VW Golf S 1976

[lowdrag]

I had one of these but to this day I've never seen another. The base model fitted with rubber mats and not carpets but a great 1500cc motor. My first foreign car, and never, for everyday transport, thought of buying british again. Anyway, back on subject, I've tried to research the history of this model but can't seem to find anything. Anyone help out please?

[benjj]

I know a few people I can ask.

[benjj]

"April 74: Start of Golf production in Wolfsburg, Germany. Hatchback offered with 3 or 5 doors, 1093cc or 1471cc engines with 4 speed gearbox and choice of trim levels base, “S”, “L”, or “LS” "

Yours must have been a 1471cc 4 speed manual S.

[theadman]

You're right. Nearly all the 1500s were LS spec. As an independent importer rather than a factory owned subsidiary maximising profit was the name of the game. So if you wanted the big engine you generally had to buy the highest trim level. There was much less profit in the 'S' so the numbers imported were carefully managed and with the 1100 engine it was used to compete head on with the best of British as typified by the Allegro 1.3 which was around the same price IIRC.

The 1500 was a good engine and as the car only weighed just over 850kg it was surprisingly quick. The low weight was a significant part of the Mk1 GTI's successful formula (and was just as well given the braking ability of early RHD cars!)

[jith]

lowdrag said:

I had one of these but to this day I've never seen another. The base model fitted with rubber mats and not carpets but a great 1500cc motor. My first foreign car, and never, for everyday transport, thought of buying british again. Anyway, back on subject, I've tried to research the history of this model but can't seem to find anything. Anyone help out please?

Alright lowdrag, this is from memory, so no anorak pedants please!

The first Golfs were arguably the best in terms of simplicity of design. Both engines were virtually the same design; 4 cylinder inline, transversely mounted, 5 bearing crank with belt driven, single overhead camshaft. Very efficient in its day.

The 1100s had a single choke carb, either Solex or Pierburg. The 1500 also had a single choke carb on the L variant, the LS had a twin choke, different exhaust manifold and, I think, a slightly hotter cam. The Golf shared this engine with the early Sciroccos, Passats and Audi 80s. The Audi version definitely had a hotter cam.

I'm pretty sure all the early cars were 4 speed. They had no front subframe, all the steering and suspension components were bolted to the body shell; the main reason they had that feeling of driving a big go kart!

The whole design concept was one of simplicity and efficiency; typically teutonic, and it worked wonderfully well. When my workshop was festooned with broken BL garbage, including Jaguar, undergoing constant warranty work, the wee Golfs would come in for an oil change, a set of plugs and a quick tune up and could then be driven to Australia without failure if required!

I bought my daughter an 1100, 2 door mk1 when she was a student. She kept it for years and still talks about it to this day. The engine finally gave out after god knows how many miles and journeys of "let's see how many students we can cram into a Heather's Golf", and we transplanted a 1300 and 5 speed box from a Mk2, and it transformed the performance and gave it a new lease of life.

As an aside, another superb VW product of that age was the Mk 1 Polo; a beautifully built little car with stainless steel dash inserts and terrific handling. You know it's not always the exotica that are the superb cars.

Ah, those were the days!

If there is something specific you are interested in lowdrag, let me know and I'll scrape the barrels of my memory cells and try and come up with an answer.

Regards,

J