Family ties
06/26/2020
When the VW Golf arrived in 1974, the VW Beetle 1303 Cabriolet continued to be built by Karmann for a whole series. And it seemed as if the air-cooled open rear-engined Beetle was suddenly gaining in popularity, as people were already beginning to talk about its water-cooled front-wheel drive successor.
The Golf Cabriolet then became a reality in February 1979 and it wore a bow that quickly led to the nickname "strawberry basket". The Beetle Cabriolet remained on sale until 1980, when it was discontinued. The Golf 1 Cabriolet remained on sale until 1993, i.e. for around 14 years. The Golf 2 Cabriolet was simply left out. The Henkel Cabriolet based on the Golf was also a success, and if you compare the Beetle and Golf Cabriolet today, you quickly understand why.
The 1303 and Golf Cabriolet actually had very little in common, perhaps a few switches and Karmann as a coachbuilder. The Golf could do almost everything better. It offered more space, a larger trunk, better driving performance, more contemporary fuel consumption figures and, of course, more safety.
And today, 40 years after the transition from the Beetle to the Golf Cabriolet? From the driver's point of view, there is little that connects them, both have their own charms. The 1303 has the typical Beetle feel, the Golf the eighties feeling.
From a historical perspective, you wouldn't want to be without either one. Ideally, you would put both in your garage.
In any case, we were very pleased to drive the two in comparison today and the results and photos will soon be condensed into a comprehensive report.
