it was no longer cooled with air and it was no longer a boxer. A new era started with the first Golf. And the technical change was also accompanied by a change in the visual concept. “The Golf offers maximum usable space and safety. It is uncompromisingly practical,” is how the company described it at the time. And so the year in which Germany won the World Cup in football became the year for the most-built Volkswagen of the future. Just two years later, the first million units had already been sold, and more than 37 million units have now been delivered worldwide. The Golf would and had to continue its success story. But in 1974, nobody knew that its success would be much greater than that of the Beetle. Over the years, the Golf became almost imperceptibly part of our society, synonymous with a vehicle class and even an entire generation. And everyone has probably had their own personal experience with the Golf: as a driving school car, as an own new or used car, with relatives or friends, with two or four doors, as a petrol or diesel model, GTI or ‘strawberry basket’. Somewhere there always was and still is a Golf. The heart of the Volkswagen brand However, when series production of the Golf I started at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg 50 years ago – in March 1974 – this success was far from guaranteed. Because as the successor to the Volkswagen Beetle, it followed in giant footsteps. The Beetle, the icon, had laid the foundation for Volkswagen’s worldwide success. But the new model from Wolfsburg was also very popular and quickly became a bestseller. In the subsequent model generations, it was always the Golf that made affordable mobility possible for everyone at the highest technical level. It came with technology such as the controlled catalytic converter and efficient drive systems, and additionally offered safety features such as the anti-lock braking system, airbags or the first all-wheel drive system in the product line.