COBI Volkswagen Golf GTI (1976-1983) - Executive Edition Set 24358

COBI's Volkswagen Golf GTI Executive Edition is a 1:12 model built from 1,743 blocks, 30.5 cm long, in white, with a brick display base and a black nameplate. Doors and boot open, the steering turns the front wheels on rubber tires, and the engine and interior are reproduced in detail. A sticker sheet is included for the side decoration.

Built without permission

The GTI was not a Volkswagen project. In 1973 a handful of engineers and a press officer at Wolfsburg started building a fast Golf in their own time, unofficially, because they thought the company ought to have one. There was no budget and no brief.

When they showed it, the board was unconvinced enough to approve only 5,000 cars — the minimum needed for motorsport homologation — and expected that to be the end of it. The first generation sold well over 400,000, created a class of car that had not existed, and gave Volkswagen a performance reputation it had never had before.

The recipe was subtraction rather than addition: a light body, fuel injection, stiffer springs, bigger brakes, and almost nothing else. The red grille outline, the tartan seats and the golf-ball gearknob cost nothing and are still being copied.

In the COBI range

Set 24360 is the Golf Cabriolet at the same scale — the open version of the same generation of car.

Specifications

Pieces: 1,743 · Scale: 1:12 · Also included: display base, nameplate, sticker sheet
Model dimensions: 30.5 × 11.5 × 13 cm (12.0 × 4.5 × 5.1 in)