1 00:00:15,316 --> 00:00:22,956 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Hey Eddie here, before we get started, I wanted 2 00:00:22,996 --> 00:00:24,916 Speaker 1: you to know that you can listen to Car Show 3 00:00:24,956 --> 00:00:29,276 Speaker 1: ad free by becoming a Pushkin Plus subscriber. You'll also 4 00:00:29,316 --> 00:00:32,796 Speaker 1: get access to detours, bonus episodes of Car Show where 5 00:00:32,836 --> 00:00:37,676 Speaker 1: we go for extended drives, play outtakes and more fine 6 00:00:37,716 --> 00:00:40,636 Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus on the Car Show page, in Apple Podcasts, 7 00:00:41,156 --> 00:00:46,956 Speaker 1: or at pushkin dot fm. Man, it was great to 8 00:00:46,996 --> 00:00:52,676 Speaker 1: be a teenager in the eighties. There was hair metal, 9 00:00:53,476 --> 00:01:00,676 Speaker 1: new wave and wrap, Diehard, Ferris Bueller and Alf and 10 00:01:00,756 --> 00:01:04,156 Speaker 1: there was no shortage of gods to pray to. One year, 11 00:01:04,276 --> 00:01:07,836 Speaker 1: I had these three posters on my bedroom walls. One 12 00:01:07,916 --> 00:01:10,236 Speaker 1: for Eric b and Rock Kim's and Mark Debut paid 13 00:01:10,236 --> 00:01:13,436 Speaker 1: in full, one for the launch of Stratos Rally Car, 14 00:01:14,396 --> 00:01:16,916 Speaker 1: and one of the Maxel tape guy in the armchair 15 00:01:17,436 --> 00:01:20,276 Speaker 1: getting his hair blown back by the sweet jams coming 16 00:01:20,276 --> 00:01:31,036 Speaker 1: out of his speakers. It was a glorious time. All 17 00:01:31,076 --> 00:01:35,996 Speaker 1: those posters were aspirational, thankfully for everyone's sake. I would 18 00:01:36,076 --> 00:01:40,756 Speaker 1: never be a rapper, I'd never own a Stratos, and 19 00:01:40,916 --> 00:01:45,716 Speaker 1: my stereo system was a yellow waterproof Sony Walkman. All 20 00:01:45,756 --> 00:01:50,196 Speaker 1: those things on the posters out of reach What did 21 00:01:50,236 --> 00:01:52,996 Speaker 1: seem reasonable and what I thought I could maybe get 22 00:01:53,036 --> 00:01:56,156 Speaker 1: my parents to buy me or possibly even by myself, 23 00:01:56,996 --> 00:02:05,036 Speaker 1: was a couple year old Volkswagen GTI. The GTI was 24 00:02:05,076 --> 00:02:09,636 Speaker 1: our attainable icon, the car every mountain deuced swelling car 25 00:02:09,796 --> 00:02:15,436 Speaker 1: giftbox receiving Janz sport toating suburban teenager wanted. It wasn't 26 00:02:15,436 --> 00:02:18,836 Speaker 1: overtly sporting like a Camaro or a Mustang, but those 27 00:02:18,876 --> 00:02:24,916 Speaker 1: were unrealistically expensive to ensure. Besides, they were parental kryptonite. 28 00:02:25,716 --> 00:02:27,836 Speaker 1: No right thinking adult would let their kid drive a 29 00:02:27,876 --> 00:02:32,876 Speaker 1: stoplight dragster like a Camaro. Based on the Workaday VW Golf, 30 00:02:33,356 --> 00:02:36,676 Speaker 1: the GTI was under the radar. It didn't look like 31 00:02:36,716 --> 00:02:39,756 Speaker 1: a sports car because it had a hatchback. It didn't 32 00:02:39,756 --> 00:02:42,236 Speaker 1: have sportscar power either, just a little more than a 33 00:02:42,316 --> 00:02:45,916 Speaker 1: hundred horses. But the GTI was fast because it was 34 00:02:46,036 --> 00:02:49,596 Speaker 1: light about two thousand pounds when a Camaro weighed a 35 00:02:49,596 --> 00:02:53,116 Speaker 1: good fifty percent more So. Yeah, it didn't look like 36 00:02:53,156 --> 00:03:00,156 Speaker 1: a sports car, but it definitely looked cool, upright and angular. 37 00:03:00,636 --> 00:03:04,316 Speaker 1: It was echoing the Bunnyman to the Camaro's Bachman turner overdrive. 38 00:03:05,316 --> 00:03:07,676 Speaker 1: It had blacked out wheels and a thin red frame 39 00:03:07,756 --> 00:03:10,476 Speaker 1: for the grill. You could get your stuff in it, 40 00:03:11,236 --> 00:03:13,836 Speaker 1: you could get your friends in it, you could get 41 00:03:13,876 --> 00:03:17,676 Speaker 1: your friends stuff in it. In more than just its 42 00:03:17,676 --> 00:03:22,396 Speaker 1: space efficiency, the GTI was a trojan horse. Where most 43 00:03:22,396 --> 00:03:25,796 Speaker 1: people saw a small economy car, the clued up car 44 00:03:25,876 --> 00:03:30,036 Speaker 1: kid saw an autobun cruiser in miniature. To drive, the 45 00:03:30,076 --> 00:03:32,516 Speaker 1: GTI was to fold into the slip stream of those 46 00:03:32,556 --> 00:03:36,076 Speaker 1: European performance car heroes like the AMG Hammer or the 47 00:03:36,116 --> 00:03:40,476 Speaker 1: BMW M six, pair of dark Sergetti's on your face, 48 00:03:41,116 --> 00:03:46,316 Speaker 1: pack of red dunghills in the center console, livin euro style. 49 00:03:56,596 --> 00:04:00,916 Speaker 1: The GTI was a gen x icon. For proof, look 50 00:04:00,996 --> 00:04:05,476 Speaker 1: no further than its leading thinker, Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell is 51 00:04:05,476 --> 00:04:10,236 Speaker 1: an avowed GTI man. He sums up the car's essence concisely. 52 00:04:11,076 --> 00:04:15,716 Speaker 1: It's like that spoils you for other cars, like having 53 00:04:15,716 --> 00:04:18,636 Speaker 1: owned them for so long. My expectation of what a 54 00:04:18,636 --> 00:04:21,996 Speaker 1: car should be able to do be a daily driver, 55 00:04:22,236 --> 00:04:24,716 Speaker 1: being sandy, fun to drive, have a lot of room 56 00:04:24,716 --> 00:04:29,156 Speaker 1: in it, not be that expensive, get you cat's knowledge 57 00:04:29,636 --> 00:04:33,156 Speaker 1: all in one package, and every other car like fails 58 00:04:33,156 --> 00:04:43,076 Speaker 1: on one of those counts. I'm Eddie Alterman and this 59 00:04:43,196 --> 00:04:46,436 Speaker 1: is Car Show, my podcast about why we drive what 60 00:04:46,596 --> 00:04:50,956 Speaker 1: we drive. In this episode, we'll talk about how VWS 61 00:04:50,996 --> 00:04:54,396 Speaker 1: GTI was a radically different kind of performance car for 62 00:04:54,436 --> 00:04:58,596 Speaker 1: a new generation of car enthusiasts with absolutely zero precedent, 63 00:04:59,596 --> 00:05:03,596 Speaker 1: but also conversely that it was almost exactly like the 64 00:05:03,676 --> 00:05:09,236 Speaker 1: definitive American muscle car, the Pontiac GTO. This is the 65 00:05:09,316 --> 00:05:14,156 Speaker 1: untold story of how the GTI is. Generation X is GTO. 66 00:05:36,836 --> 00:05:38,916 Speaker 1: Malcolm and I are at the wheel of a twenty 67 00:05:39,156 --> 00:05:44,436 Speaker 1: twenty two Volkswagen GTI, now in its eighth generation. Over 68 00:05:44,516 --> 00:05:47,756 Speaker 1: the years, Malcolm has owned several Gtis and it's even 69 00:05:47,756 --> 00:05:52,476 Speaker 1: more powerful sibling, the Golf are A quick note before 70 00:05:52,476 --> 00:05:56,516 Speaker 1: we go any further. The VW hatchback comes in three flavors, 71 00:05:56,756 --> 00:06:01,796 Speaker 1: ascending an intensity, the mild yet wild Golf, the flame 72 00:06:01,876 --> 00:06:06,716 Speaker 1: and hot GTI and the ghost pepper scorcher the Golf R. 73 00:06:07,636 --> 00:06:11,116 Speaker 1: But the GTI is the sweet spot, the original hot Hatch. 74 00:06:12,716 --> 00:06:15,356 Speaker 1: Malcolm got hooked on these VW Hatchbacks when he moved 75 00:06:15,356 --> 00:06:18,796 Speaker 1: to New York City, trading his Lexus Sportsdan for something 76 00:06:18,836 --> 00:06:22,636 Speaker 1: more practical and parkable, and so I got a GTI 77 00:06:23,556 --> 00:06:28,236 Speaker 1: had two Gtis and had urs ever since. And you 78 00:06:28,276 --> 00:06:31,436 Speaker 1: know once you started an coming back. There's a great 79 00:06:31,876 --> 00:06:37,436 Speaker 1: scene in that Netflix drive to Survive special or Carlos 80 00:06:37,436 --> 00:06:40,676 Speaker 1: signs he was driving from McLaren at the time and 81 00:06:41,276 --> 00:06:44,716 Speaker 1: he said, you know, everybody asked me, what do you drive? 82 00:06:44,756 --> 00:06:49,156 Speaker 1: What McLaren do you drive? He goes, I'll drive mc golf. Nice. 83 00:06:51,156 --> 00:06:55,276 Speaker 1: The GTI reimagined the performance car along rational lines rather 84 00:06:55,356 --> 00:07:00,276 Speaker 1: than emotional ones. Before the little, fuel efficient, space efficient 85 00:07:00,516 --> 00:07:05,196 Speaker 1: and mass efficient VW performance cars were either burbling sleds 86 00:07:05,236 --> 00:07:08,756 Speaker 1: from Detroit with big V eights upfront and smoking rear tires, 87 00:07:09,516 --> 00:07:12,956 Speaker 1: or they were swoopy European coups like Porsches and Ferraris, 88 00:07:13,276 --> 00:07:18,516 Speaker 1: with lofty price tags and equally lofty top speeds. The 89 00:07:18,596 --> 00:07:24,356 Speaker 1: seeds of the GTI lie in both. Like those European coups, 90 00:07:24,556 --> 00:07:27,836 Speaker 1: it was built to cover alpine roads at terrifying speeds, 91 00:07:28,956 --> 00:07:31,876 Speaker 1: but believe it or not, its stronger kinship is to 92 00:07:31,916 --> 00:07:36,036 Speaker 1: the flat lands of Detroit. The GTI took a boxy 93 00:07:36,116 --> 00:07:39,556 Speaker 1: and conservative car, the Golf, and shot it full of 94 00:07:39,636 --> 00:07:43,596 Speaker 1: performance enhancing drugs. This is the pattern by which most 95 00:07:43,676 --> 00:07:47,356 Speaker 1: Detroit muscle came to be, most notably the Pontiac Gto. 96 00:07:48,636 --> 00:07:51,876 Speaker 1: The Gto started as a mid sized Tudor family sedan 97 00:07:52,236 --> 00:07:56,356 Speaker 1: ambitiously badged the Tempest, but it was no force of nature. 98 00:07:57,476 --> 00:08:00,716 Speaker 1: Mild as Mayo. The Tempest was built for pipe smoking, 99 00:08:01,156 --> 00:08:06,836 Speaker 1: arrow shirt wearing insurance salesman, but subversive elements within Pontiac 100 00:08:07,196 --> 00:08:11,036 Speaker 1: conspired to turn this humble commune box into the definitive 101 00:08:11,076 --> 00:08:16,116 Speaker 1: muscle car, and not via any official, approved route. Something 102 00:08:16,196 --> 00:08:26,116 Speaker 1: uncannily similar happened with the GTI. They've stopped making GTOs 103 00:08:26,876 --> 00:08:31,436 Speaker 1: Pontiacs two, but the GTI is now eight generations old 104 00:08:31,436 --> 00:08:35,916 Speaker 1: in counting, and it still feels daring and subversive. The 105 00:08:35,996 --> 00:08:40,196 Speaker 1: funny thing is Volkswagen arrived at this perfectly attuned, entirely 106 00:08:40,276 --> 00:08:44,916 Speaker 1: new kind of performance car almost by accident. But before 107 00:08:44,916 --> 00:08:47,676 Speaker 1: we get to how the GTI changed the world, we 108 00:08:47,796 --> 00:08:50,116 Speaker 1: have to talk about the car on which it is based, 109 00:08:50,516 --> 00:08:54,316 Speaker 1: the VW Golf. The Golf was built to usurp the 110 00:08:54,356 --> 00:08:58,156 Speaker 1: aging Volkswagen Beetle. The Beetle was sort of the car 111 00:08:58,276 --> 00:09:01,636 Speaker 1: Germans were issued at birth. It basically came with a 112 00:09:01,676 --> 00:09:03,876 Speaker 1: pair of leaderhosen in the trunk and a jar of 113 00:09:03,916 --> 00:09:06,996 Speaker 1: stewed cabbage in the glove box, but by the nineteen 114 00:09:07,036 --> 00:09:11,636 Speaker 1: seventies it really needed replace sing The Beatle was commissioned 115 00:09:11,676 --> 00:09:15,596 Speaker 1: by Hitler, and in postwar Germany it began to carry 116 00:09:15,596 --> 00:09:19,716 Speaker 1: the stench of it, plus it was old. The first 117 00:09:19,716 --> 00:09:23,956 Speaker 1: Beatles came out in nineteen thirty eight. By the nineteen sixties, 118 00:09:24,476 --> 00:09:27,276 Speaker 1: America seemed to like the Beatle more than Germany did. 119 00:09:27,996 --> 00:09:30,396 Speaker 1: Sales of the Beatle in America almost doubled in the 120 00:09:30,396 --> 00:09:35,156 Speaker 1: mid sixties, from over two hundred nineteen sixty three to 121 00:09:35,316 --> 00:09:39,756 Speaker 1: around four hundred thousand just five years later. Credit the 122 00:09:39,876 --> 00:09:44,596 Speaker 1: hippie ascendency. To me, this has always been a hilarious 123 00:09:44,636 --> 00:09:48,156 Speaker 1: irony of the Beatle in America. Hitler's car somehow became 124 00:09:48,196 --> 00:09:52,076 Speaker 1: our symbol of peace and love. Part of this rebranding 125 00:09:52,156 --> 00:09:55,156 Speaker 1: was due to compelling advertising that position the Beatle as 126 00:09:55,196 --> 00:09:58,676 Speaker 1: the smaller, smarter antidote to the land yachts pumped out 127 00:09:58,716 --> 00:10:02,276 Speaker 1: by Detroit's factories. Never wish your car didn't gobled so 128 00:10:02,396 --> 00:10:08,556 Speaker 1: much gas. The Volkswagen cuts most gas bills in half. 129 00:10:11,476 --> 00:10:18,276 Speaker 1: Never wish you owned a Volkswagen. But some of it 130 00:10:18,356 --> 00:10:20,276 Speaker 1: was due to how cheap and easy the thing was 131 00:10:20,516 --> 00:10:25,476 Speaker 1: to own and maintain. To the unshowered anti capitalist. The 132 00:10:25,516 --> 00:10:29,356 Speaker 1: beatle was better than an ounce of Wahakin gold. But 133 00:10:29,476 --> 00:10:33,196 Speaker 1: as you might imagine, displacing the long running Beetle was 134 00:10:33,236 --> 00:10:40,996 Speaker 1: a high stakes affair, so, like any panicking carmaker, VW 135 00:10:41,076 --> 00:10:47,596 Speaker 1: turned to the maestro designer, Georgetto Jiujaro to fix the problem. Jiujaro, 136 00:10:47,916 --> 00:10:52,556 Speaker 1: an elegant and brilliant Italian, understood automotive beauty in his bones. 137 00:10:53,956 --> 00:10:56,756 Speaker 1: He came from a family of Fresco painters and designed 138 00:10:56,796 --> 00:11:01,036 Speaker 1: a string of great Alpha Romeos, Ferraris and Maserati's. He 139 00:11:01,156 --> 00:11:06,116 Speaker 1: knew proportion and esthetics almost genetically. But he also understood 140 00:11:06,236 --> 00:11:09,756 Speaker 1: that a car's design had to work. It had to 141 00:11:09,796 --> 00:11:13,236 Speaker 1: fit people comfortably. They needed to be able to see 142 00:11:13,236 --> 00:11:16,236 Speaker 1: out of it. They needed somewhere to put their luggage. 143 00:11:16,996 --> 00:11:20,836 Speaker 1: It wasn't all about superficial beauty. The true beauty was 144 00:11:20,876 --> 00:11:24,636 Speaker 1: in the way it functioned. And what Jujaro turned out 145 00:11:24,916 --> 00:11:27,836 Speaker 1: was so deceptively simple that only a genius could have 146 00:11:27,836 --> 00:11:31,876 Speaker 1: created it. Engine in the front hatchback in the rear 147 00:11:32,436 --> 00:11:36,996 Speaker 1: was straightforward, sharply creased bodywork. This thing of beauty. The 148 00:11:37,116 --> 00:11:40,996 Speaker 1: precursor to the GTI was the Gulf We used to 149 00:11:40,996 --> 00:11:46,316 Speaker 1: do this thing all of my Canadian cousins Long Islands. 150 00:11:47,916 --> 00:11:51,836 Speaker 1: My brother would visit me up here and we would 151 00:11:51,836 --> 00:11:55,356 Speaker 1: gather all the sporting cars we have and we would 152 00:11:55,356 --> 00:11:58,836 Speaker 1: have a compare like a family really, and so we 153 00:11:58,836 --> 00:12:04,276 Speaker 1: would have my cousins nine to eleven whatever. The two 154 00:12:04,276 --> 00:12:09,836 Speaker 1: thousand and early all itswine was. We had a second 155 00:12:09,876 --> 00:12:16,556 Speaker 1: generation or third generation Mianna. We had my M five, 156 00:12:16,796 --> 00:12:20,996 Speaker 1: I've had a boxer back then, my R, my brother's 157 00:12:21,796 --> 00:12:24,836 Speaker 1: CTS four and you know, we drive for a couple 158 00:12:24,796 --> 00:12:28,916 Speaker 1: of hours and just change cars constantly, and then we 159 00:12:28,956 --> 00:12:30,996 Speaker 1: would all kind of do a little bill out, a 160 00:12:31,036 --> 00:12:35,916 Speaker 1: little subjective questionnaire. We do it every year. But they 161 00:12:35,956 --> 00:12:38,436 Speaker 1: are if you to those who had never driven the 162 00:12:38,596 --> 00:12:43,476 Speaker 1: R before, the R was always this revelation. They were 163 00:12:43,476 --> 00:12:46,636 Speaker 1: always like, wait, what, that's what that car is? You know, 164 00:12:46,796 --> 00:12:49,876 Speaker 1: no one could believe it. It's like it can cover 165 00:12:50,156 --> 00:12:53,876 Speaker 1: ground faster than almost anything because there's no waste. It's 166 00:12:53,916 --> 00:12:57,156 Speaker 1: like all of the performance in this vehicle is usable. 167 00:12:58,236 --> 00:13:01,156 Speaker 1: There's nothing excessive about it. It's all like kind of 168 00:13:01,236 --> 00:13:04,876 Speaker 1: perfectly keyed to the to every situation. I don't know 169 00:13:04,916 --> 00:13:07,756 Speaker 1: how they do it other than other than you know, 170 00:13:07,876 --> 00:13:14,916 Speaker 1: just constant, even of a very good original idea. I mean, 171 00:13:15,156 --> 00:13:17,676 Speaker 1: you never feel like you're out of control, you never 172 00:13:17,716 --> 00:13:20,316 Speaker 1: feel like it's too fast or too slow. It's just 173 00:13:20,396 --> 00:13:29,476 Speaker 1: always sort of perfectly yeah, you know. Sighted. For a while, 174 00:13:29,636 --> 00:13:32,756 Speaker 1: the Golf was known in America as the Rabbit, extending 175 00:13:32,756 --> 00:13:38,076 Speaker 1: the Beatles wildlife theme. The car's appearance told you what 176 00:13:38,156 --> 00:13:40,596 Speaker 1: it did, and it was indeed a bit rabbit like, 177 00:13:41,476 --> 00:13:45,436 Speaker 1: ready to hop on the road, canted forward with acres 178 00:13:45,476 --> 00:13:48,716 Speaker 1: of glass, the Rabbit Slash Golf was a bright and 179 00:13:48,836 --> 00:13:53,636 Speaker 1: modern replacement for the German everyman's car. It was comfortable 180 00:13:53,676 --> 00:13:56,356 Speaker 1: to be in and had tons of cargo room inside. 181 00:13:56,876 --> 00:14:01,356 Speaker 1: It was a triumph of styling and design. All of 182 00:14:01,396 --> 00:14:03,996 Speaker 1: this combined to make the car an instant hit, a 183 00:14:03,996 --> 00:14:07,836 Speaker 1: new car for a new Germany. Jujaro called it the 184 00:14:07,876 --> 00:14:11,636 Speaker 1: most important design of his career. And like the little 185 00:14:11,676 --> 00:14:14,556 Speaker 1: anti hippie I was at the time, I thought this 186 00:14:14,636 --> 00:14:17,596 Speaker 1: anti beetle would make the perfect statement about who I 187 00:14:17,756 --> 00:14:22,316 Speaker 1: was as a high school junior, function perfectly fused to form. 188 00:14:23,276 --> 00:14:26,516 Speaker 1: That's what I wanted to convey to any prospective romantic partner. 189 00:14:27,676 --> 00:14:36,036 Speaker 1: Alas my message was lost fast forward to today, as 190 00:14:36,036 --> 00:14:39,156 Speaker 1: I'm driving around the Hudson Valley in a brand new GTI. 191 00:14:39,516 --> 00:14:42,196 Speaker 1: I'm telling our producer Sam about the first one I 192 00:14:42,236 --> 00:14:47,956 Speaker 1: ever owned. You were saying inside that you really wanted 193 00:14:49,836 --> 00:14:52,836 Speaker 1: a golf when you were a kid. Yeah. So I 194 00:14:52,876 --> 00:14:58,076 Speaker 1: always thought vws were super cool cars. And when I 195 00:14:58,236 --> 00:15:03,476 Speaker 1: was a wee pop and my parents were generous enough 196 00:15:03,516 --> 00:15:08,596 Speaker 1: to buy me a car, they didn't really understand why 197 00:15:09,516 --> 00:15:12,596 Speaker 1: I was so passionate about the golf and why the 198 00:15:12,636 --> 00:15:18,196 Speaker 1: golf was so important for my sense of self. And 199 00:15:18,596 --> 00:15:20,996 Speaker 1: you know, I remember going car shopping with my dad 200 00:15:21,036 --> 00:15:23,716 Speaker 1: and he was like, how about the Chevy Baretta, And 201 00:15:23,996 --> 00:15:27,356 Speaker 1: you know, being the ingrade that I was, I was like, no, Dad, 202 00:15:28,036 --> 00:15:30,356 Speaker 1: the golf is super cool. You got to drive them both. 203 00:15:30,956 --> 00:15:35,156 Speaker 1: And so we drove the Baretta and I really didn't love, 204 00:15:35,596 --> 00:15:38,116 Speaker 1: you know, the way it responded. I didn't like the 205 00:15:38,196 --> 00:15:40,356 Speaker 1: brake feel. I was a little car snob at the 206 00:15:40,396 --> 00:15:45,196 Speaker 1: time and still am. And I didn't feel real comfortable 207 00:15:45,236 --> 00:15:48,436 Speaker 1: in the car. And my friend had a Golf that 208 00:15:48,516 --> 00:15:50,516 Speaker 1: I had driven a bunch and I really loved it, 209 00:15:50,636 --> 00:15:53,596 Speaker 1: and I felt really at ease in the vehicle, really 210 00:15:54,156 --> 00:15:56,196 Speaker 1: at home, and I sold my dad on this idea 211 00:15:56,276 --> 00:15:59,796 Speaker 1: that I'm going to be a safer driver in the 212 00:15:59,876 --> 00:16:02,876 Speaker 1: Golf than I will be in the Baretta, even though 213 00:16:02,956 --> 00:16:05,436 Speaker 1: the Baretta was a little bit cheaper. When he drove 214 00:16:05,476 --> 00:16:08,236 Speaker 1: the Golf. My dad's a car guy too, He's like, Oh, 215 00:16:08,276 --> 00:16:10,316 Speaker 1: I see exactly who you're talking about. This is a 216 00:16:10,316 --> 00:16:13,636 Speaker 1: way better car. My dad used to sell cars in 217 00:16:13,676 --> 00:16:17,676 Speaker 1: Detroit when he was nineteen years old. He knows what's good, 218 00:16:18,436 --> 00:16:20,716 Speaker 1: and he was really impressed with how much space there 219 00:16:20,796 --> 00:16:23,956 Speaker 1: was in it, how predictable the steering and breaking felt, 220 00:16:24,396 --> 00:16:27,236 Speaker 1: and how easy it was to see out of. He 221 00:16:27,356 --> 00:16:31,076 Speaker 1: saw that the fundamentals were right, and they needed to be. 222 00:16:32,076 --> 00:16:36,716 Speaker 1: The Golf lineup was overbuilt for suburban kid duty. Even 223 00:16:36,756 --> 00:16:39,436 Speaker 1: the basic Golf was engineered to keep up in the 224 00:16:39,516 --> 00:16:44,236 Speaker 1: unlimited speed environment of the German Autobahn. The predictability and 225 00:16:44,276 --> 00:16:48,236 Speaker 1: fidelity of all the controls, the steering, the breaking, the 226 00:16:48,356 --> 00:16:51,796 Speaker 1: shifter were there to give the driver confidence at high speed, 227 00:16:52,716 --> 00:16:55,316 Speaker 1: because you don't want surprises at one hundred miles an hour. 228 00:16:56,276 --> 00:16:59,796 Speaker 1: You want an overabundance of competence and efficiency of movement 229 00:17:00,756 --> 00:17:04,516 Speaker 1: yours and the cars. That's what the Golf always represented 230 00:17:04,596 --> 00:17:07,996 Speaker 1: to me, a sort of a thinking man's economy car, 231 00:17:08,756 --> 00:17:12,276 Speaker 1: and I think it still is. I think that's one 232 00:17:12,276 --> 00:17:15,076 Speaker 1: of those things that's really persistent. You know a lot 233 00:17:15,116 --> 00:17:18,156 Speaker 1: of economy cars come and go, but the Golf is 234 00:17:18,156 --> 00:17:22,876 Speaker 1: pretty resolute GTI especially, and you know, driving this one, 235 00:17:22,956 --> 00:17:26,756 Speaker 1: you still really feel all those great values. If you 236 00:17:26,836 --> 00:17:32,516 Speaker 1: were to shut your eyes metaphorically not literally, sere driving, 237 00:17:35,116 --> 00:17:38,516 Speaker 1: can you still see and feel and put yourself in 238 00:17:38,516 --> 00:17:42,236 Speaker 1: in your first Golf? Yeah? I And this one brings 239 00:17:42,276 --> 00:17:45,516 Speaker 1: back a lot of memories. You know, there's a certain 240 00:17:45,756 --> 00:17:49,196 Speaker 1: family resemblance in the way that the steering feels, the 241 00:17:49,236 --> 00:17:52,076 Speaker 1: way the car rides, the way you sit in it, 242 00:17:52,356 --> 00:17:54,516 Speaker 1: the way you look out of it. The driving position 243 00:17:54,596 --> 00:17:58,276 Speaker 1: is still so so good, and it's really just still 244 00:17:58,316 --> 00:18:01,516 Speaker 1: a driver's car, and you feel those sort of echoes 245 00:18:01,516 --> 00:18:10,876 Speaker 1: of the past and this one. As the Golf and 246 00:18:10,956 --> 00:18:15,316 Speaker 1: GTI have aged, their capabilities have expanded in every dimension. 247 00:18:16,356 --> 00:18:20,716 Speaker 1: They've become faster, yet more fuel efficient, tidier handling, yet 248 00:18:20,756 --> 00:18:24,676 Speaker 1: with more space inside. It's a paradox of a machine 249 00:18:25,236 --> 00:18:40,156 Speaker 1: and a paragon of evolution. The car Jujarro drew was 250 00:18:40,276 --> 00:18:43,236 Speaker 1: right from the start because it was an expression of 251 00:18:43,276 --> 00:18:47,716 Speaker 1: the car's purpose. That's why it has lasted. It was 252 00:18:47,756 --> 00:18:50,796 Speaker 1: a new kind of family car with a radical repackaging 253 00:18:50,796 --> 00:18:54,396 Speaker 1: of the family and cargo inside. It wasn't a typical 254 00:18:54,436 --> 00:18:57,956 Speaker 1: Tudor or four door with trunk design. It had a 255 00:18:58,036 --> 00:19:02,596 Speaker 1: new form and carried a new modern message. Now you 256 00:19:02,676 --> 00:19:04,436 Speaker 1: might find it weird that I keep referring to the 257 00:19:04,476 --> 00:19:07,476 Speaker 1: Golf as a family car, because it isn't one. In 258 00:19:07,556 --> 00:19:12,436 Speaker 1: America Germany though, it's a totally different story. As I 259 00:19:12,516 --> 00:19:20,236 Speaker 1: told Malcolm, I remember having this meeting in a corporate 260 00:19:20,276 --> 00:19:25,476 Speaker 1: boardroom at VW with the chairman of the company, hair 261 00:19:25,596 --> 00:19:29,396 Speaker 1: doctor Ferdinand Pech, who was the chairman of the Pea. Yes, 262 00:19:31,516 --> 00:19:33,596 Speaker 1: the best car guy of all time, also the most 263 00:19:33,676 --> 00:19:39,076 Speaker 1: ruthless and demonic of all car executives. So this steely 264 00:19:39,236 --> 00:19:44,396 Speaker 1: eyed you know basically you know Uber group and for 265 00:19:44,596 --> 00:19:49,916 Speaker 1: her guy, he gets us solved together in this corporate 266 00:19:49,916 --> 00:19:53,836 Speaker 1: boardroom with all of his lieutenants, and he makes his 267 00:19:54,076 --> 00:19:58,716 Speaker 1: very short speech and he says, in the future, VW 268 00:19:58,916 --> 00:20:04,156 Speaker 1: will compete with Mercedes, and Audie will compete with BMW. 269 00:20:04,276 --> 00:20:06,716 Speaker 1: And we're like, yeah, okay, that, okay, I get the 270 00:20:06,756 --> 00:20:12,036 Speaker 1: Audie thing that tracks, But VW with Mercedes are you 271 00:20:12,276 --> 00:20:14,236 Speaker 1: are you out of your free in mind, Like, what 272 00:20:14,236 --> 00:20:17,196 Speaker 1: are you talking about? The VW in the US is 273 00:20:17,196 --> 00:20:21,516 Speaker 1: the countercultural car, it's the Beatle. It's not. And it 274 00:20:21,516 --> 00:20:24,116 Speaker 1: occurred to I think a lot of us, Like he's 275 00:20:24,156 --> 00:20:29,316 Speaker 1: talking about the German conception of what VW is, and 276 00:20:29,956 --> 00:20:32,596 Speaker 1: in Germany, this is the family car. This is the 277 00:20:32,796 --> 00:20:36,276 Speaker 1: er family car. This is like the camera, this is 278 00:20:36,356 --> 00:20:39,436 Speaker 1: like a Malibu or something. And so of course he 279 00:20:39,436 --> 00:20:41,996 Speaker 1: would say, well, why can't we take our camera and 280 00:20:42,036 --> 00:20:45,156 Speaker 1: turn it into Alexis. We can do that. It's just 281 00:20:45,356 --> 00:20:49,796 Speaker 1: the same car in two different contexts, with two different meanings. Well, 282 00:20:49,796 --> 00:20:56,916 Speaker 1: are for us a small light tossible to use a 283 00:20:56,916 --> 00:21:02,516 Speaker 1: automobile writer's favorite phase phrase, car is a novelty. Yeah. 284 00:21:02,596 --> 00:21:05,276 Speaker 1: To them, it's a common place. So that's the distinction. 285 00:21:05,396 --> 00:21:10,316 Speaker 1: Like it's like the concept of Terwar. Right, they have 286 00:21:10,436 --> 00:21:14,276 Speaker 1: the Alps that run across all of their countries. Yeah, 287 00:21:14,836 --> 00:21:19,916 Speaker 1: we have vertical mountains not running through much of America. 288 00:21:20,076 --> 00:21:23,916 Speaker 1: So you know, the guys in Detroit who are developing 289 00:21:24,676 --> 00:21:29,236 Speaker 1: sporty cars like Camaros and Mustangs, we're doing it within 290 00:21:29,276 --> 00:21:34,356 Speaker 1: the context of straight line speed. Yeah, not roads like this, 291 00:21:34,916 --> 00:21:39,516 Speaker 1: not these curvy, beautiful off camber you know, mountainous roads, 292 00:21:42,276 --> 00:21:45,716 Speaker 1: and you can tell a lot about a car company 293 00:21:46,356 --> 00:21:50,476 Speaker 1: based on where it's based. The original proving grounds at 294 00:21:50,476 --> 00:21:56,036 Speaker 1: General Motors was a road like pretty much a straight road. Yeah, 295 00:21:56,276 --> 00:22:01,116 Speaker 1: that's hilarious until Bob Let's build there. It's like, that's 296 00:22:01,116 --> 00:22:06,796 Speaker 1: what you guys, right, it's pretty flat. When we come back, 297 00:22:07,116 --> 00:22:10,436 Speaker 1: we'll talk about how this family car morphed into Germany's 298 00:22:10,516 --> 00:22:14,796 Speaker 1: version of the American muscle car. I'm Eddie Alterman, and 299 00:22:14,956 --> 00:22:30,876 Speaker 1: this is car show. The Golf gave Germany its new 300 00:22:30,916 --> 00:22:34,076 Speaker 1: family car, something far more advanced than the World War 301 00:22:34,116 --> 00:22:38,676 Speaker 1: two Arab Beetle. But that first generation Golf was kind 302 00:22:38,676 --> 00:22:42,716 Speaker 1: of slow, and there was political resistance to making it faster. 303 00:22:43,836 --> 00:22:48,196 Speaker 1: Here's why. In nineteen seventy three, vw N vailed a 304 00:22:48,276 --> 00:22:52,356 Speaker 1: performance version of the Beatle meant to stoke sales. They 305 00:22:52,436 --> 00:22:56,676 Speaker 1: called it the GSR or gelb schwarzer Renner, which means 306 00:22:56,836 --> 00:23:00,956 Speaker 1: yellow black Racer. It had yellow and black paint front 307 00:23:01,036 --> 00:23:07,716 Speaker 1: disc brakes and a terrifying fifty horsepower fifty. It caused 308 00:23:07,716 --> 00:23:11,116 Speaker 1: a great stir among the half wearing Burghers of northern Deutschland. 309 00:23:11,996 --> 00:23:16,036 Speaker 1: It was so scandalous all this performance that the GSR 310 00:23:16,116 --> 00:23:19,716 Speaker 1: caught the attention of the German Parliament, which denounced it 311 00:23:19,756 --> 00:23:23,316 Speaker 1: as a menace, an invitation to drive like a maniac. 312 00:23:35,356 --> 00:23:38,516 Speaker 1: In the wake of all this, VWS gunshy about adding 313 00:23:38,556 --> 00:23:41,956 Speaker 1: more juice to the golf. Kind of funny now when 314 00:23:42,036 --> 00:23:45,516 Speaker 1: Germany is making six hundred horsepower super sedans. But there 315 00:23:45,556 --> 00:23:48,836 Speaker 1: you have it. The work to boost the golf would 316 00:23:48,836 --> 00:23:52,836 Speaker 1: have to be done in secret. A small group of 317 00:23:52,916 --> 00:23:56,676 Speaker 1: VW engineers and pr men took the fuel injected one 318 00:23:57,076 --> 00:24:01,076 Speaker 1: and ten horsepower engine from the Audi eight GTE and 319 00:24:01,196 --> 00:24:04,316 Speaker 1: dropped it into the Golf. They also dressed up the 320 00:24:04,356 --> 00:24:07,796 Speaker 1: interior with tartan plaid seats and a dimpled shift knob 321 00:24:08,076 --> 00:24:12,276 Speaker 1: like a golf ball. They called it the GTI for 322 00:24:12,476 --> 00:24:17,756 Speaker 1: Grand Turismo in nietsione or Grand Tour injection, a reference 323 00:24:17,756 --> 00:24:21,316 Speaker 1: to the fuel injected Audi engine, proving that Germans do 324 00:24:21,476 --> 00:24:24,796 Speaker 1: have a sense of humor. GTI was also a reference 325 00:24:24,876 --> 00:24:30,196 Speaker 1: to the great and beautiful Ferrari gto the swoopiest, sexiest 326 00:24:30,236 --> 00:24:36,916 Speaker 1: European racing car ever made. GTO stood for Grand Turismo omolagato, 327 00:24:37,556 --> 00:24:40,636 Speaker 1: which means basically a race car that was slightly adapted 328 00:24:40,756 --> 00:24:46,436 Speaker 1: to be road legal. VW unveiled the GTI at the 329 00:24:46,516 --> 00:24:51,236 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five International Motor Show in Frankfurt. They hoped 330 00:24:51,236 --> 00:24:54,716 Speaker 1: to sell five thousand of the things. They eventually made 331 00:24:54,716 --> 00:24:58,436 Speaker 1: more than four hundred and fifty thousand, and that's just 332 00:24:58,476 --> 00:25:02,716 Speaker 1: the first generation car. This new faster, dressed up golf 333 00:25:03,116 --> 00:25:06,756 Speaker 1: was a certified hit, so much so that the letter's 334 00:25:06,796 --> 00:25:12,756 Speaker 1: GTI became shorthand for any kind of performance hatchback pougeot opal. 335 00:25:13,156 --> 00:25:16,676 Speaker 1: Even Suzuki drafted onto the popularity of the VW model 336 00:25:16,956 --> 00:25:21,116 Speaker 1: with gtis of their own. The hot hatch segment at 337 00:25:21,116 --> 00:25:25,796 Speaker 1: birth is still going strong. The eighth generation car Malcolm 338 00:25:25,796 --> 00:25:31,076 Speaker 1: and I are driving competes with cars from Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, 339 00:25:31,356 --> 00:25:35,516 Speaker 1: you name it. Gen Xers gravitated toward these cars because 340 00:25:35,516 --> 00:25:40,116 Speaker 1: they were affordable, approachable, and low key. Fund They defined 341 00:25:40,196 --> 00:25:44,196 Speaker 1: performance as something other than just pure horsepower. They were 342 00:25:44,236 --> 00:25:49,356 Speaker 1: about handling, steering, breaking, you know, stuff American performance cars 343 00:25:49,396 --> 00:25:52,636 Speaker 1: couldn't do at the time, And stylistically, they were the 344 00:25:52,716 --> 00:25:58,396 Speaker 1: complete opposite of those American silverbacks. They were rational and 345 00:25:58,556 --> 00:26:04,236 Speaker 1: usable hatchbacks instead of trunks, four cylinders instead of eight, 346 00:26:05,196 --> 00:26:09,916 Speaker 1: front wheel drive instead of rear drive, These were cars 347 00:26:09,916 --> 00:26:13,156 Speaker 1: of the Reagan era. They just said no to drugs. 348 00:26:13,996 --> 00:26:17,356 Speaker 1: Junior Republicans and yuppies in training bought them in order 349 00:26:17,356 --> 00:26:21,476 Speaker 1: to make themselves seem more interesting. Alex P. Keaton would 350 00:26:21,476 --> 00:26:23,396 Speaker 1: have driven one of these on his way up to 351 00:26:23,476 --> 00:26:27,116 Speaker 1: a BMW three twenty five. Even those of us with 352 00:26:27,196 --> 00:26:32,236 Speaker 1: no political affiliation thought salvation lay in those tartan plaid seats. 353 00:26:33,556 --> 00:26:36,196 Speaker 1: We wanted something different out of our performance cars than 354 00:26:36,196 --> 00:26:40,396 Speaker 1: our parents did. We wanted smart performance rather than just 355 00:26:40,596 --> 00:26:44,396 Speaker 1: brute tire roasting force. Did you want a GTI when 356 00:26:44,436 --> 00:26:47,356 Speaker 1: you were getting yours? Oh? I wanted a GTI so badly. 357 00:26:47,756 --> 00:26:50,836 Speaker 1: There was a generational shift that the GTI captured in 358 00:26:50,916 --> 00:26:53,076 Speaker 1: terms of what a performance car looked like, what it 359 00:26:53,316 --> 00:26:56,196 Speaker 1: handled like, what it could be was not going to 360 00:26:56,276 --> 00:26:59,716 Speaker 1: bite you in the same way that a thirty two 361 00:26:59,996 --> 00:27:04,396 Speaker 1: for a hot rod or you know, a crazy suit 362 00:27:04,556 --> 00:27:11,116 Speaker 1: up muscle car. You know, those cars were just really chaotic. 363 00:27:12,716 --> 00:27:17,476 Speaker 1: This one's not. This one's tight and trim and very orderly, 364 00:27:17,676 --> 00:27:21,476 Speaker 1: and it's like, you know, this is not a classic 365 00:27:21,556 --> 00:27:24,716 Speaker 1: rock car. This is a new wave car. This is 366 00:27:24,716 --> 00:27:27,156 Speaker 1: a synth car, this is not you know, this is 367 00:27:27,236 --> 00:27:33,436 Speaker 1: not Hendricks at Monterey. This is depeche Mode and Glastonbury. 368 00:27:34,716 --> 00:27:37,316 Speaker 1: But what if one day you were reading Rolling Stone 369 00:27:37,396 --> 00:27:40,636 Speaker 1: or Mojo and found out that Depeche Mode claimed that 370 00:27:40,716 --> 00:27:45,596 Speaker 1: its biggest influence, both melodically and harmonically was Jimmy Hendrix. 371 00:27:46,676 --> 00:27:50,316 Speaker 1: Would your mind be blown? It's not true, by the way, 372 00:27:50,636 --> 00:27:53,516 Speaker 1: just trying to make a point, But that's sort of 373 00:27:53,556 --> 00:27:57,556 Speaker 1: what's happening here. And here is where my argument steps 374 00:27:57,596 --> 00:28:01,276 Speaker 1: out on a tight rope. For though the GTI was 375 00:28:01,276 --> 00:28:04,756 Speaker 1: a new kind of performance car, it was also, the 376 00:28:04,836 --> 00:28:07,516 Speaker 1: more you look at it, akin to an old kind 377 00:28:07,556 --> 00:28:12,436 Speaker 1: of performance car, the original muscle car, the Pontiac Gto 378 00:28:12,556 --> 00:28:15,796 Speaker 1: we talked about earlier. But before we get to how 379 00:28:15,836 --> 00:28:19,596 Speaker 1: the GTI is both like and unlike the original muscle car, 380 00:28:20,116 --> 00:28:24,116 Speaker 1: we must define our terms. What's a muscle car? Anyway? 381 00:28:26,836 --> 00:28:30,236 Speaker 1: This question lands, like so many before it, on the 382 00:28:30,276 --> 00:28:34,956 Speaker 1: doorstep of one John z Delrian, you know his eponymous 383 00:28:34,956 --> 00:28:42,876 Speaker 1: car from Back to the Future Stuck Party. You made 384 00:28:42,876 --> 00:28:45,716 Speaker 1: it down. Welcome to my latest experiment. This is a 385 00:28:45,756 --> 00:28:47,516 Speaker 1: big one, the one I've been away before all my life. 386 00:28:48,156 --> 00:28:50,716 Speaker 1: Ah well, there it's a Dolrian rare party. All your 387 00:28:50,756 --> 00:28:55,756 Speaker 1: questions will be answered. Roll tape before Delrian became famous 388 00:28:55,756 --> 00:28:59,276 Speaker 1: for his silvery going sports car and the cocaine deal 389 00:28:59,356 --> 00:29:01,996 Speaker 1: Gone Bad meant to fund it. He was the boy 390 00:29:02,036 --> 00:29:06,356 Speaker 1: Wonder of Detroit. A child of Romanian and Hungarian immigrants, 391 00:29:06,716 --> 00:29:09,516 Speaker 1: he was the youngest person ever to run a GM division. 392 00:29:10,276 --> 00:29:14,396 Speaker 1: He became Pontiac's boss when he was just forty. He 393 00:29:14,516 --> 00:29:19,196 Speaker 1: was his generations Mark Zuckerberg, a world mover, and like 394 00:29:19,436 --> 00:29:22,436 Speaker 1: zuck he looked like the whimpiest officer in the Roman legion. 395 00:29:23,596 --> 00:29:25,836 Speaker 1: He got to the top of Pontiac because he was 396 00:29:25,876 --> 00:29:30,556 Speaker 1: a risk taker and a great engineer. More specifically, he 397 00:29:30,676 --> 00:29:33,476 Speaker 1: got to the top of Pontiac because he created the 398 00:29:33,596 --> 00:29:39,916 Speaker 1: gto back when Delorian was merely Pontiac's chief engineer. In 399 00:29:39,956 --> 00:29:44,036 Speaker 1: the sixties, General Motors had what they called a racing band. 400 00:29:44,476 --> 00:29:47,596 Speaker 1: It meant that, for the sake of good corporate citizenship, 401 00:29:48,236 --> 00:29:51,876 Speaker 1: no division would campaign racing cars. As part of this 402 00:29:51,956 --> 00:29:55,596 Speaker 1: the emphasis of performance, GM set strict rules about what 403 00:29:55,756 --> 00:29:59,996 Speaker 1: size engine could go into which size road car. Could 404 00:30:00,036 --> 00:30:02,316 Speaker 1: Pontiac just put its biggest V eight in its mid 405 00:30:02,356 --> 00:30:06,876 Speaker 1: sized Tempest. No, The biggest engine was for the biggest cars, 406 00:30:07,196 --> 00:30:15,316 Speaker 1: the Bonneville and the Catalina. De Lorian didn't really give 407 00:30:15,356 --> 00:30:18,476 Speaker 1: a shit what the rules were. With Pontiac and the 408 00:30:18,516 --> 00:30:21,156 Speaker 1: rest of GM out of racing. He was going to 409 00:30:21,196 --> 00:30:25,356 Speaker 1: build Pontiac's reputation by building performance cars for the street. 410 00:30:27,596 --> 00:30:30,476 Speaker 1: GM restrictions said that the biggest engine that could go 411 00:30:30,516 --> 00:30:33,596 Speaker 1: into a midsize car like the Tempest was the five 412 00:30:33,636 --> 00:30:37,436 Speaker 1: point four Leader V eight, but de Lorians circumvented this 413 00:30:37,516 --> 00:30:40,476 Speaker 1: rule by making the big six point four Leader engine 414 00:30:40,476 --> 00:30:43,476 Speaker 1: from the Catalina and the Bonneville an option on the 415 00:30:43,556 --> 00:30:47,676 Speaker 1: order sheet rather than a whole separate car. He made 416 00:30:47,676 --> 00:30:50,796 Speaker 1: it possible for customers to make their own V eight 417 00:30:50,876 --> 00:30:56,276 Speaker 1: powered Monster sedan order code number three eighty two. He 418 00:30:56,436 --> 00:31:03,836 Speaker 1: called it the Pontiac Tempest, Lamon's gto midsize family car, 419 00:31:04,836 --> 00:31:11,556 Speaker 1: Clandestine Project Big Engine. Any of this sounding familiar, The 420 00:31:11,676 --> 00:31:16,436 Speaker 1: Pontiac was not certified for racing, not officially anyway, but 421 00:31:16,516 --> 00:31:19,196 Speaker 1: it was an outlaw drag racer on Detroit streets like 422 00:31:19,236 --> 00:31:26,036 Speaker 1: Gratchett and Woodward Avenues. With his gto, Delorian made his 423 00:31:26,076 --> 00:31:33,556 Speaker 1: intentions and pretensions clear, though a few pet ants might 424 00:31:33,636 --> 00:31:35,716 Speaker 1: say that the first muscle car was something like the 425 00:31:35,756 --> 00:31:39,196 Speaker 1: Oldsmobile Rocket eighty eight or the Chrysler three hundred from 426 00:31:39,196 --> 00:31:43,636 Speaker 1: the fifties. I wouldn't. The muscle car was a movement, 427 00:31:44,236 --> 00:31:48,676 Speaker 1: a cultural phenomenon. The GTO is generally considered the first 428 00:31:48,716 --> 00:31:52,076 Speaker 1: of them because it launched a category that still means turnkey, 429 00:31:52,236 --> 00:31:57,796 Speaker 1: affordable American performance. In its first year nineteen sixty four, 430 00:31:58,476 --> 00:32:02,836 Speaker 1: Pontiac sold nearly thirty five thousand of them, the next 431 00:32:02,876 --> 00:32:07,196 Speaker 1: year seventy five thousand, the year after that, almost one 432 00:32:07,276 --> 00:32:12,916 Speaker 1: hundred thousand. It was a legitimate sensation. Some sporting cars 433 00:32:12,956 --> 00:32:25,236 Speaker 1: are only boasto is bald tiger a nimble one of 434 00:32:25,236 --> 00:32:35,836 Speaker 1: the wide tracked tigers from Bonniac GTO. It's also fair 435 00:32:35,876 --> 00:32:37,676 Speaker 1: to say that it gave an outlet for the pent 436 00:32:37,756 --> 00:32:42,996 Speaker 1: up frustrations of a newly liberated generation. The muscle car 437 00:32:43,116 --> 00:32:46,836 Speaker 1: was the male expression of the sexual revolution. When women 438 00:32:46,876 --> 00:32:51,516 Speaker 1: were burning bras, men were buying Pontiacs built for power 439 00:32:51,596 --> 00:32:56,316 Speaker 1: and straight line speed. The GTO broke the dam. It 440 00:32:56,476 --> 00:33:00,596 Speaker 1: meant an unshackling of primal urges. Burbling V eight exhaust 441 00:33:00,636 --> 00:33:05,276 Speaker 1: notes were mating calls. Tire smoke would roast the marshmallow men. 442 00:33:08,476 --> 00:33:10,996 Speaker 1: No longer would young Turks have to shave their faces 443 00:33:11,036 --> 00:33:14,516 Speaker 1: and cut their hair short. No more skinny ties in 444 00:33:14,596 --> 00:33:18,636 Speaker 1: bill cream they could walk around in sheepskin. Then invests 445 00:33:18,836 --> 00:33:25,636 Speaker 1: and get away with it. In the movie Dazed and Confused. 446 00:33:26,076 --> 00:33:30,236 Speaker 1: Richard Link later captures this unbridled maleness perfectly in the 447 00:33:30,276 --> 00:33:35,876 Speaker 1: form of Matthew McConaughey's character Wooterson. Here's Woodson outside the 448 00:33:35,916 --> 00:33:40,196 Speaker 1: emporium pool Hall, describing the chevelle he called Melbote toast. 449 00:33:41,356 --> 00:33:43,596 Speaker 1: Let me tell you what Melbote toasts packing. Right here. 450 00:33:43,676 --> 00:33:46,556 Speaker 1: I've got four eleven pozzy track out back, seven fifty 451 00:33:46,596 --> 00:33:49,996 Speaker 1: double pumper edelbrock In takes poured over thirty eleven to 452 00:33:50,076 --> 00:33:53,836 Speaker 1: one pop up pistons, turbo jet three ninety horsepower. We're 453 00:33:53,836 --> 00:33:57,236 Speaker 1: talking some bucking muscle. Hey man, I know you got 454 00:33:57,236 --> 00:33:59,876 Speaker 1: this thing out of it. Because the gto was so popular, 455 00:34:00,396 --> 00:34:04,876 Speaker 1: a flurry of ever faster cars followed it, Dodge Chargers 456 00:34:04,916 --> 00:34:09,356 Speaker 1: and Plymouth Kudas, Oldsmobile four four twos and Chevy Challs 457 00:34:09,396 --> 00:34:13,076 Speaker 1: like water sins, all of them chunky two door sedans 458 00:34:13,236 --> 00:34:15,556 Speaker 1: with big V eights under the hood and rear wheel 459 00:34:15,636 --> 00:34:22,636 Speaker 1: drive out back two doors, midsize car V eight that 460 00:34:22,796 --> 00:34:25,956 Speaker 1: is the muscle car template, and none shall veer from it. 461 00:34:27,156 --> 00:34:30,996 Speaker 1: Purists brooke no deviation from this formula. To hear a 462 00:34:31,076 --> 00:34:34,196 Speaker 1: muscle car, person, tell it a Camaro or a Mustang 463 00:34:34,636 --> 00:34:37,956 Speaker 1: isn't even a muscle car. It's a pony car, damn it. 464 00:34:38,196 --> 00:34:43,996 Speaker 1: Get it straight. Too swoopy, too small, too equine in name. 465 00:34:44,716 --> 00:34:48,036 Speaker 1: Neither is anything with four doors a muscle car. This 466 00:34:48,116 --> 00:34:52,076 Speaker 1: is an orthodoxy worthy of the Crusaders. If you don't 467 00:34:52,076 --> 00:34:54,956 Speaker 1: believe me, go on the internet some time and try it. 468 00:34:56,476 --> 00:34:59,876 Speaker 1: Never in a million years with today's satin jacketed muscle 469 00:34:59,916 --> 00:35:03,196 Speaker 1: car faithful ever call the GTI an heir to the 470 00:35:03,236 --> 00:35:08,156 Speaker 1: Pontiac gto the gto sired the HEMI Cuda, not some 471 00:35:08,236 --> 00:35:12,796 Speaker 1: puny European runabout. But I invoke the mighty Pontiac gto 472 00:35:12,996 --> 00:35:17,556 Speaker 1: here in this episode on the VWGTI. Not just because 473 00:35:17,596 --> 00:35:21,196 Speaker 1: it's almost the same three letters with the same Ferrari inspiration. 474 00:35:22,636 --> 00:35:27,236 Speaker 1: It's because they have the same origin story, They arose 475 00:35:27,356 --> 00:35:31,796 Speaker 1: out of almost the exact same clandestine circumstances, and they 476 00:35:31,836 --> 00:35:34,436 Speaker 1: are based on the same kind of car, not in 477 00:35:34,556 --> 00:35:38,076 Speaker 1: terms of form, but in terms of function. They were 478 00:35:38,116 --> 00:35:43,956 Speaker 1: both family cars reimagined as performance machines, and both took 479 00:35:43,996 --> 00:35:48,236 Speaker 1: off like ornerary race horses. Both had the same segment 480 00:35:48,276 --> 00:35:54,036 Speaker 1: spawning impact. They tapped into something unexpected, a latent yearning 481 00:35:54,156 --> 00:35:59,636 Speaker 1: from newly licensed kids, kids who tweaked them, raced them, 482 00:36:00,116 --> 00:36:04,356 Speaker 1: and made them legends. So why is any of this important? 483 00:36:05,556 --> 00:36:09,036 Speaker 1: Because youthful freedom takes many forms, but the spirit is 484 00:36:09,276 --> 00:36:14,236 Speaker 1: the same. Get out of the house fast. It's going 485 00:36:14,276 --> 00:36:18,996 Speaker 1: to happen, whether anyone likes it or not. Two family cars, 486 00:36:19,636 --> 00:36:26,196 Speaker 1: two hot engines, two segments created, two generations, served one 487 00:36:26,316 --> 00:36:34,996 Speaker 1: ocean between them. Yes, Indeed, the GTI was our gto. 488 00:36:56,116 --> 00:36:59,356 Speaker 1: Car Show is written and hosted by me Eddie Alterman. 489 00:37:00,356 --> 00:37:04,436 Speaker 1: It's produced by Sam Dingman, Jacob Smith and Amy Gaines. 490 00:37:05,476 --> 00:37:10,796 Speaker 1: Our editor is Jen Guera. Original music mastering by Benaliday. 491 00:37:11,876 --> 00:37:16,156 Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Mia Loebell. Our show art was 492 00:37:16,196 --> 00:37:19,276 Speaker 1: designed by Sean Karney and airbrushed by Greg la Fever. 493 00:37:20,476 --> 00:37:25,076 Speaker 1: Our patron saints are Leetal Malad and Justine Lange. Special 494 00:37:25,116 --> 00:37:27,636 Speaker 1: thanks to the folks of Volkswagen for loaning us the 495 00:37:27,716 --> 00:37:32,036 Speaker 1: GTI and extra special thanks to Malcolm Gladwell for writing along. 496 00:37:33,836 --> 00:37:37,076 Speaker 1: Car Show is a production of Pushkin Industries. If you 497 00:37:37,196 --> 00:37:41,036 Speaker 1: love this show, and others from Pushkin industries consider subscribing 498 00:37:41,076 --> 00:37:44,876 Speaker 1: to Pushkin Plus. Pushkin Plus is a podcast subscription that 499 00:37:44,996 --> 00:37:49,036 Speaker 1: offers bonus content and uninterrupted listening for just four ninety 500 00:37:49,116 --> 00:37:52,916 Speaker 1: nine a month. Look for Pushkin Plus on Apple Podcast 501 00:37:52,996 --> 00:37:58,116 Speaker 1: subscriptions to find more Pushkin podcasts. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, 502 00:37:58,556 --> 00:38:01,956 Speaker 1: Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts.