Golfs We Missed In America

The eighth generation of the the globally bestselling Volkswagen Golf, which is set to debut on October 24, is easily the most eagerly awaited new car of 2019 . . . unless you live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.  The standard version of the hatchback is still a question mark for the U.S. market, with many a smug automotive journalist eager to answer it with an emphatic "No!"  In fact, a decision on whether or not to offer the standard Mark 8 Golf in These States has not been made, although the traditional American disregard for hatchbacks in general and Volkswagen hatchbacks in particular that began after the old Rabbits ended up consuming way too much motor oil doesn't bode well for those of us silly Yanks who actually share the rest of the world's superior taste in automobiles.  Right now, Volkswagen of America is touting the new Atlas CrossSport SUV.  I'll pass.

Interestingly, if the base Mark 8 Golf isn't offered in America, this wouldn't be the first time a Golf model hasn't made it to the States.  Several Golf variants have failed to make it over here, and to Canada as well (though the next standard Golf has been confirmed for the Great White North).  Here are twelve Golf models that never saw the inside of a Volkswagen dealership in the New World.

The Rallye Golf.  I've already mentioned this car before, but I mention it here again for the sake of completion.  Though, I can't say anything about the 1989-90 Mark-2-vintage Rallye Golf that I haven't already said. With a supercharged 160-horsepower engine and all-wheel-drive, it performs aggressively as it looks, and even though Rallye Golfs are legally entering the United States thanks to the fact that they've passed the 25-year minimum age required for importation into this country, some Americans got to experience the car's prowess when it was first new. New Hampshire rally racer Tim O'Neil, in the late eighties and early nineties a factory driver for Volkswagen, got to acquire and race in one back then, and he still keeps it in his fleet in his current profession as a driving instructor.

The Golf G60.  The Mark 2 Golf-based G60 (below) was a kinder, gentler variant of VW's supercharging program.  It was less potent than the Rallye Golf but its performance was still nothing to sneeze at, with front-wheel drive and a normal eight-valve engine and bearing the same horsepower rating as the Rallye Golf.  Emissions standards in the U.S., however, prevented its inclusion in the American market, and it was forbidden fruit in Canada as well.         

The Golf Country.  This is without question one of the weirdest Golfs ever conceived.  A part of the Golf's second generation, the Golf Country was shown at the 1989 Geneva Auto Show as a concept car, but it was so loved by the auto  press that VW decided to produce it. 

Volkswagen would make Golf Country vehicles in Wolfsburg and then send them to the Austrian truck builder Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Austria to be outfitted with a special version of VW's Syncro all-wheel drive system, with a 8.2-inch ground clearance, along with a skid plate protecting the engine bay, bullbars at both ends, and a spare wheel appended to the rear.  It was essentially VW's equivalent to the four-wheel drive Eagle sedan and wagon produced by American Motors in the U.S. in the 1980s.

The Golf Country was a part-time all-wheel-drive car, but it could tackle almost any off-road terrain when the Syncro system was turned on.  Only about 7,700 Golf Country cars were built in 1990 and 1991, and had VW sent any of them to the United States, it would likely have generated more showroom traffic than the standard Golf - or the Jetta - was generating at the time. 

The Mark 3 Golf Variant.  Again, I mentioned this before, but I include it here for the sake of completion.  Volkswagen apparently didn't think the station wagon version of the third-generation Golf - the first Golf wagon ever produced - would sell here, and so we missed out on it.  But its successor did make it here as a Jetta wagon, and the Golf Variant was sold as a Jetta through the fourth, fifth, and sixth generation, assuming the Golf badge in the U.S. with the seventh. But the Golf wagon has come full circle and so won't be available in the U.S. in the eighth generation - but then, you know that.   

The Golf Plus.  The Golf Plus was essentially a standard Golf with minivan-like proportions.  It looked sort of stubby, as if both ends had been compressed against the center, but it clearly had plenty of headroom and a little extra room for tall objects in the back.   The Golf Plus was a part of the fifth and sixth generations; above is a fifth-generation model.  

Its proportions would undoubtedly have been seen as bulbous and awkward in North America at the time, yet the Chevrolet Trax, based on the Sonic, is the same general idea (though the Trax is officially a "crossover.")  

The CrossGolf. And speaking of crossovers, Volkswagen produced this Golf-based crossover vehicle specifically for the European market.  Because it looks more like a hatchback on steroids than a crossover, I doubt that this would have found much of a customer base in North America.  Like the Golf Plus, it lasted two generations (the fifth-generation-based CrossGolf model is shown above).

The Golf GTD.  Like the GTI, but with a diesel engine.  It was introduced in Europe as an alternative to the gas-powered hot hatch at a time of rising fuel prices.  Even without the TDI scandal, which pretty much put an end to diesel-powered passenger cars in the States, it would never have made it in America, where a diesel-powered sport compact is considered a contradiction in terms.   

The Golf GTE.  Like the GTI, but with a plug-in gas-electric hybrid system.  It was introduced in Europe as an alternative to the gas-powered hot hatch at a time of environmental awareness. Americans would have likely found this to be an even bigger contradiction in terms than a GTD.  And to think a Mark 8 version of the GTE might yet make it to the New World.  (Both the GTD and the GTE shown here are seventh-generation models.)

The Golf Mark 6 Cabrio.  Almost forgot about this one, didn't we?  Only the third Golf to be developed into a convertible, the droptop version of the sixth-generation model was not sold in America so as not to cannibalize sales of the modern Beetle convertible.  The Mark 6 Cabrio has since been discontinued.    

Did I happen to mention that there was an R variant of the Mark 6 convertible as well? :-O

The Golf R wagon.  Yes!  A Golf R wagon, part of the seventh generation!  A station wagon that's actually desirable!  And VW didn't give it a chance here?

This would have made a whole lot more sense for the U.S. market than that silly Alltrack.  Of course, for Americans who want a real German sports wagon, there will soon be the Audi RS6 Avant.

The Golf Sportsvan.  Basically the same as the minivan-style Golf Plus, a derivative of the seventh-generation car, and as always, for people who wanted a minivan but wanted something closer to a standard Golf.  Volkswagen's press release for this model summed it up like this: "With its raised seating position and a rear seat designed for longitudinal adjustment, the compact Golf Sportsvan boasts interior features that are normally only found on larger vans. This way, the Golf Sportsvan is popular with customers who want to sit a little higher, travel with children, need flexibility for their leisure activities or appreciate a large cargo space."  In other words, a lot like the SUVs that are taking over in America and even in Europe.  Which is why there will be no eighth-generation equivalent to this vehicle.

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How do these cars differ from the standard Mark 8 Golf, which may yet join this list of forbidden fruit for Americans?  Mainly in this way; they're all special variations on or special high-performance versions of the basic Golf model.  But the basic, standard Golf has always been a part of Volkswagen's U.S. lineup since it debuted here as the Rabbit.  It's a simple, unpretentious car that isn't calibrated to run with a Porsche and doesn't pretend to be anything other than the no-nonsense hatchback that it is.  It's the basis for every special Golf model Volkswagen has ever developed, from the GTI to the R, from the wagon to the Sportsvan.  The special models are perfectly fine; they've been the fancy dishes meant for people who want something more than meat and potatoes.  I see the base Golf as the meat and potatoes of not just the entire Golf lineup but of the entire Volkswagen brand.  A U.S. lineup with the GTI and R variants of the Golf but not the base car is a hollow shell.  And that's why I am going to continue to speak out for the base Golf 8's inclusion on the U.S. lineup.