Although Golf GTI officially was born 35 years ago, its story begins naturally long before an official way. A group of most sporty Volkswagen line enthusiasts promoted the “Sport-Golf” project (sports golf) from 1974, initially, in secret. Those responsible for the project were Anton Konrad, former head of Public Relations, and Alfons Löwenberg, an engineer with gasoline in the veins.
The idea
Alfons Löwenberg recalls: "On March 18, 1974 I sent an internal memorandum to my colleagues from the R&D department, as usual in me, considering the possibility of creating a new sports golf model for the youngest." Löwenberg's proposal found no support among his colleagues, which "was expected," according to Anton Konrad: "At that time, Volkswagen was fully concentrated in promoting her new range of models, for this reason, Löwenberg's brave project had no great acceptance." This did not discourage much less Löwenberg who continued to develop the chassis of the future GTI in hiding ...
Preliminary phase
The engineer installs a double weber body carburetor in the 1.6 -liter golf engine, integrates a homologated sporting tube into the body and reduces the chassis considerably. Comfort is practically null. Löwenberg's "artifact" generated a great sensation in the Volkswagen Ehra-Lussien test circuit, however, he risks too much and proposes Prof. Dr. Ernst Fiala, head of the R&D department, to go around the noisy car. Löwenberg recalls: "The result was disastrous, roaring so much or more than the escape tube of a racing car. 35 years later we smile when remembering this moment." "It is impossible to drive this car!" It was Fiala's reaction. Overnight, the project ran the risk of failing. "We had to quickly change strategy," explains Anton Konrad. For this reason, in 1974 he decided to convene a meeting with some of his colleagues: Hermann Speakingzel (Responsible for Development and Chief of Golf Project), Jürgen Adler (Interior Manager), Herbert Schuster (head of the Test Department), Horst-Dieter Schwittlinsky (Marketing Department) and Alfons Löwenberg. Konrad is aware that, if he wanted the presentation of the new model to fruit, it was necessary to keep the conversations about the project outside the company and the ideal framework for it would be the living room of his house.
Of course, he will think more than one, now comes the history of the meeting with tapas and beer! Anton Konrad insists on correcting the version of the facts: "It was not so, the meeting was held drinking coffee and tasting a rich cake that my wife made."
The beginning
The “Sport-Golf” project is consolidating day by day. The engineers are very clear: the goal is to design a comfortable, sports and versatile car that has nothing to do with the noisy racing sports. In the beginning it was agreed to manufacture a special edition of 5,000 units that would constitute the homologation basis for admission to automobile sport. "A figure too low to obtain benefits with its commercialization after having subtracted the manufacturing costs," recalls Horst-Dieter Schwittlinsky. "We were very clear," analyzes Herbert Schuster, "that the only way to carry out the GTI project was to reduce manufacturing costs using serial parts." The result of that meeting was the creation of a magical recipe that knew the guests as well as the exquisite cake served that afternoon. The team begins to make their way against wind and tide.
The ingredients
In order to save weight and expenses, the engineers decided to use the basic version of the two -door golf as Base GTI and adapt their chassis to the additional power of the engine. Herbert Schuster comments: "We equip the front axle with a stabilizer, larger brake tweezers and disc brakes with internal ventilation. The shortened suspension springs in 20 millimeters and the adapted shock absorbers specifically reduced the golf discreetly. The modification of the chassis provided the future golf a great stability to high revolutions and conform of driving at large speeds." Recaro provides sports seats. The sports steering wheel is adopted from the scirocco ts that had recently premiered. The design department performs a brainstorming to determine the aspect they would give to the outside of the new model. "At that time, the red-black combination seemed very appropriate for a sports car," says Gunhild Liljequist, ancient designer of the cloth for the upholstery, the coatings of the doors and the inner equipment of the Golf GTI and, subsequently, also a designer of special versions of Volkswagen. Precisely this designer was the one who created the legendary upholstery of Scottish paintings. One of her colleagues devised the red ribete of the grill, she in turn had the idea of the knob of the gearshift shift lever.
The engine
Everything was going to the stern, however, there was still a problem to solve: "The instruction of the technique of double body carburetors, and all for an edition of only 5,000 cars - a completely absurd idea!" Anton Konrad comments that, in the middle of the project, he receives an invitation from the former head of the Audi R&D area, Ferdinand Piëch, to visit him in Ingolstadt. Anton Konrad comments: "Mr. Piëch introduced me to the new Audi 80 Gte and asked me if I wanted to try it. Without thinking twice I said yes." Anton Konrad experiences the powerful 110 hp engine being impressed; He instantly knows that he had found the engine he was looking for for his "project." Anton Konrad tells Piëch his idea and he decides to grant Volkswagen spontaneously 5,000 GTE engines for the new golf model. "This was the decisive moment," adds Anton Konrad, "we knew that the car was complete and prepared to officially present it to the address."
The decision
Anton Konrad confirms the president of the Board of Directors, Toni Schmücker, which until now seemed to be an open secret: the existence of the “Sport-Golf” project; He then votes. The rest is already history: the 5,000 units planned, initially, for Golf GTI today have become almost 2 million ...
