Volkswagen’s GTI badge has defined the German car maker’s performance range since 1976.
The nameplate has come to represent excellent all-round performance and dynamic ability and it continues to appear on the Volkwagen Golf and smaller Volkswagen Polo to this day.
The most recent model to gain the GTI badge, though, was the Volkswagen Up: the firm's smallest car, which excels in urban environments.
Under the bonnet sits a tiny 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, producing 113bhp, with power sent to the front wheels through a six-speed manual transmission.
While those particulars are far from eyebrow-raising, the Volkswagen Up GTI benefits from a turbocharger to help propel the car from 0-62mph in 8.8sec (we achieved 0-60mph in 8.5sec in our 2018 road test) and on to a top speed of 119mph.
It also gained some design details typical of previous GTI models. Inside, there’s matt chrome trim, a set of Jacara cloth tartan seats and a leather, flat-bottomed, three-spoke steering wheel. GTI branding features on the gearknob and the door sills, and every car gets a black roof.
There really aren’t many performance city cars out there that can match the charm of the Up GTI. In fact, we said in that original road test that the model is “as genial and charming a car as any pint-sized ‘pocket rocket’ there has ever been”.
Its combination of quality interior, driving dynamics, excellent design and value for money makes the Up GTI a more compelling buy than many of its rivals, including the Fiat 500-based Abarth 595.
Prices for a new Up GTI started from £13,750 in 2018, but you’ll have to pay from £18,055 for a new one today. Its status as a potential future classic is reflected by the model’s healthy residuals on the used market.
Our used find is this 2018 car priced at £11,995. Don’t be too deterred by its higher-than-average 40,000 driven miles: it comes with a full service history and a 12-month MOT. It also has Deep Black Pearl exterior paint – originally a £630 option.
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An Escalade is no bigger than a Transit Custom, which you see everywhere. The size issue really isn't all it's made out to be. That aside, it's basically a Chevy truck with 7 seats and 400hp - not much to complain about apart from MPG.
Autocar road test of the Proton ended with a taste of a Neutron
I would've loved a VW Up! GTi when they were first teased by VW, but then they kept us waiting for years.
When the car was finally launched, it was good and not ridiculously expensive (around £13,000 from memory), but then you couldn't get hold of one due to the huge waiting list.
Then it was taken off sale, then reintroduced shortly after with no changes other than a huge price increase!
The initial attractions to this car for me was that it was cheap and fun. But with prices as they are now for this tiny city car with only 113bhp that's been around, unchanged, for quite a few years now, it seems way too expensive for what it is.