| Volkswagen’s Polo. There’s something just that | | | | experience, talk of the liberty and exhilaration of the |
| little bit special about it. Those clever men and women | | | | experience. I on the other hand, am more likely to |
| behind such iconic and era defining vehicles as the | | | | mention the cramped interior or the sluggish 1100cc |
| Beetle and the Golf GTi certainly have a knack for | | | | engine. Bear in mind these are the observations of a |
| making compact cars. When the air-cooled engine of | | | | fifteen year old! |
| the beetle became superseded by more modern, | | | | But each time the Polo had a makeover or a revision, |
| water-cooled powerplants, and when the Golf began | | | | the same Volkswagen engineers that had fumbled the |
| to grow bloated and put on weight with each | | | | ball during the car’s initial production, found ways to |
| successive iteration, the engineers at VW found | | | | make up for their miscalculations. And they kinda over |
| themselves once again with a supermini-shaped hole | | | | compensated… |
| and without a supermini-shaped peg to plug it with. | | | | The MkII G40 I mentioned earlier displaced just 1300cc |
| Cue the Polo. Legend has it, marketing chiefs at | | | | but generated 115bhp. It reached 62mph in an |
| Volkswagen chose the name ‘Polo’ because, | | | | impressive 8.1 seconds and could achieve a top speed |
| like ‘Golf’, it is a sport widely associated with a | | | | of 122mph. Since the G40, Polo’s have been quick. |
| social upper-class; and while the original Mk1 Polo may | | | | The MkIIIF had an entirely galvanised body and chassis |
| have looked up rather than lived up to those lofty | | | | mated with an over-engineered electrics and engine |
| connotations, I can happily inform you that the opposite | | | | management system. I once installed aftermarket door |
| is in fact true of the current model. | | | | speakers in a modern Japanese supermini, and the |
| I don’t mean to imply that the new Polo has | | | | door cards were made of pressed plastic and behind |
| suddenly appeared, well-built and sophisticated, after so | | | | them the door panel itself was made of what |
| many years of mediocrity within an oversaturated | | | | appeared to be wafer-thin tin. I did the same to my |
| market. Rather, the car before us today is the product | | | | Polo GTi manufactured in the same year, and the |
| of those many years devoted to refining the original | | | | corresponding door card was made out of a |
| car. | | | | super-dense fibreboard with a plastic and fabric |
| That’s not to say that it’s been an entirely plush | | | | external covering and a medium-density foam internal |
| ride either: the engineers from Wolfsburg seemingly | | | | filling to act as a sound dampener. Since the MkIII, |
| ignored some of basic principles of automotive design | | | | Polo’s have been reliable and well built. |
| and construction when they built their third | | | | And now we’re on the MkIV, which is in fact |
| sub-compact car, however today’s Polo stands | | | | approaching the end of its production cycle. With the |
| testament to both the successes the marque has | | | | next model scheduled to debut at the Geneva motor |
| enjoyed, and also to those failings suffered over the | | | | show later on this year, I wonder what we’ll say its |
| course of its lifetime. From the woeful build quality of | | | | contribution to the Polo legacy has been. Will we say |
| the cars first off the production line, to the exhilaration | | | | ’since the MkIV, Polo’s have been economical |
| of the record-breaking, supercharged MkII G40 variant; | | | | and environmentally responsible? The Polo BlueMotion |
| the current car really does feel like it has learned from | | | | would have it so. With a 1.4l diesel engine which returns |
| every lesson. | | | | up to 72mpg while outputting just 99 grams of CO2, |
| My first ever experience of driving a car was in a | | | | it’s certainly possible. |
| first-generation Polo. I drove figure-eights in a good | | | | One thing is for sure though, right now, with a new |
| friends field and in spite of the fact that under my | | | | version on the horizon, there are some exceptional |
| command the universal joint on the steering column | | | | deals to be had throughout the current Polo range. |
| failed, we remain friends to this day. Even with my | | | | From humble beginnings, the current Polo has evolved |
| youthful exuberance, I found it hard to find merit in the | | | | into a sophisticated and distinguished car. |
| car. Most people, when asked to recall their first driving | | | | |