MILESTONES
Happy 45th birthday to the Golf
As the eighth-generation version waits in the wings, we look back on the history of an automotive icon
What do Muhammad Ali, the German national football team and the Volkswagen Golf have in common? The answer is that 1974 was a very special year for them all. It was the year Gerd Müller delighted German football fans with the goal that won Germany the World Cup for the second time; the year Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman in the legendary Rumble in the Jungle; and it was the year in which an automotive icon was born. The first Golf left the assembly line in Wolfsburg in March 1974, starting a model range that is now 45 years old and in its seventh generation. The rounded silhouette of the Beetle had set its stamp on the roads, and the first-generation Golf with its square design had heads turning when it first appeared. It soon became a familiar sight: just two and a half years after it was launched, it had been sold to 1-million people.
Today, the Golf has sold more than 35-million units worldwide and has become VW’s best-selling model. From its humble beginnings ...
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