2011 olkswagen Golf Mk at Geneva motor Show (3-13march 2011)

Since 1974 Volkswagen has produced the massively popular Golf. It is VW's best selling model, and it is now in its 6th mark.

* Volkswagen Golf Mk 1 1974 - 1984
* Volkswagen Golf Mk 2 1985 - 1992
* Volkswagen Golf Mk 3 1991 - 1998
* Volkswagen Golf Mk 4 1997 - 2006
* Volkswagen Golf Mk 5 2003 - 2009
* Volkswagen Golf Mk 6 2009 - present

It replaced the VW Beetle, but not straight away. VW Beetle production kept going until 1978 in Germany and until much later in Mexico.

This transition from air cooled to water cooled engines was in part thanks to Volkswagen's access to Audi technology.

Here is something to ponder [and may win you a pub quiz]: What has the Golf and its variants [Bora, Jetta, Scirocco, Passat] all have in common?

The answer is easy if you know that Jetta is the German for 'Trade Wind'. The word Golf does not refer to the pleasant game which Europeans beat Americans at. It refers to the Gulf Stream, the warm water that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and that flows to the north west coast of Europe.

The Golf Cabriolet series has been an on-off affair for Volkswagen ever since the introduction of the original model in the beginning of the 1980s. At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the Germans decided to give the Cabriolet another go with the presentation of a new model based on the 6th generation of the Golf that will be sold alongside the firm's Eos hardtop roadster.

The replacement of the roof with an electrically operated cloth top, the redesigned rear end and the more swept-back angle of the front windscreen frame along with the necessary structural reinforcements pretty much sum up the changes over the standard Golf hatchback upon which the Cabriolet is based.

At least in Europe, the Golf Cabriolet Mk6 will be offered with six direct-injection turbocharged diesel and gaosline engines with a power range from 105 PS to 210 PS. Scroll down for the photo gallery from the Geneva Show floors.
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