With the Golf Cabriolet, introduced in 1979, Volkswagen launched an open car on the market that was at times the best-selling open car in the world. 6.99 million vehicles of the first generation Golf, including all derivatives such as the convertible and the Jetta (at that time structurally identical), were sold – 0.87 million Golf cars per year. Golf II. It was the second generation Golf that was the Volkswagen in which the baby-boomer generation, people who are now in their fifties and sixties, learned to drive. While its predecessor had already become a favourite of all driving instructors and learner drivers, the second Golf had now become firmly and inerasably established in the minds of these temporary allies. As of August 1983, they no longer sat quite so close to each other, since spatial utilisation had been improved once more. As a matter of fact: it was the Golf that introduced the regulated catalytic converter (1984), anti-lock braking system (ABS, 1986) and power-steering to the Golf class and that could be ordered with an all-wheel drive system for the first time (Syncro, 1986). And as far back as 1989, Volkswagen was already unveiling a prototype of this Golf with an electric drive system and another with a hybrid drive system. Including all derivatives, a total of 6.3 million second generation units were produced by the summer of 1991 – that is, 0.79 million Golf cars annually. Golf III. With the launch of the third generation of the Golf in August 1991, Volkswagen heralded a new era of safety. The Golf III was the first of the series to have front airbags, starting in 1992, while major advances in the area of car body construction also resulted in significantly improved crash safety. In addition, numerous other technological milestones of the model range are linked to the third Golf.