Volkswagen to celebrate five decades of the GTI in 2026

When the Golf GTI was launched in 1976, no one could've guessed that the model would rise to become what is widely considered to be the world's most successful compact sports car. Only 5,000 units were initially planned, but Volkswagen ended up building a total of 461,690 first gen Golf GTI models.

And to mark five decades of its existence, Volkswagen has said that the Golf GTI Edition 50, the most powerful production model to date (321bhp) and previously unveiled at Nurburgring in June 2025, will see the first units delivered in 2026, having already been made available to order in some European markets.

The GTI philosophy isn't just limited to the Golf, as the new ID. Polo GTI will also take off in 2026, transferring the GTI philosophy into the electric drive era for the first time.

The GTI's 50^th anniversary celebrations will kick off from 28 January to 1 February 2026 at the Retromobile in Paris, with the Bremen Classic Motorshow up next (30 January to 2 February 2026).