Three Polos – three times goosebumps

Character types: the Polo IG

It's lively, charismatic and a perfect everyday companion: the Volkswagen Polo has captivated people for over 40 years. This is shown by the more than 14 million units sold, six model generations and countless enthusiastic owners. But what exactly accounts for the fascination of this vehicle, whose automobile career began in 1975 with the Mk1, rounding off the Golf and Passat series at the lower end as a new model family and now continued with the new sixth-generation Polo?

We asked three people who would surely know the answer: they are all part of the Polo IG Deutschland e.V. club – in short, the Polo IG. The nationally active club for friends of the Audi 50, Polo Mk1, Polo Mk2, Polo Mark 2F and their derivatives ranks among the most well-known and most active Polo fan clubs in the country.

The wedding carriage: Michael Dreisbach's Polo Mk1 (1977)

Volkswagen family: the Dreisbachs and their Polo L from 1977.

To the registry office in fine fashion: the classic car also served as a wedding car.

The Polo Mk1 not only cuts a good figure as a ‘wedding carriage', but in everyday life as well.

At first, they shared the same hobby, then two years and an engagement later they decided to share their lives together. It quickly became clear to him: ‘My Polo Mk1 would be the wedding car!' The Riyadh yellow classic from 1977 – an unrestored garage car in prime condition previously owned by a pensioner. With its 29 kW/40 h.p. 0.9-litre engine and weighing only 700 kg, it is surprisingly quick on the road even today – it did, however, have to be slightly modified for the journey into their shared future.

Owing to the rather unmanageable space available in the 3.51-metre-long Polo Mk1, from today's perspective, the passenger seat was temporarily removed. This was the only way to create space for the bride and groom to fit on the narrow back seat together with the wedding dress and veil. ‘I chose an especially small driver,' Dreisbach recalls, grinning. Elsewhere, too, the skilled heating engineer didn't leave anything to chance: ‘I taped up the seat rails at the last minute to prevent the lubricating grease from smearing the wedding dress.'

Perfectly restored: Frank Hamm's Polo Mk2 GT G40.

For those who know: the speedometer in the G40 version of the Polo goes up to 240 kmph.

In the 1980s, the Polo Mk2 GT G40 was the dream of many young Volkswagen fans, Frank Hamm included. Even today Hamm's eyes light up when he lists the key technical data. No wonder, after all the combination of characters ‘G40' has always been a synonym for driving pleasure. Hit the throttle and the little coupé charges forward – accompanied by the characteristic ‘howling' of the mechanically driven G-Lader supercharger, which helps the 1.3-litre engine attain its 85 kW/115 h.p.

It's a sound that never quite leaves a Volkswagen fan like Hamm – and so he went in search of it. He found his happiness on the other side of the German-Dutch border: in a black G40, dismantled into individual parts by the previous owner.

A real stroke of luck, as it turned out, because the car hadn't been tinkered with and was maintained surprisingly well. The body was perfectly protected against corrosion by means of cathodic dip coating (CDC), a complex coating process for vehicle preservation. Subsequently, Hamm's car was put back together piece by piece over a year and a half – the result: practically perfect! The G40 fan even has this in writing now. His car was appraised by expert opinion to be in condition 1. In everyday language, this means: ‘Better than new!'

Sebastian Schemann and his "Kampfzwerge" (battle dwarfs)

Polo perfectionism also spurs on Sebastian Schemmann. The current president of the Polo IG Deutschland, who humorously refers to himself as the ‘Polo Messi', collects Polos like other people collect Panini stickers. And for a good reason.

The racing enthusiast has been taking part in motorsport races in a variety of Polo models for a number of years. His latest baby in the stable is one of just 44 Cup Polo cars built at Volkswagen Motorsport that competed in the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup between 2004 and 2009. Today Schemmann drives the 125 kW/170 h.p. racer in the 'Cup and Touring Car Trophy' and has already racked up one victory and a third-place finish in Hockenheim.

Everything started with the erstwhile Slalom Polo Mk1 belonging to his father-in-law. The car had actually been decommissioned; it had 11 years of motorsport in its suspension struts. Schemmann resurrected it through extensive and gruelling hands-on work. The Polo, refurbished to be fit for the racetrack, proved that it was a born winner even in its ‘second life' in the three-hour race at the ADAC 24h Classic.

On its very first outing, the duo got onto the podium with third place in their class. A special moment: ‘That feeling of the very first time – you never quite experience that again,' he explains. ‘After three hours, you're ready to drop. But when the trophy is pressed into your hand, you wake up and are completely in the moment – and just so happy!'

So happiness seems to be strongly related to driving a Polo. No matter if you drive it on a racetrack or on public roads, owning a Polo has been making people happy for over 40 years now.