Meet your heroes: the MkV Golf GTI is one of the great hot hatches

The origin story of the hot hatch is cloudy, but VW cut through the murk back in 1975. Has any car ever defined its class better than the MkI Golf GTI? Fifty years on, we’re still copying the same template: front drive, useful cabin, lumpy engine, cool without trying too hard.

Odd then, that VW lost its way after only a couple of goes. The MkIII was podgy, plain and underpowered. The MkIV was worse. But then, in 2005, came the MkV. It was TG’s Car of the Year, it identified the essence of what made the MkI and MkII great, and nailed the modern interpretation.

Twenty years ago, I saw one at the VW factory in Wolfsburg. As a kid, I was captivated. It had just launched, and I could sense it was more special than other VWs.

Photography: Jonny Fleetwood

The MkV GTI made such an impression on me that day that I bought one. Well, sort of. I asked my dad to buy me a 1:43 scale model in the Autostadt shop. To this day, that silver replica is one of my favourite possessions. It reminds me of my heritage and personal connection to VW.

Visiting my great uncle, who lived in the city and worked for VW from 1960 to 1990, was always memorable. He initially worked in the painting booth, then on the production line inspecting the original Beetle and Golf. The stories he’d recount during our visits were funny, and had special resonance to me as a car mad kid.

But the MkV GTI memory has the most significance, it was the springboard for my interest in cars. So, when this opportunity came along, I couldn’t resist... would the MkV Golf GTI live up to expectations years afterwards?

It’s analogue and engaging, you just get absorbed in it, driving without distraction

Long story short: yes, it does. How it combines both essential elements, Golf hatchback with GTI hot hatch, is so brilliant. The 2.0-litre 197bhp turbocharged four cylinder is easy and uneventful under 3,000rpm, but above that, it’s like you’ve flicked a switch from low to high speed on a food blender. The noise opens up, 0–62mph is chomped in 7.2secs and you suddenly realise there’s way more depth to this GTI than you expected.

It’s rewarding and addictive in equal measure, especially when cornering. It’s eager and willing, there’s a bit of body roll, but it carries speed lightly and easily. The supple setup gives you the confidence to push harder, you can feel what’s happening through the steering, which enables you to thread the MkV GTI through corners, positioning it exactly where you want.

But I’d been won over before I even started driving. The MkV picked up those classic GTI touches that had been there at the start, but subsequently abandoned for no good reason: the tartan trim, the telephone dial alloys, the red strip around the grille and the golfball gearknob. It shouldn’t feel so right sitting in the palm of my hand, but it does. And when you sling it around the gate... well, you never miss a shift.

Above all it’s analogue and engaging, you just get absorbed in it, driving without distraction. You can dial it up when the mood takes you, so it becomes the focused hot hatch that wants to play. Yet, when the fun stops, you can open the doors, throw kids and clobber in, and no one’s any the wiser.

I love the way it looks too. Discreet enough to blend in, distinct enough to stand out. Most hot hatches are conspicuous by design, but the MkV GTI has stayed true to its roots, never ostentatious, just a few hints here and there.

I drove it for a week and felt very comfortable and at home in it. That time together made me realise it’s all the car you really need. When I gawped at it in Wolfsburg all those years ago I knew it would be good, I just didn’t realise how good it would be. Now I know.