It’s not every year that a car celebrates 50 years on sale, so VW can be excused for going all in on the Golf GTI’s big birthday shenanigans; we’ve already seen and reviewed the anniversary edition just a few weeks into 2026, which we can expect to see on UK roads within a few months. It wouldn’t be a surprise to learn something substantial about the future of the GTI badge in this momentous year, too. And now it’s time to bring out the photo album of the Golf GTI’s younger, sillier self for everyone to look at, as VW has recommissioned a trio of classic concepts.
In chronological order, these are the W12-650 of 2007, the Vision Design from 2013, and the Roadster from the year after. Funny how fast and furious Golf concepts came to a pretty abrupt halt after 2015. VW hasn’t issued an official press release or anything, it simply had all three shot in the same location as the Edition 50 launch for Golf enthusiasts to enjoy. And given it was never really clear if the latter two actually functioned, this feels a bit more notable than the usual ‘This Is Your Life’ photoshoot.
The GTI Roadster was another wild creation for the virtual world, back when anyone and everyone in automotive was making a Vision Gran Turismo car. It was made at a time when the Worthersee meet was at its pomp, VW always bringing something special for the die-hards to appreciate. The Roadster was definitely that, with familiar GTI details (see the red grille surround) on truly outrageous proportions: a wheelbase hacked to 2,494mm, height scalped to 1,090mm and beefed up to 1,890mm across its broad haunches. Even on Gran Turismo it looked pretty wild, yet somehow just about still a Golf, and the passing of almost a dozen years has done nothing to dim its impact. In fact, seeing it on the move, with an incredible interior seemingly straight from a Lamborghini design study, only serves to make the Roadster seem even more dramatic. Because of course Volkswagen made its car for Gran Turismo fully functional - as if there was ever any doubt.
The Roadster actually shared its powertrain with the Vision Design GTI that was seen the year before, a 503hp version of the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 also used in the Porsche Panamera of the time. Nobody wants to drive a Golf of a regular performance level in Gran Turismo, after all. The Vision was a preview (clue’s in the name and all that) of what a more extreme hot Golf of the time could be, with the Mk7 GTI already launched and this car evoking the glory days of VR6s and R32s with its layout.
Even at the time, it was hard to suggest that something as wild as the Vision GTI - again drastically lower, wider and madder, just like the Roadster - was ever going to be driven away from private land. Instead it showed off just how versatile the MQB ‘toolkit’ could be in making cars, and that VW did see a future for a hot Golf above the GTI. Which, if less crazy, did become the Clubsport S, so we should be thankful for that. Any later than 2016 and it probably would never have happened.
Despite being the oldest, the Mk5-based W12-650 surely remains the most recognisable, most amazing of all the Golf concepts. A primetime television appearance will certainly help that impression (in the UK, at least), as will putting a 6.0-litre engine in the middle of a family hatchback. Even at a time when cars like the Clio V6 were a very recent memory - the Golf having been built in 2007 - this was another level of lunacy. The W12 was twin turbocharged, remember, to achieve more power than even the Continental GTs the engine was normally used in. The Golf was rear-wheel drive as well, and adorned with a carbon widebody kit straight out of Need for Speed. The 650 was another Worthersee cult hero, and unsurprisingly looks just as good in red as it has in white for almost 20 years. Anything quite so jaw-dropping and vaguely Golf GTI shaped, for the real or virtual world, seems unlikely in the current climate, but you never know - they do say life begins at 50…
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