The hot hatch par excellence, the one that is always claimed to have invented the concept, was the Golf GTI, launched in 1976. The competition, as is its wont, did not just leave this niche to VW alone, of course. By about 1980, there were so many GTIs in this segment that the Golf was in danger of losing its supremacy. Oettinger to the rescue!
Like AMG for Mercedes, Alpina for BMW or Abarth for Fiat, Oettinger were (and remain to this day, though the present-day outfit has been absorbed by VAG) the specialists shop for all VW enthusiasts who want a little more performance out of their car. Anything from engine upgrades to body kits, suspension modifications and bigger exhausts – since the late ‘40s, Oettinger had developed it all.
Up until the early ‘80s, the Oettinger bits and pieces were added by VW owners after the fact. But because the Golf GTI’s rivals were really nipping at the hot hatch’s heels, VW decided to do an official “Oettinger” variant, complete with a 16-valve 1.6 litre engine, twin exhausts, fatter tyres and spoilers aplenty. Curiously, these were only sold in France and Switzerland for MY 1981-82 as the Golf GTI 16S (S for soupapes, French for “valves”), churning out 136hp, or 25 more than the standard GTI.
But in 1982, the GTI gained access to the 1781cc engine. Oettinger obligingly worked their magic on it, adapting their crossflow DOHC 16-valve head and other mods to the motor. Output was up to 142hp according to one source, but it really depends on how deep the modifications were – there were a lot of extras that could be added on.
This particular car is for sale, by the way. The dealer is specialized in classic and modern Aston Martins, Ferraris and Porsches, but they probably figured such a rare Golf would not look too out of sorts in that company. The price is not advertised, but the online advert does contain a lot of additional photos if you’re curious.
If it were up to me, this particular Golf would first need to be fitted with proper wheels, rather than those horrid things. But hey, given how expensive this Golf probably is, that extra expense would probably not make much difference. In for a pfennig, in for a mark. And you’d have to be quite a mark (or a hardcore Golf fanatic) to fork out the money that these usually go for. I’ll stick to the GTI, thank you very much.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1975 VW Golf Mk1/Rabbit – The Most Influential Modern Global Compact Car, by PN
Curbside Classic: 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI — When Fun Hopped Across The Ocean, by Eric703
Curbside Classic: 1986 Volkswagen Cabriolet – What Women Want, by JPC
Curbside Recycling: 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit C Diesel – Not Hopped Up, But All Hopped Out. by Jim Klein
Curbside Classic: 1979 Volkswagen Golf – Is this CC’s Favourite Car?, by T87
Vintage AMS Review: 1976 Volkswagen Golf GTI — VW Hot Hatch Changes The Game, But Americans Don’t Get It, by Aaron Severson
Car and Driver tested a Scirocco with this engine. I think Callaway was the US agent for Oettinger. It had superb performance for the era, but I think the cost was also in line with other cars of similar performance which didn’t have such pedestrian roots. While the 16-valve Oettinger engine did restore the VW GTI to the top of the hot-hatch heap, it didn’t represent much of a value proposition.
IIRC, VW’s own 16-valve head arrived on the US market in 1987. I test drove a GTI-16V, and it really didn’t feel like it had the claimed power increase to 123 horsepower over the 90 horsepower of the VW I was comparing it to. It didn’t exactly charge for the redline like some Japanese 16-valve performance engines of the era. The 1.6-liter Oettinger Scirocco had hit 60 miles per hour in less than seven seconds, while the factory production version took over a second and a half longer five years later.
A set of standard GTI Snowflake wheels would look the business aplenty and mark (1) this as pretty much perfection, although the factory did at one time put out a very similar to these here flat-faced 7-spoke design for the Mk1 Cabriolet around maybe ’86, also usually seen in white which looked good on a red car. Oettinger stuff overall was always quite nice and relatively rare in the U.S.
I recognize the dealer that this one is parked in front of and if they have (in the company of their usual fare) it really must be in absolutely top condition. Were I there I’d likely be prostrating myself on the ground in front of it in appreciation…
I did quite enough prostrating for the both of us, don’t worry. This dealer is the gift that keeps on giving — just the other day, they had a late ’70s Aston Martin Volante in the very same spot. Now part of my regular rounds…
Look, I know we’re all getting on a bit, but do we really need to hear about your prostrates, fellas?
Now this is a car I would love to drive and even possibly own. Assuming it’s relatively easy to wrench on and all its foibles have been documented in great detail on various online VW forums and Youtube. If the specs of 123 hp and a curb weight of just a skosh over 2000 pounds are somewhat correct it sounds like a lot of fun. The only big spoiler I spotted is under its chin and that’s just how I like my cars. No gigantic rear spoiler or farting rhinoceros exhaust pipes for this kid.
Hmm, the black dash reminds me of the Scirocco S they sold the last years of the A1 Scirocco.
Never had an A3, but I owned one of each through A4; an A1 Scirocco, A2 GTi, and now A4 Golf. Always thought it a bit odd that the Rabbit/Golf got the sporty treatment, maybe because the Scirocco/Corrado were already a bit pricey, but I thought that Scirocco should have gotten the GTi package..
The A1s were really light…I moved to Texas in early 80’s and the moving van carried all my possessions including lots of textbooks from undergraduate days, as well as my ’78 Scirocco, and the total weight for the move was 4000 lbs. I’d guess the car was about 2000 lbs, it was Champagne edition but had no options (well, other than aftermarket stereo). I’d guess the Rabbit probably was even a bit less than that.
The A2 GTi was a bit heavier, maybe 2500 lbs. I had an ’86, with CIS-E, it only had about 102 HP. One thing I noticed on this that the regular GTi also had was lots of black vinyl, around the rear window and other places. I used lots of that “back to black” to keep all that trim from oxidizing, and there was a lot of it…wheel arches, rearview mirrors, front and rear spoilers body side molding and even the rubber piece that holds weatherstrip that goes from A pillar to hatch. Bought this car in the sunbelt, so the plastic and rubber parts degraded quickly…had to order that same rubber piece from a northern salvage yard since the ones I found here were worse than the part I already had that needed replacement.
Still prefer the looks of the A1 VWs…the newer ones aren’t bad looking, but the A1s always looked best to me…but I like angular styling more than rounded
Oettinger are the same mob who made hot 2.5 flat-fours for VW vans, I think, so they get automatic approval from this armchair expert. I didn’t know about their long aftermarket background.
I actually like the looks of this, wheels and all. Well, minus the blacked-out surround of the hatch window, which seems a bit naff. And the US tailights, I don’t like them. (The lights, not the US. Well, mostly).
Nice find, sir.
I think maybe you’re thinking of the Oettinger WBX6-3.2 engine? They added another pair of cylinders to turn the VW wasserboxer four into this, which really perked it up.
Right you are. I was going to say “flat six”, but balked from doubt.
That said, Oettinger did offer the engine type I mentioned.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=273407
Oettinger’s ‘bullige Bullis’ go back to 1971.
https://www.oettinger.de/unternehmen/oettinger_history/oettingers_bullige_bullis.html
In German. After all, the man’s name is Gerhard Oettinger.
The GTI has caught my eye ever since its introduction. Its bigger brother, the GLI has too. I like understated sporty cars.
I owned an ’83 and had fun with that. Driving in Los Angeles with a manual transmission was a challenge at times, so I alternated between the GTI and an ’81 Cutlass.
As a retired dude, I skipped some decades and model generations and bought a 2024 GTI SE with 6 speed. Even though ’24 was the last year of the 3 pedal model, I was surprised at just how much I’d grown out of driving manual trannys. Used to be automatics were not the best choice if you were a sporting sort. That’s all different now.
Sold the ’24 after a year and decided that the posterior needed some extra coddling, so bought a Lexus ES. I can relax now.