My 10 favorite Cars #2: Volkswagen GTI

Man, they just don't get a whole lot better than this one.  When VW engineers worked after-hours on a car that wasn't ever originally planned for production, the result was so good that even the suits could see absolutely no reason not to produce the world's first "pocket rocket", and a motoring icon was born.

The body  of the Mk1 was designed by legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro, the shape is very much the same as more pedestrian Golf models, but through subtle bits of flair, such as the red around the grille and the black around the rear window, somehow achieves a more distinctive and special quality.  As always, the Giugiaro design is a magnificent combnation of style, engineering, and practicality. 

GTI stands for "Grand Touring Injection", and as you'd expect, it came standard with fuel injection.    It had 110hp, and weighed under 1,900 pounds, and could hit 60mph in under 9 seconds, which was quite fast in the emission-choked 1970's.  As important, it featured four-wheel independent suspension with quite firm damping but soft enough springing to make it incredibly agile, but also quite comfortable.  And even more importantly, it was affordable.  The GTI gained a cult following who appreciated the above characteristics, as well as the durability and reliability over other sporting cars from Europe at the time.

Over the years, the GTI got gradually larger, heavier, and relatively slower, but maintained a reputation as a motoring icon.  It wasn't until the MkV model (2006-2009 in the U.S) that the GTI got it's true swagger back.  They even remembered to put a red stripe around the grille!


In fact, I like the GTI so much, I own one,  and could not be more happy with it.