More than 500,000 Golf Mk1s Produced at South African Plant
Canadian Auto Press

In news that might be shocking outside of VW fan club circles, Volkswagen has finally ended production of the original Golf (aka Rabbit) Mk1, the now legendary front-drive hatchback that not only replaced the legendary Beetle back in 1974, but initiated a two-box hatchback body configuration that is still the global compact car mainstay today.

09 Golf Citi Mk1

In more recent years the Golf Mk1 was available only in various jurisdictions, although it has been built in South Africa, reportedly using original tooling from Volkswagen’s Pennsylvania Rabbit plant. Why does it exist at all? Back when the larger, heavier and more expensive Golf Mk2 was introduced in 1984, VW kept the Mk1 around to sell as a cheaper entry-level product, and gave it names like Econo Golf and CitiGolf. The automaker did the same thing more recently in Canada with after the previous generation Rabbit (Golf Mk5) was introduced, bringing the Golf Mk4 back from the grave to be sold as the City Golf, along with the same era Jetta as the City Jetta, albeit a much more advanced car than the South African Mk1 CitiGolf.

Now, 25 years later, that near-original South African-made Golf Mk1 has more than half a million units to its credit, and through the years has been offered with a variety of powerplants over and above the 70hp 1.5-litre gasoline-fed four-cylinder that it came with originally. Displacements ranged in size from 1.1 litres to 1.8, and fuel types included gasoline and diesel, while transmission choices have included four- and five-speed manual gearboxes as well as a three-speed automatic (that takes us back a few years).

While VW could have had a heyday selling the Mk1 in North America if it were only to have reintroduced it here anytime since its demise from these shores (there are a lot of fans of this original Golf), it would never have passed our more recent stricter safety standards. The single steering-hub-mounted driver’s side airbag was added later in its lifecycle, and other safety systems were nonexistent or at best sadly out of date.

The final CitiGolf has now rolled off the assembly line, ending a 25-year run.