Volkswagen celebrates 40 years of the Golf GTI with a special edition
The Volkswagen Golf GTI entered the United States 40 years ago (although it has existed elsewhere for 47 years). Since then, the hatchback has won the hearts of many fans, and the manufacturer is taking advantage of the opportunity by marketing a 40th Anniversary edition for 2023.
No mechanical modifications
In Europe, a variation of the Golf GTI, the Clubsport 45, has been on the market since 2021, and this version offers a range of mechanical modifications that make it the most efficient GTI ever marketed. Only the rims of this version have been borrowed from the Golf GTI 40th Anniversary; for everything else, there are only aesthetic modifications that are on the menu. The same machine found in the regular Golf GTI will be found under the hood: it’s a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that develops 241 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque.
The first redesigned aesthetic element is the paint, while four colors will be offered for this special edition; we are talking about a urano grey, a tornado red, a pearl white and a pomelo yellow. Then, a glossy black roof and mirrors in the same shades are also in order. There are several “40” affixed everywhere on the outside of the car as well as in its cabin. This completes the list of elements exclusive to this Golf GTI 40th Anniversary. In the United States, it costs $33,055 for the manual transmission version, while you have to pay $800 more to get the automatic transmission.
Otherwise, this 40th Anniversary edition of the Golf GTI will be one of the rarest ever sold in North America, while only 1,500 examples will be produced for the United States.
Canada must wait again
Last May, when we learned that the United States would be entitled to a Volkswagen Golf R 20th Anniversary Edition, Volkswagen Canada announced that we would instead be entitled to a completely different exclusive version of the Golf R. Six months later , Canadians are still left in the dark about this special “Canada-only” edition.
For the 40th Anniversary Golf GTI, we already know that it will eventually make its way here, but we still have to wait before knowing more. We still do not know the prices in Canadian dollars, we do not know how many copies will be allocated in Canada and we do not know when the car will enter our market. Currently, the base version of the Golf GTI retails for $34,259, including freight and delivery charges. The 40th Anniversary version will naturally retail more expensive than this basic version.
