy windows but a superb car. I bought the Mark 3 and it was a nightmare.

Everything went wrong with it and I hated it. Never had a VW since.
Click to expand...
Oops. Might have spoken too soon😂
 
Last edited:
HettonSAFC said:
Never been fussed about VW. A bit of a bland car and although at 50 odd, never drove one. Got a rental at the as car in the garage. It’s just a polo. New one and its a lovely solid car. You can feel the quality of the drive if again not a lot going on onside. Bit small so quite fancy a golf now. Might treat myself from the grandland ;skip: which is getting a new clutch and gear box after owning it for 7!weeks…at 11k miles.

Oops. Might have spoken too soon😂
Click to expand...
I bought that car from Mill Garage. They ended up giving me an additional years warranty as I had such a nightmare with it.
 
Big Jeff said:
Italian cars used to rust faster than the grass grew.
Click to expand...
Lancia, Alfa, Audi and Vauxhall allowed their accountants to select the steel to be used in the manufacturing process.

Funnily enough... the accountants chose the cheapest steel resulting in bankruptcy or impending bankruptcy for all 4
 
i had one of the original golf mk1s - bought it second-hand in 1988 - it was my first car.

All of the switchgear was set up for a LH-drive - rocker switches with the on/off light set in the wrong side for RH-drive. The windscreen wipers were also set up for LH-drive. It had an 1100cc engine with about 50bhp - I had farts that moved quicker.

It had no power-steering or servo-assisted brakes - you needed arms like Popeye to steer it and boots like Neil Armstrong to stop it.

I f@cking loved it.
 
faith brothers said:
Most Japanese cars had poor reps at first.
I remember a bloke up our street bought a brand new honda civic with his redundancy pay out in about 1979 it lasted about 6 years and was absolutely rusty as hell. Don't think they had thought about the salt we put on the roads at the time.
Click to expand...

Hondas are still the same now. All the heat shields gradually disintegrated and dropped off mine, before the exhaust cracked.
 
The mark 2 tailgates were a nightmare. They got splattered with all the road muck and rusted and the number plate light screws rotted away
 
And the mark 2 golf’s GTi burnt oil.

I ran one dry. The sump was dirtier than Jim’s ma.

I traded it in to Mill for a mark 3 which was crap.
 

Back
Top