VW Golf I Cabriolet - Sky and handles

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VW Golf I Cabriolet - Sky and handles

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Created on July 29, 2020

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

29

Volkswagen AG

13

Bruno von Rotz

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Werk/ Volkswagen

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Archiv

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the widening and clad bumpers adapted the Golf to the style of the late 1980s

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - a white Golf Cabriolet became famous when it was used by the young surgeon and heartthrob Udo Brinkmann in the TV series "Schwarzwaldklinik"

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the bar does not interfere with driving at all

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - feels sporty and is a pleasure to drive

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - was built and loved for 14 years

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - from the 1981 model year, the soft top lay a little flatter on the rear

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - together with the predecessor VW 1303 Cabriolet

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the successor together with the predecessor VW 1303 Cabriolet

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - completely different - angular instead of round, engine and drives at the front instead of the rear

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - classic Golf architecture

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - no, the VW 1303 could not turn circles around the VW Golf

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the Golf always outpaces the VW 1303 Cabriolet

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the towering soft top connects the two

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - when it comes to driving performance and driving safety, the Golf clearly has the edge

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the rear windows cannot be lowered completely

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - all in body color, as it began with the special model "Quartett"

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the bone of contention - the roll bar

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - in terms of space, the Cabriolet is no different from the saloon

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - typical Golf

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the steering wheel still has to do without leather

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - already with the rectangular instruments and the high beam lamp can already be "blue"

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - Impact absorber yes, airbag no

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - beautiful upholstery fabric

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - transverse four-cylinder front engine

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - the fuel-injected four-cylinder engine with catalytic converter

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - like its predecessor, the Golf Cabriolets were built by Karmann

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - these were wide tires in the eighties

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - 280 liters is the trunk, only the hatch is very small

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Karmann has dispensed with the handle from the strawberry basket in the prototype.

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1976) - the prototype without bars from 1976 has survived

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VW Golf 1 Cabriolet prototype (1976) - without roll bar and with flatter soft top, which did not make it into series production - Bremen Classic Motorshow 2019

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - the roof is closed quickly, the easiest way is with two people

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - successor to the 1303, the roll bar serves both as a seat belt anchorage and as a guide element for the side windows - Geneva Motor Show 1979

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1980) - more variable, more practical, but less nostalgic

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - also makes a harmonious impression when closed

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - initially offered with two engine versions - 1.5 liter with 70 hp and 1.6 liter with 110 hp

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1980) - the Golf-based bow convertible could not match the charm of its predecessor - and it only accommodated four people

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1985) - Windsbraut - Aesthetics or cw-value

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - the soft top can be easily opened by hand

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - still a Golf at heart, just simply open - the rear seat could still be folded down

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - the bodywork was extensively reinforced, including the bar, cross struts and torsion-resistant side members

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VW Golf 1 Cabriolet (1978) - cutaway models, probably the oldest surviving Golf Cabriolet - Techno Classica Essen 2019

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - the first generation

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1979) - early 110 hp convertible

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1984) - in the 110 hp version

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1986) - year of construction 1987, before the facelift

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The only car that President Kurt Furgler sat in at the 1985 Geneva Motor Show was the VW Golf Cabriolet White Special

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VW Golf B + B (1980) - Cabriolet from the tuner - Geneva Motor Show 1980

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VW Golf (1982) - at the 1982 Geneva Motor Show - optimized convertible version "spider" by Rinspeed

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1989) - already with widenings and bumpers in body color

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1987) - together with the Volkswagen product range of the time

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1988) - together with the 1988 Volkswagen product range

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1988) - in trendy paintwork

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1993) - the second generation based on the Golf III together with its predecessors

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1998) - still based on the Golf III, but already with the front end of the Golf 4

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1999) - second generation based on the Golf III after the facelift

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VW Golf Cabriolet (1999) - beautiful living under an open sky

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VW Golf Cabriolet 1800 (1988) - technically, the Golf was much more advanced than the Beetle

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Summary

The Beetle Cabriolet's fan community would probably have been large enough to give it another 10 years of production, but there were good reasons why the Beetle had to make way for the open-top Golf. And it did a really good job and managed to be built for 14 years with only minor changes. Even today, when almost all Golf Cabriolets are already classic cars, it still manages to impress with its modern virtues. This driver's report is about a late VW Golf Cabriolet and summarizes the 14-year history of the first open Golf generation, extensively illustrated and supplemented with the sales brochure of the time.

This article contains the following chapters

But with a bar
One and a half years of development time
Open-top four-seater with a sporty touch
Continuous further development
More plastic
Long-term qualities
Strawberry basket on the move

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Open-top Volkswagens have a long tradition. The first Beetle Cabriolet was spotted as early as 1938, and from 1949 there was officially both a 2+2-seater Hebmüller version, which was only built for one year, and the four-seater Cabriolet built by Karmann. When the first pictures of the upcoming VW Golf Cabriolet appeared in the press in 1977, the Beetle 1303 Cabriolet was still selling extremely well. Karmann was building 50 units a day and selling them effortlessly. The fact that Volkswagen was nevertheless working on a successor was also due to the fact that the Beetle was ill-equipped to meet the stringent American emissions standards, a problem that the Golf did not have. And so the Golf's roof was cut off and it was given a fabric hood.

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