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The first Beetles were even used in the war in Germany at some point. Though made from wood, the body of the vehicle back then made a statement and today it’s still work in progress, all VWs keep getting better and better.

For the last few weeks I have been driving a 2001 Volkswagen Golf 4 and the 1,6 petrol-powered automatic has been a faithful companion. It’s economical, stylish and handles very well with no glitches. Let me give you a brief history of the Golf.
It is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada, and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico.

The front-wheel drive Golf was Volkswagen’s first successful replacement for the air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle. Historically, the Golf is Volkswagen’s best-selling model and the world’s third best-selling model, with more than 25 million built by 2007.
Every generation of Golf has been a runner-up in the European Car of the Year awards, but only one has been a winner, the Golf 3 in 1992.

The Golf name is derived from the German word for Gulf Stream and the period in its history when VW named vehicles after prominent winds, including also the Passat (after the German word for trade wind), Jetta (after the jet stream), Bora (after Bora) and Scirocco (after Sirocco). “Golf” is also a sport, a theme that is shared with the Polo and Derby.
The Golf 4 was first introduced in August 1997, followed by a notchback version (VW Bora or, in North America, again VW Jetta) in August 1998 and a new Golf Variant (estate) in March 1999. There was no Golf 4-derived Cabriolet, although the Golf 3 Cabriolet received a facelift in late 1999 that comprised bumpers, grill and headlights similar to those of the Golf 4 models.

Because of the Golf 4’s popularity and low cost, it is still in production in several countries, such as Brazil and Argentina. In 2003 came the new improved Golf 5 and the Scirocco, production went on till 2009, then 2010 saw the introduction of the Golf 6. New on the Golf, is the optional Volkswagen Adaptive Chassis Control, which will allow the driver to select between “normal”, “comfort” and “sports” modes, which will vary the suspension, steering and accelerator behaviour accordingly.

The Golf 6 is available with both five and six-speed manual transmission gearbox and 6 or 7-speed DSG (Dual Clutch).
Well back to the Golf 4, depending on who you talk to, the modern hatchback was the invention of Volkswagen. If the VW Golf is to claim any title, it’s that it was the first hatchback with front-drive and a transverse engine (the Mini had a transverse engine in the 1960s but it wasn’t a hatchback).

In any case, the Golf has become a worldwide success and has continued to evolve in five distinct steps, the most recent of which arrived recently. That means the best used-car buys in the Golf world are the fourth-generation cars.
While the last of the fourth-generation cars are still quite new like the one I’m driving, the bulk of them available now were sold between 1998 and 2003, so it’s these that are the ones to target now.

Thanks to the vagaries of factory supply, the Golf 4 (the four referring to the fact it was the fourth generation Golf) has a distinctly disjointed history on this market, so it’s vital that you know precisely what you’re buying. While the badge continued on some models throughout the years, some of the mechanical changes were extensive.
Essentially, the range kicked off in 1998 with the Golf GL with its 1,6-litre four-cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder and 74kW. It was also a model that ran almost unchanged through to 2002 before the GL tag was replaced.

The upmarket model in 1998 was called the GLE and it had a 1.8-litre four-cylinder with five valves per cylinder.
The engine was borrowed straight from Audi’s A3 (which shared some of its basic structure with the Golf) and was a pretty good thing with a fantastic ability to rev and 92kW to its credit.
But this is where it gets tricky, because that engine was only used until 1999. At that point, the GLE badge remained but the Audi engine was replaced with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder with a much more pedestrian feel and just 85kW. More specifically, the GLE had lost all the zing of the first version, so an earlier car is definitely the one to seek out.

After a facelift in 2002, a new base-model car entered the showrooms. The Golf S was available with a 1,6 engine with four valves per cylinder and 74kW but also with a 2.0-litre motor with the same number of valves per cylinder and 85kW. There was also a model called the Golf Generation with the same 1.6 and 2.0-litre options and a more luxurious model called the SE with the same powerplants on offer.

Depending on what engine was fitted to which trim level, there was a fair bit of overlapping of prices, so it’s important to know what you’re looking at.
For those who like their Golf games a bit sportier, there was the GTi, which used a turbocharged version of the five-valve engine.
It was good for 110kW and only available in five-speed manual form and, at the time, was a lot more money than the cooking versions of the car. But it was, far and away, the best Golf to drive.

And even if it’s still more expensive than other Golfs, it’s a cheaper alternative to the Audi A3 Turbo despite being a similar vehicle.
Engines available are as follows: 1.6-litre four-cyl; 1.8-litre four-cyl; 2.0-litre four-cyl; 1.8-litre four-cyl turbo. You can get one in either a five-speed manual or four-speed auto. On fuel economy City/highway (according to government tests): 1.6: 8.0/6.2 L/100km; 1.8: 9.0/6.0 L/100 km; 2.0: 9.5/6.2 L/100km; 1,8 turbo: 8.5/5.6 L/100km. and the Audi A3, Peugeot 307 and the Opel Astra are its direct competition. At a cool price under US$10 000 you can get one of these and I tell you it’s a bargain for your buck.

As always be safe.

• Fact D. Jeke is a motoring enthusiast who has attended auto shows, rallies and has written for various publications in the region for the last decade. She can be contacted via email on [email protected]