Volkswagen is having a little celebration. We all like a party, don’t we? Except we’re not invited to this one. Sorry. Instead, we’re being invited to order a new Volkswagen Polo GTI Edition 25, which is the celebration of 25 years of the Polo GTI. Yes, that’s right, the little GTI arrived back in 1998 – a good year that: the same year PH opened its virtual doors, in fact. (Speaking of which, don’t forget to book your tickets to the PH25 Anniversary Party event at Bicester on August 12th.)
Anyway, back to the Polo GTI Edition 25. 2,500 of them will be produced worldwide, and in Germany they will be available to order from June 1st, priced at €35,205. Apparently, Volkswagen UK is yet to make up its mind on what to charge for the British cars, or what they’re going to add spec-wise. But we do know it’ll come with sports suspension, an XDS differential lock and a 2.0-litre in-line four-pot with 207hp, because that part of the equation remains unchanged from the standard model.
The release does talk mention the ‘Exclusive anniversary equipment,’ and the implication is that this includes its ‘the classic GTI look, with red brake calipers and trim strips, a honeycomb design on the radiator grille and chrome-plated tailpipes’. But that’s all on the standard car, too, looking at the VW website (it’s hard to be sure, because the VW configurator is currently kaput).
So there's a good chance that all you're getting on top is a set of 18-inch Adelaide alloy wheels (in black, naturally) and a black roof. Because the black exterior door mirrors mentioned in the release also feature on the regular Polo GTI. Inside, it has ‘premium sport seats in perforated black-red leather finished off with stitched GTI logos, and glossy black decorative trim with red GTI lettering’. And just in case you happen to forget what you’ve bought, you'll be constantly reminded of it by the “One of 2500” logo on the sill.
“Volkswagen has a rich heritage and the Polo is one of our most iconic vehicles,” said member of the brand board, Imelda Labbé, possibly getting a little overexcited. “GTI fans are very important to us and our anniversary model is a way of marking this milestone together with them: celebrating 25 years of power, performance, sportiness, and fun driving in the Polo class.”
Of course, GTI fans would've been better served by Volkswagen making the Polo a properly good hot hatch in the first place, but if you've got especially warm memories of the now venerable supermini, and are partial to frivolous limited-run cars, the Edition 25 might just be worth considering on a last-chance basis. Because there won't be any milestones to celebrate after this one.
1 / 5
