Up until 1984, VW of America was in a world of hurt. Sales were down by about 50%. The plant VW was supposed to open in Sterling Heights, Michigan was sold to Chrysler. The American market became a big drag on VW operations worldwide. The reason for the decline were clear. The Rabbit, which had set a whole new line of standards for small car packaging efficiency way back in 1974, had spawned hordes of lower priced imitators by the early 80s. The cachet that once went with VW ownership was no longer enough to maintain sales momentum. By 1982 VWoA had sunk as deep as it was going to. Any lower and it would have been lock the door and don’t answer the phone.
With so much riding on this car, you naturally approach any evaluation cautiously, like trying to get in through the front door of a house guarded by a sleeping Doberman. You sort of feel your way around, don’t make any sudden gestures, and gradually work your way in.
The first thing you had to deal with was the name change. It wasn’t the new Rabbit, it was the new Golf. Golf was the name the Rabbit always had been called in Europe and everywhere else in the world. The U.S. was the only country on the planet that didn’t call it a Golf. For 1985 that changed. In the case of this car, Golf stood for Golf-Strom, the German name for Gulf Stream, the warm oceanic current that sweeps up the Atlantic and keeps England from freezing itself into the Ice Age. VW’s reason for the nae change was, according to the official release, to “reflect the international character of this world-class car.”
Bye Bye, bunny.
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