As far as striking concept cars go, Volkswagen’s Golf GTI W12-650 stands alone (in this humble author’s opinion). Introduced back in 2007, the Golf GTI W12 took the internet by storm; a 650hp Bentley Continental W12 motor, shoehorned into the REAR of a Mk5 GTI, with Lamborghini Gallardo axles and Audi RS4 front brakes. The body of the Mk5 was widened by 6.3 inches (but who’s counting), the suspension was lowered by nearly three inches and the car was fitted for massive wheels and tires, measuring out 12 inches wide in the rear and nine inches in the front. In addition to the reformed chassis, the finishing touches included reshaped rear windows, a re-worked rear bumper and a much larger air intake section at the front. Here’s a walk-around of it by Jamie Orr:
To celebrate the 50 Years of GTI, Volkswagen has officially brought the GTI W12 out of retirement – not only that, but they’ve given it a fresh wrap in the iconic Tornado Red, which really looks quite striking compared to the Pearl White of old. See photos from Volkswagen’s newsroom below:
An overall incredible feat of engineering. We can’t help but think that the body work needed a good refresh after the car was thrashed about by the like of Jeremy Clarkson himself on Top Gear:
As fans and followers of the car over the past decade plus, we’re absolutely thrilled to see Volkswagen taking care of what is arguably one of the coolest Golf GTIs to ever grace the road. Here’s one more look at its original body, hosted far above Wörthersee back in 2018:
EDIT: Post has been updated to reflect that the car has been wrapped, not painted.
