VW is celebrating 50 years of the Polo with this Harlequin-themed WRX car

Volkswagen has applied its playful Harlequin livery to a championship-winning Polo R WRX as part of its celebrations for the supermini’s 50th anniversary, and we’d like nothing more than to spend our bank holiday weekend watching it being absolutely sent over loose gravel.

Revealed at the recent Bicester Scramble event, the costume comprises an Eighties-themed pattern with the original Harlequin colours: ‘Changall Blue’ (blue), ‘Flash Red’ (red), ‘Ginster Yellow’ (yellow) and ‘Pistachio’ (er, green). Volkswagen has even confirmed that several Polo rally cars will wear it later this year for some festive dynamic activities. On loose gravel, one would hope.

Introduced back in '95 for the Mk3 Polo, the ethos behind the Harlequin look was simple: to showcase the car’s modularity, and that if you were to lose a door panel - probably because you’ve got a mate like Jay from The Inbetweeners - you’d be fine to swap it out with a roguely coloured part.

When Volkswagen previewed the Harlequin Polo to the public, people were disappointed that it wasn’t an actual trim level. So it built 1,000 for production and has since applied the livery to multiple vehicles, including the Mk3 Golf.

Reckon this is the sort of fun special edition we need to see more of in the world?