Volkswagen Golf is voted the best car of the half-century
The famous German family hatchback has been around since 1974, evolved through eight generations and sold 37 million units worldwide.
The Volkswagen Golf has been crowned best car of the half-century as part of Best Cars of the Year from the New Car World Championships.
The judging panel comprises of independent car designers, engineers, journalists, broadcasters, automotive industry figureheads, vehicle retailers, media professionals, motorsport personalities, automotive consultants and motoring event organisers.
One of the judges, motoring journalist Mike Rutherford recognised the Golf as one of the best cars of the half century.
Since its launch in 1974, the Golf has become Volkswagen’s most successful model selling a total of 37 million units worldwide and amassing a total of eight generations.
Mike Rutherford said: “Some manufacturers are barely able to keep up with their ‘most important’ models in production for five years. The fact that Volkswagen has been successfully building and selling petrol, diesel, pure-electric and hybrid versions of the Golf around the world for 50 years really does say it all. The Golf has, since it was born in 1974, been the car for the people.”
To celebrate its 50th birthday, the Golf has been given an update to its current eighth iteration, offering styling tweaks and an improved infotainment system featuring ChatGPT as standard as well as including a choice of petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains. The new Golf is priced at £27,035 for the entry-level Life and rises to £44,570 for the R Black Edition.
