Taking the Citi on for less than R100k

Hands up if you owned a CitiGolf at some stage in your life. From young to old, Volkswagen’s CitiGolf was the choice of close on 400 000 people when it rolled off showroom floors at dealers around the country for almost 25 years.

My father had an original 1983 Mk I Golf GTI. It was bright red and it ran a little 1.8-litre, 82 kW fuel injected engine. I say little because in those days, if you wanted to play you would pitch up with the likes of a 3.0-litre V6  Ford Cortina. These big boys were quick to dismiss this hatch as a cute shopping car for mommy, but only get to get smacked at the traffic lights.

The legend of the hot hatch was thus born, and Volkswagen’s Mk I Golf was written into the history books. When the original  was replaced by the Mk II Golf, somebody at Volkswagen South Africa had a brainwave, and a decision was taken to retain the body style of the Mk I and offer it as budget friendly transport while badging it as a CitiGolf.

I even have my own Citi Golf story. The year was 1992 and the salesman was none other than legendary race driver Basil Mann. I so wanted the CTI version, which was a clone of the giant killing Mk I GTI, but my finances could not stretch that far. On the floor though was a sparkling white Citi Designa, and anybody who knows their CitiGolfs knows that this was a copy of the CTI but with a 1.6-litre engine.

I had to settle for the show and not the go, as R32 000 financed back at around R600 per month, was most of my salary at the time. I had to promise three of my two kidneys to my mother as she had to sign surety for the deal. But who cared if I had no money left over at the end of the month and still lived at home? I had my first new car. Kinda like the youngsters do today when they buy a Golf R.

Over the 25 years that the CitiGolf was available, Volkswagen sold around 1 200 of them every month, and this popularity was fuelled by the company always evolving the package offered. Every year or so, they would bring out a new edition and give it a catchy name.

From 1.3-litre, to 1.4 and 1.6 naturally aspirated offerings, to fuel injected 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8-litre models, you could have your pick. And the list I have provided here features the likes of Chico, Sport, Rhythm, Shuttle, TenaCiti, Sonic, Storm, GTS, CTI, CitiRox, to Citi Wolf models. With a starting price of only R22 000, how can you go wrong. For more info, visit autotrader.co.za.

VW CitiGolf 1.6 Sport – 1987 – 317 000 km – Manual – R22 000

VW CitiGolf 1.4 Chico – 2003 – 163 000 km – Manual – R37 000

VW CitiGolf 1.4 Rhythm – 2006 – 118 000 km – Manual – R42 000

VW CitiGolf 1.3 Shuttle – 1992 – 315 000 km – Manual – R44 450

VW CitiGolf 1.4i Sport – 2009 – 160 000 km – Manual – R45 000

VW CitiGolf 1.4i Storm – 2003 – 284 000 km – Manual – R46 000

VW CitiGolf 1.6 Sonic – 1998 – 178 000 km – Manual – R49 900

VW CitiGolf 1.4 TenaCiti – 2009 – 132 000 km – Manual – R69 900

VW CitiGolf 1.4 VeloCiti – 2007 – 165 000 km – Manual – R79 900

VW CitiGolf 1.8i CTI – 1995 – 252 000 km – Manual – R79 950

VW CitiGolf 1.4i Billabong – 2010 – 188 000 km – Manual – R79 950

VW CitiGolf 1.4i GTS – 2009 – 142 000 km – Manual – R79 990

VW CitiGolf 1.4i CitiRox – 2008 – 199 000 km – Manual – R82 890

VW CitiGolf 1.4i CitiWolf – 2009 – 119 000 km – Manual – R99 900

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