A Visit to Paradise

Exclusive, classic insights

Marco Degenhardt is an automobile enthusiast, collector, and a YouTuber with his own youngtimer channel, who is known for his “Halle77”. The fact that Volkswagen Classic is giving him exclusive access to its car warehouse is a genuine highlight for the petrolhead. Row upon row of rare, sometimes unique, exhibits: Degenhardt is in awe throughout the whole of his tour with Volkswagen Classic spokesperson Sascha Neumann. “People – check this out! It doesn’t get any better!” The man from Dortmund is particularly interested in the high-performance Volkswagen classics. “I am totally overwhelmed. I had no idea that all this still existed here!”

Degenhardt likes blue

The car buff spends plenty of time in and around the Passat Variant G60 syncro. However, the Eco Polo, the 135-PS Theo Decker Beetle, and the rally cars also arouse his interest. One of the highlights of the collection is the Golf Limited, of which only 71 were built. Degenhardt identifies the “Holy Grail” – the most exclusive version of the Golf II, which was largely handmade by Volkswagen Motorsport – by the radiator grille and its striking blue stripes.

40 years of development in time lapse

Degenhardt experiences the huge technological advances in over 40 years of GTI development at first hand during test drives in the iconic Golf I GTI and the latest addition to the family, the Golf VII GTI TCR⁰¹: “That is spectacular! The handling impressions you get with a 1979 Golf GTI. You feel the car and feel the transmission, and there is no power steering! Then you get such a stark comparison with a 2019 Golf GTI. To experience 40 years of development in such a compact form is crazy!”

Degenhardt is also given permission to take the 275-PS Golf III A59 prototype out for a few kilometres in perfect turbo weather – dry and cool. The car from 1993 makes a lasting impression on him: the powerhouse was actually designed for Volkswagen’s return to the Group A World Rally Championship.

Degenhardt electrified

Degenhardt experiences less power but is surprised by how much fun he has when he takes the 1992 Golf II CitySTROMer for a spin. The drive in the precursor to the e-Golf and the ID.3 is also a first for him in an e-car: “In principle, I find electric cars cool. And the technology works really well in the CitySTROMer. If it were mine, I would probably lower it a little and fit BBS alloy wheels.”

From trainee to turbo disciple

Degenhardt has been closely associated with Volkswagen for over 25 years: in 1992, he began training as a motor mechanic in a Volkswagen plant. A Golf III Ecomatic promptly takes him back to that time. The economic Volkswagen with stop-start technology, manual gearbox and automatic clutch once drove him to despair, as he admits with a wink. “Back then, under the watchful eye of my boss, I simply could figure out the H gearbox without a clutch pedal.”

At the age of 17, the trainee purchased his first Volkswagen. The Polo I was followed on his 18^th birthday by his first road-legal car – a Polo II (86c) with 50 PS. He then got down to business with a Golf II. Degenhardt modified it with 8V turbo technology: “It was pretty quick in its day and the impact of the turbo immediately had a lasting effect on me.” Many more conversions followed, with which he still competes in drag races over a quarter of a mile: “It is just a hobby,” he stresses. “I was never someone who always had to be the fastest. For me, it is more about having fun.”

Crowning glory

Degenhardt receives a huge surprise when he is presented with a Golf Rallye 16V G60 from the Volkswagen Classic portfolio – on loan for a few days, for test purposes. Featuring a 210-PS Volkswagen Motorsport engine, only 12 of this version were made – and the expert is almost rendered speechless: “Motorsport technology in a rally Golf – that’s awesome! I will put it in my conservatory, then I can stroke it in front of the fireplace in the evening.” A Golf really can make you happy.