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Do You Remember The Volkswagen Golf Country?
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF COUNTRY
Words by Tommaso Mogge / Photos by Classic-Youngtimers.com
The SUV segment has imposed its presence with force and figures, to the point to almost completely supplant MPVs, especially when it has been understood that with the many variants coming in smaller dimensions they would in all respects represent the ideal choice for the traditional family looking for a single car able to wriggle out of the city traffic, but at the same time take children and suitcases on holiday for the weekend. SUVs gave birth to crossovers, and at that point even sedans and wagons lost points in an increasingly crowded market pie. Just think that right before Covid-19 upset the marketing plans of the whole world, SUVs sold in Europe were 6.03 million, or 38.3% of the whole market, a crazy number that confirms how much this segment is no longer seen as something for the few, but rather something that is really worth dealing with.
My mind travels back in time – not too much – at least until 1990, the year in which Volkswagen jumped into the void by presenting a version of the second generation Golf that is nothing short of singular and called Country. A word as simple as ideal to represent the desire and the ability to feel the freedom offered by white roads, all thanks to a car body raised up to 21 centimeters and with numerous details that underline how much VW had taken it seriously, so much so as to call into question the experts at Steyr-Daimler-Puch, already managing to get the job done with the FIAT Panda 4×4, thus presenting a prototype named Golf Montana at the 1989 Geneva Motor Show.
The following year, the Golf Country therefore showcased a protective sled at the underbody, bull-bar for both front and back, where however we also find the spare wheel arranged exactly as in the best off-road tradition, further accentuating what Volkswagen intended to lead you away from paved roads. The four-wheel drive made the Golf Country ideal on slippery or unpaved grounds, but in normal conditions the Syncro system favored the front axle, providing up to 50% of the traction on the rear, when the same system deemed it appropriate.
Produced for only one year – from 1990 to 1991 – in about 7,735 units, the Country did not achieve the hoped success, but not because of its fault, but rather because it arrived on the market at least ten years early. The world wasn’t ready yet and saw this particular version of the Golf as something mainly aimed at the rural world. Nothing could be in such a contraposition from what is perceived today, especially when talking about small crossovers, like the one we can call its contemporary counterpart, the T-Cross.
To push it away from the cities there’s a 1.8-liter in-line 4-cylinder with 98 horsepower, an elastic engine shared with some of the traditional units of the same Golf II series, as well as in the case of the passenger compartment, where we find the bare essentials, still everything exactly where it should be. Like the GTI, the Country represents one of the (two) most interesting variants produced on the basis of the Golf II, but in its case we do not pay attention to the performance side, but rather to the charm of an object ahead of its time now a proper meteor targeted by collectors. Keep in mind that as long as you are lucky enough to find one in good condition and with a healthy Syncro system, the prices make it an excellent investment with a guaranteed future. A vintage flavor that pointed to a future that today we call present. Something for which one may lose his head and yet drive it on a daily basis.
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