Volkswagen Polo – The Car With No Holes

It normally amazes me how productive the Germans are. Although settling down to watch Grand Styles the other day, I noticed an full household crafted in a Bavarian manufacturing unit, shipped to England and built in 3 times, all devoid of blunders and of system – with a top excellent finish. It really is the very same tale with activity, I wager Michael Schumacher could waltz back again into the Components One particular paddock, shake Lewis Hamilton’s hand ahead of demolishing him on the monitor, without the need of breaking a sweat.

German cars and trucks are no diverse and a ideal microcosm of this can be found with one particular search at the Volkswagen Polo. Staggeringly this vehicle has been with us for 33 many years and is just as popular nowadays as the very first product was in 1975, which marketed in excess of 500,000 units around the world in just six years. Initially a rebadged Audi 50, the Polo was offered together with it really is Audi counterpart but was less costly to purchase. Unsurprisingly, the Polo outsold it truly is equivalent twin and Audi stopped output of the 50.

Buoyed by it really is success a face lifted Polo appeared in 1979, with refined styling variations to provide the infant Polo into line with the style of the present Jetta Saloon (this included sq. headlights on the prime-of-the-assortment ‘Derby’ spinoff). It was VW’s intention for this to act as a end-hole until eventually the Mk II Polo arrived in 1981.

It can be fair to say that Porsche are typically criticised for acquiring a lazy layout studio, following all the 911 has seemed practically equivalent for 40 yrs, but Volkswagen built a honest fist of clinching the title in 1981. The Mk II Polo was primarily identical to it can be predecessor, though crucially what it lacked in originality of styling, it additional than compensated for with develop high-quality and trustworthiness. Whilst it really is main rivals the Renault 5, Fiat Uno and Austin Metro have very long since long gone to the wonderful scrap lawn in the sky, the Mk II Polo is however in plentiful offer on Britain’s roads.

Developed until eventually 1994, the Mk II also allowed Volkswagen to pioneer new technological innovation – most notably a G-supercharged engine that would afterwards be the basis for the a person identified in the Corrado and Golfing. As with the Mk I, the next generation Polo received a delicate facelift in 1990 for the closing 4 a long time of generation. Irrespective of new headlights and bumpers it nonetheless bore a around equivalent resemblance to the primary 1975 product. 1 notable feature nevertheless was the introduction of a removable stereo/cassette device, letting for enhanced protection and was a strike with customers and is now de-rigueur with all in-motor vehicle audio units.

1994 last but not least observed a important update of the Polo. Accessible in 3 and 5 doorway hatchback variations, the vehicle sat on a new chassis shared in element with the SEAT Ibiza (VW also proudly owning SEAT) and the Polo’s big brother the Golf. 8 distinctive engines ended up readily available, the largest preference still in the Polo range and much more contemporary styling was also on give. The change of the millennium noticed the obligatory facelift with 70% of the elements staying modified, although this wasn’t outwardly seen. The motor vehicle certainly ongoing the custom of remaining far better made and owning a more upmarket experience than its rivals and bought well. It also received a number of awards which includes most effective ‘Supermini’ from Top Gear, Vehicle Specific, and Which? in the late nineties.

The Mk IV Polo was introduced in 2002 and more developed on the heritage of it is predecessors. Once again sharing a platform with the SEAT Ibiza and furthermore the Skoda Fabia, the Polo’s appearance was considerably improved, with quad headlights comparable to the smaller sized Lupo featured in the new design and style. No fewer than 11 diverse motor possibilities ended up obtainable, each individual with different amounts of trim to enhance. Even with early promise, the Mk IV did not offer as properly as earlier Polos and faired badly in quite a few shopper satisfaction surveys, including high profile ones this kind of individuals performed by Best Gear.

With this in mind, the Mk IV, was redesigned in 2005 and is the design found on the roads these days. Subtle exterior improvements had been designed for the car or truck to yet again share the structure design of others in the Volkswagen variety, notably the Passat and inside parts were being redesigned in the light of prior criticism. The latest model is the Polo Bluemotion, specifically built to be additional environmentally helpful, by lowering the automobiles bodyweight, electronic devices and engine emissions.

Reliability and price for income carry on to be the Polo’s standout functions, whilst there is no doubt the most up-to-date design is a pretty classy seeking automobile. The best way to sum up this vehicle is to steal the phrase from the German firm themselves – “modest but hard”.