Jim Morris and Tom Shephard's Black, 1979, Volkswahgen Golf GTi Mk1, at the end of the Tony Dron Memorial Trophy For MRL Historic Touring Cars.
The Volkswagen Golf Mk1 is the first generation of a small family car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen. It was noteworthy for signalling Volkswagen's shift of its major car lines from rear-wheel drive and rear-mounted air-cooled engines to front-wheel drive with front-mounted, water-cooled engines that were often transversely-mounted. Successor to Volkswagen's Beetle, the first generation Golf debuted in Europe in May 1974 with styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign. The Golf GTI debuted in March 1975 at the Frankfurt Motor Show,[41] and wasn't unveiled until the autumn of 1976.[42] Production was not expected to exceed 5000 units, which was the number needed to qualify for the Group One Production Touring Car class.[43][44] In addition to the modifications already mentioned, the GTI was distinguished from the stock Golf by external changes that included black-plastic wheel arch extensions to cover the 175/70HR13 tires on wheels fitted, a larger front spoiler, a matte-black frame around the backlite and a red frame for the grille.[37] Ride height was reduced by 15 mm ( in), and the standard car's solid front brake discs were replaced with in (239 mm) ventilated discs. Anti-roll bars were also fitted front and rear. The engine in the early GTIs had a bore x stroke of mm × 80 mm ( in × in) that displaced 1,588 cc ( L; cu in).The compression ratio had been raised to :1.: 57 This resulted in an engine that produced 110 PS (108 hp; 81 kW) at 6,100 rpm and 140 N⋅m (103 lbf⋅ft) at 5,000 was mated to a close-ratio 4-speed manual transmission. With a curb weight of 810 kg (1,786 lb), the GTI could accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in seconds. Top speed was 182 km/h ( mph). In August 1979 a 5-speed manual transmission became standard.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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