Who won this comparison test in 1974?
Six "lower mid-range" cars competed against each other in a comparative test towards the end of 1974:
- Alfa Romeo Alfasud, 1186 cm3, 63 hp, DM 8490
- Citroën GS 1220 Club, 1222 cm3, 58 hp, DM 9800
- Fiat 128 Special 1300, 1290 cm3, 60 hp, DM 8790
- Opel Kadett L 1200 S, 1196 cm3, 60 hp, DM 9472
- Simca 1100 Special, 1294 cm3, 75 hp, DM 9295
- VW Golf LS, 1471 cm3, 70 hp, DM 9370
A clear-cut case? Not at all!
The summary and evaluation of the various test disciplines in the auto-motor-und-sport issues 26/1974 and 1/1975 ran over 24 pages and in the end the most comfortable and safest car came out on top, but not the fastest or the most manageable.
The winner was the most expensive car of the six candidates, namely the French Citroën GS, followed by the Italian Alfasud. The first German car, the then new VW Golf, was only in third place, closely followed by the Opel Kadett, which was the only one still with rear-wheel drive. Bringing up the rear were the oldest foreign designs, the Fiat 128 and Simca 1100.
Nevertheless, the Golf won the "Engine and performance" category, not least thanks to the largest engine in the comparison. With a sprint time of 12.6 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h and a top speed of 162.9 km/h, the Wolfsburg model clearly outpaced some of its competitors, especially as it was the lightest of the bunch with an unladen weight of 835 kg (full tank).
German car magazines are often accused of treating German suppliers better than other car manufacturers. In the comparison test at the end of 1974, this was definitely not the case ...
P.S. Here is the cover page of AMS 26/1974, of course you can read the whole issue in the Zwischengas magazine archive as well as all issues from 1947 to 2000:
