Polo Driver

Long-running UK modified Volkswagen magazine Performance VW features a pair of pristine Series 1 Polos in its ‘Mk 1 Madness’ August 2010 issue, on newsstands now. Part of Belgian pair Kevin Winnepenninckx and Luc Jani’s collection of Mk 1 Volkswagens, both the Miami Blue and Marino Yellow ‘70s cars are flawless and show, that with very few mods, how right the original Polo/Audi 50 styling was at the time and just how pretty those early cars are. As well as the pair of Polos, there is a smattering of Mk 1 Golfs (including a 500+bhp French fancy), a rapid Caddy and advice for giving your Mk 1 a big power performance transplant.

[Images: Performance VW]

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The current issue of monthly independent VW title Volkswagen Driver features three pages on Rachel Inglis’s 1981 Derby GLS. We saw the car at the recent Stanford Hall event (coincidentally where the photos for the magazine feature were taken) and it really is a stunner. With only 21,000 miles on the clock since new, its paintwork gleams and the interior looks like brand new. Find out more in the June 2010 issue of Volkswagen Driver magazine on sale now.

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March 1975 marks the start of the Polo story. Thirty-five years ago this month, Volkswagen started production of the Polo in Wolfsburg. Positioned as a less expensive (and essentially rebadged) version of the Audi 50, it kicked off one of Volkswagen’s biggest success stories. Five model generations and over 11 million units later, the latest model is the cleanest, safest and most technological yet, but let’s not forget what events lead up to the Polo’s 2010 incarnation.

Over the next 12 months PoloDriver.com will chronicle the Polo’s life, celebrating all five generations of the model. We’ll profile the cars themselves, look at how they were marketed and sold, as well as post other special articles and features. Over the last thirty-five years there have been hatchbacks, saloons, estates and vans, while official power outputs have ranged from 40 to 180bhp. Polo personalities and flavours meanwhile have ranged from practical workhorse to performance car.

But in all that time, we think the Polo has stayed true to its roots and offered the quality, reliability and style that some of its contemporaries have lacked. There are some who would say it lacks excitement and pizazz, but its winning mix of qualities still endure it to millions of owners, old and new, across the world. Now truly a global car, we think the Polo’s story is one worth telling, so wherever you see content tagged ‘Polo@35’ on PoloDriver.com, you’ll find yourself reading part of that 35-year old tale.

Like to be part of the celebrations? If you have any interesting anecdotes, reminiscences, stories or feature-worthy cars, email us at 35@polodriver.com and help commemorate the Polo’s achievements.

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It can’t have escaped your notice that the Volkswagen Polo celebrates its 35th birthday in 2010. That’s three-and-a-half decades of stylish, premium small car motoring, loaded with awards and so many model variations it’s almost impossible to keep up. That’s thirty-five years of worldwide automotive superstardom (in the latter years at least); from humble beginnings in Europe, the Polo has now become a global car in every sense of the word and in every part of the world.

Here at PoloDriver, we’ll be celebrating all generations of the model, starting at the beginning, with the Polo-derived Audi 50 of 1974 and the Series 1 Polo from 1975. We’ll profile the models themselves, look at how they were marketed and sold, and also see if we can seek out high-quality standard and modified examples. A year-long journey over five generations, if you have any interesting anecdotes, reminiscences, stories or feature-worthy cars, email 35@polodriver.com and we’ll do the rest.

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So far this week there seems to be a motorsport theme developing on PoloDriver. Yesterday we posted news about the Volkswagen Polo Cup India and today we have something very special to report on. Taking internet forums by storm is the innocent-looking AME Racing Polo with 1047bhp. Yes, that’s right. A Series 1 Polo with more power than a Bugatti Veyron. It is, quite literally, a pocket rocket, and it’s brought out the boy racer in us.

It’s set all sort of class best times at Volkswagen and drag racing events in Germany and blitzed, no annihilated the competition. Just look the videos in this post; it leaves everything for dead and shoots off at such a speed it’s almost cartoon fast. If not cartoon fast, then definitely with performance even more scorching than Disney’s modified Herbie stunt cars. But what makes it go so quickly?

The basic Series 1 Polo bodyshell has had a 1.9-litre turbocharged 16V engine shoehorned into the small engine bay (a debate rages as to whether it’s actually a V6 instead), mated to a four-wheel drive transmission from an Audi TT. AME’s drag star can rev to 9400rpm, do the standing quarter mile in 9.5 seconds, get to 62mph in 2.3 seconds (with 125mph coming up four seconds later) and has a top speed of 160mph and 950Nm of torque. It’s the stuff of legend.

Getting the power down is clearly and occasionally a problem. The car visibly bucks and jumps and you’ve only got to look at the size of the madly large tyres to see what’s needed to try to get maximum traction. The AME Polo runs on 15-inch alloys with M+H slicks or 16-inch rims with 205/55 16 boots stuffed under the tiny arches. The engine has far too many mods to list here; visit AME’s page on the car to find out exactly what’s been done.

The AME super-Polo fits in perfectly with our plans to celebrate the model’s 35th birthday this year, starting with the Series 1, which first turned a wheel in 1975. Volkswagen’s engineers never expected it to go like this; the highest-powered factory-approved model was the 59bhp 1272cc Polo GT of 1979. The AME Polo has 988bhp more and although it’s got around 300kg more (980kg with driver) to lug around, the performance is simply off the scale. The world’s fastest Polo? We wouldn’t bet against it. Watch all the videos linked from these and be amazed.

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