Price: from £1000-£5000
It took two full generations for the Golf to finally gain an estate variant, known in Europe as the, er, Variant.
Unlike more recent estate-bodied versions of family hatchbacks, it wasn’t much of a looker, but its industrial shape and stretched underpinnings meant it was tremendous as a load-lugger.
Better still, it had a nice low load level and there was no boot lip to negotiate, so in that respect it was more like a proper van than just another fat-rumped hatchback.
Price: from £2000-£12,000
The arrival of the Ford Focus in late 1998 changed family hatchbacks for good. Suddenly, that underlying dynamic sparkle that courted the enthusiast driver and about which we all rave was thrust into the mainstream, becoming a real point of difference for the average buyer.
It’s no coincidence that VW pinched a few of the Focus’s ideas (and engineers) for the fifth Golf, then, and it worked: the GTI’s status as a serious driver’s car was finally restored.
It was the first to offer the now ubiquitous DSG dual-clutch auto ’box, too.
Price: from £7000-£10,000
The Mk6 followed the typical Golf cadence: every even-numbered generation was in effect a major overhaul of its predecessor. That isn’t to say it contributed nothing to Golf lore, though, having cemented the R brand and four-wheel-drive mega-hatch formula.
But the open-top version stood out as a bit of an oddity, delivering its power exclusively through the front wheels rather than all four.
It was properly rapid in a straight line but was otherwise too tightly wound – and it was more expensive than a Porsche Boxster, limiting its appeal. An interesting curio nonetheless.
