The VW Golf, arguably the world’s most iconic hatchback, celebrates its big five-oh in 2024.

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SINGAPORE - The venerable VW Golf hatchback turns 50 this year. However, there’s still a spring in the current iteration’s step that belies the blaze of glory on its birthday cake, especially with one candle used for each of its 50 years.

On a similar note, this author turns 50 this year too. I might not have that same spring in my step as the Golf, but I should be able to attest to the forest fire on my cake in a few months’ time!

A 50th birthday is a big enough milestone, but in the grand scheme of things, the Golf’s status as one of the greatest automotive milestones eclipses this.

Don’t forget, its lineage has endured to this very day ever since Volkswagen decided over half a century ago it needed a model to succeed the Beetle.

The Mk1 Golf in particular would kick-start Volkswagen Group’s forward-looking modular-platform movement, which would spill over into the other brands under the Group from the Mk4 Golf onwards.

However, beyond the Golf’s eight generations, many, many model variants and success stories from all around the world (more than 37 million Golfs have been sold across the eight generations, 1 million by 1976 alone!), there’s a deeper, more emotional element to the hatchback, especially because it forged a bond with the many families it found homes with.

It may have started out as a humble family hatchback that could serve both functional and fun duties, but the Golf would spawn many model variants that included convertible and station-wagon, as well as the seminal GTI and even hotter R model today.

However, beyond all these hard statistics are the memories – both good and bad – created with the Golf, because that’s just the sort of relationship one tends to form with the really special cars.

It does everything and goes everywhere, much like a superhero’s sidekick in all of his / her life’s adventures. For me, the Golf wasn’t just the four-wheeled embodiment of freedom, but also about the fellowship in shared activities with like-minded petrolheads and friends.

A 1988 Mk2 Golf GTI 8v was my induction into the Golf Club. Bought over from a Uni mate in the UK in the mid-1990s, it was also the first car I owned – a milestone in every petrolhead’s life.

The styling was evergreen, the ride well-damped for British roads, its 112hp / 153Nm delivered reasonably sporty performance and fit and finish were functional and as a whole, the car was tightly put together.

Given this period marked the height of Max Power – a tuning mag that at one point, was the highest circulating publication in the UK – popularity, I threw a bunch of bolt-on parts (and sterling pounds) at it to improve its fun factor.

However, when it came time to sell and the parts de-kitted, I found I preferred the original set-up, which really goes to show: VWs are pretty much ready-to-go out of the factory and the factory always knows best!

The Mk2 GTI was a fab companion throughout my Uni days and true to Golf form, it would be made to run the full gauntlet over the two years under my care.

This would include helping me shift in / out of the dorm, taking long road trips up and down the UK – in addition to impromptu picnics on sun-kissed fields – chasing different stages of the Network Q rally through the winding roads of Wales, as well as the occasional evening sojourn to Yaohan in London for a few rounds of Sega Rally 2!

The hatchback ruled the roads before the rise of the crossovers. The Golf’s compact proportions made it a doodle to manoeuvre in tight city confines, while its hatchback form and fold-down rear seats meant it could accommodate a decent load of cargo.

All things considered, I would enjoy many happy memories with the Mk2 GTI over the course of my time in the UK.

I’d continue this love affair with the Golf back in Singapore, as a Mk4 1.6 joined the family. At the same time, extended bits of the family had a Mk1 Cabriolet and Mk3 Cabriolet respectively (and still do to this very day), so family affairs were literally a reunion of generations in more ways than one!

By the time of the Mk4, VW had upped the tech and posh factor to go with the Golf’s legendary bulletproof build quality, which helped with its push into the premium segment.

More significantly, this modular platform would come to underpin more models from Audi, Skoda and Seat.

Today’s Mk8 Golf is a technological tour de force that sets the yardstick for its rivals to aspire to, regardless of whether it’s the base model, or the storming Golf R.

Everyone wants a piece of the ‘Golf’ action simply because it is the undisputed, definitive hatchback that boasts big car features in a relatively compact body.

It is never OTT or ‘look-at-me’ and the Golf’s most remarkable trait is how remarkably it acquits itself without undue fanfare, which is more than we can say for some empty vessels.

True to its heritage, the current iteration of the Golf features the same restrained and unpretentious design, yet retains sufficient concessions to comfort, sportiness and utility to serve as a sublime all-rounder.

Happy Birthday Golf!

PHOTOS Volkswagen