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The Golf is an historically important model of automobile, as it has been in continuous production from 1974 until the present day. It was responsible for the mass-market acceptance of the hatchback design and created the concept of a hot hatch. The Golf was also a crucial model for VW itself; by the early 1970s the company was in serious financial trouble; Beetle sales were in terminal decline, and car buyers increasingly turned away from VW's quirky aircooled, rear-engined models. The Type 3 and Type 4 failed to attract any interest, whilst the NSU-developed K70 was an unmitigated disaster. The saviour of the German car giant came in the form of Auto Union, which owned the famous Audi brand. VW had acquired the Ingolstadt company in the mid 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around from Daimler-BenzDaimler-Benz AG was founded on May 1, 1924 by the merger of Benz & Cie. and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. It merged in 1998 with the Chrysler Corporation to form DaimlerChrysler AG. See also List of automobile manufacturers Aircraft engine manufacturers D, and crucially gained access to Audi's expertise in water cooled engines and front wheel driveFront wheel drive is the most common form of engine/ transmission layout used in modern automobiles, where the engine drives the front wheels. Rear wheel drive was the traditional standard while four wheel drive is also sometimes used. The history of fron which were needed to produce a new generation of Volkswagens. The Golf was the central product of this new strategy.
The first version Golf began production in 1974. Marketed in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in from 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i- 1984This page is about the year 1984. For other uses of 1984, see 1984 (disambiguation). 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday (link shows calendar). Events January January 1 Brunei becomes a fully independent state January 1 AT&T is broken up into 22 indepe as the Volkswagen Rabbit, it featured the water-cooled, front transverseThe term, transverse means "side-to-side" as opposed to longitudinal which means "front-to-back". In automotive engineering, the term, 'transverse' refers to an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the wheels of the vehicle.-engine, front wheel drive design pioneered by the Mini with the addition of a hatchback, revolutionizing small car design and manufacture.
While the Golf was not the first design with this layout (that honour going to the Fiat 128 3P of the early 1970s), it was the first to be truly successful in the mass market, and it was this, rather than the Fiat, that was widely copied by others.
The Golf was designed by Italian automobile architect Giorgetto Giugiaro, of the Ital design studio. A version of this original Golf model, known as the VW Citi, is still produced in South Africa as an entry level car.
The GTi version, launched in Europe 1977 and the US in 1983, created a whole new genre and market of car—the hot hatch, and was widely copied by all other manufacturers since.
The convertible coupe, sold from 1980-1993, had a reinforced body, transverse roll bar, and a high level of trim. Golfs were literally delivered to Karmann in order to have their tops cut off. The vinyl tops were insulated and manually operated, with a glass rear window.