While many people love retro-themed modern cars, they are very difficult to get right and as a result, automakers rarely nail this type of styling.
Sure, there are success stories like the Fiat 500, the Dodge Challenger, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and, of course, the master of them all, the Porsche 911, but the number of retro-styled flops is much higher than that of successful efforts.
Some things are better left in the past and these renderings of a VW Golf GTI Mk8 incorporating design cues from the original Golf GTI seem to prove it. Created by Kolesa’s resident artist, they are very well-executed but they fail to make the 2021 Golf GTI more attractive – that’s our opinion, at least, and you’re invited to argue with it in the comments section.
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Somehow, transplanting bits and pieces from Giorgetto Giugiaro’s 1970s VW Golf GTI Mk1 to the latest-generation model just doesn’t work. We’re talking especially about the front end, which adopts four round headlights. Those looked great on the original’s boxy bodywork but they don’t seem to find their place on the round eighth-generation model.
Sporting smaller taillights inspired by the original Golf GTI, the rear end clearly looks nicer and better adapted to the Golf GTI Mk8 bodywork, thanks in part to the light strip that unites the lamps. Still, we’re not sure we’d take this modified rear end over the stock version either.
There’s one thing we’d truly like to see on the Golf GTI Mk8, though, and that’s the three-door body style. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen as the eighth-generation Golf will only offer five-door hatch and estate variants.
