GTI - fascination with three letters

With the Volkswagen Golf GTI, Volkswagen launched a sports car for everyone in 1976, hitting the nerve of the time. We look back and show how the sports car from Wolfsburg has evolved from generation to generation. New, unique, powerful - when the Golf GTI was unveiled to the world at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt am Main in 1975 and launched on the market a year later, it was a sensation. Visually, it differs from the original Volkswagen Golf in only a few details, but behind the understated exterior hides a genuine racing machine - powered by a new, lively 110-horsepower engine. In 1974, a half-dozen like-minded people, including Volkswagen's then press officer Anton Konrad, had forged a secret plan at Volkswagen to develop a "Sport Golf." They managed to turn a compact car into a sports car that nevertheless remained affordable and also proved itself in everyday use. To this day, the Golf GTI is a sports car for everyone. After an initial planned production run of 5,000 units, more than two million units have now been delivered worldwide, spanning eight generations and various special models. This makes it one of the most successful compact sports cars in the world.