Look What I Found: The Topless Topless Golf

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

While walking down memory lane to the dark days of diesel, I came across this gem in the archives of the Volkswagen History Department: The prototype of the first Golf Convertible. It was developed and produced by Karmann in Osnabrück. The company went bankrupt. Volkswagen bought Karmann, and inherited this find.

This convertible had no roll-over bar. The shape of the windshield and the trunk lid were changed before the car went in series. The convertible was based on the Golf Mk I. In 1993, a new convertible was built, based on the Mk III Golf. 2002 was the end of the open air season.

This year, a new Golf Convertible, based on the Golf Mk VI, will follow.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Robert.Walter Robert.Walter on Jun 11, 2011

    I bought a new '89 when going to school, after graduating, I had a company car and my mother took over the Cabriolet (that year it was not called Golf or Rabbit) and drove it for another 15 years... despite a lot of little stupid quality problems, all in all, it was a pretty good car. Re. the missing basket handle on the prototype, I liked mine, it made besides the roll-over effect, it made the car stiffer (and allowed the removal of stiffening materials elsewhere in the BIW), the windows seal better, the body stronger against side-impact, and a provided a natural b-pillar upon which to hang the upper guide for the shoulder belt...

  • Bythebay Bythebay on Jun 15, 2011

    Love, love, love my Cabrio (2000 Dark Blue with Tan Leather) - swapped cars with my wife in 2005 (she took my Acura TL; now driving a CR-V) - my Cabrio has 68K miles, and other than a complete trans at 51K miles (which VW warranteed!), not very much in the way of problems.

  • ToolGuy First picture: I realize that opinions vary on the height of modern trucks, but that entry door on the building is 80 inches tall and hits just below the headlights. Does anyone really believe this is reasonable?Second picture: I do not believe that is a good parking spot to be able to access the bed storage. More specifically, how do you plan to unload topsoil with the truck parked like that? Maybe you kids are taller than me.
  • ToolGuy The other day I attempted to check the engine oil in one of my old embarrassing vehicles and I guess the red shop towel I used wasn't genuine Snap-on (lots of counterfeits floating around) plus my driveway isn't completely level and long story short, the engine seized 3 minutes later.No more used cars for me, and nothing but dealer service from here on in (the journalists were right).
  • Doughboy Wow, Merc knocks it out of the park with their naming convention… again. /s
  • Doughboy I’ve seen car bras before, but never car beards. ZZ Top would be proud.
  • Bkojote Allright, actual person who knows trucks here, the article gets it a bit wrong.First off, the Maverick is not at all comparable to a Tacoma just because they're both Hybrids. Or lemme be blunt, the butch-est non-hybrid Maverick Tremor is suitable for 2/10 difficulty trails, a Trailhunter is for about 5/10 or maybe 6/10, just about the upper end of any stock vehicle you're buying from the factory. Aside from a Sasquatch Bronco or Rubicon Jeep Wrangler you're looking at something you're towing back if you want more capability (or perhaps something you /wish/ you were towing back.)Now, where the real world difference should play out is on the trail, where a lot of low speed crawling usually saps efficiency, especially when loaded to the gills. Real world MPG from a 4Runner is about 12-13mpg, So if this loaded-with-overlander-catalog Trailhunter is still pulling in the 20's - or even 18-19, that's a massive improvement.
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