Mk1 Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen. The VW Golf Mk1 was first introduced in the United States and Canada as Volkswagen Rabbit and in Latin America as the Volkswagen Caribe. This compact car was introduced as a replacement to the air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle. Based on front-wheel drive, the Golf went on to become Volkswagen's best-selling model in history and world's third best-selling model. This highly successful model has by 2005 sold more than 24 million units.

Designed by Italian automobile architect and designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, the earlier versions of Golf featured a 3-door hatchback style compact design. Subsequent models sported 5-door hatchback, station wagon Estate, and convertible Cabrio variants. In 1976, the Mk1 Golf GTI version was introduced in Europe. This ‘hot hatch’ edition was launched to counter the existing array of GTI models introduced by several competing automobile manufacturers. It was one of the first small cars to feature fuel injection for its sports version with an increased power output of the 1588 cc engine that could churn out 110 PS (81 kW/108 HP).

Later models of the Golf underwent some cosmetic changes by incorporating a larger rear lamp clusters, revised bumpers, and square headlights for the US versions, giving it a modern appearance. As of 2006, the South African branch of Volkswagen continues to produce two versions of the Mark 1 Golf, the five-door Citi Golf and the Volkswagen Caddy pickup.