Feature
Volkswagen Golf GTI Halloween Dracula road trip
The Golf GTI is one of the quickest, stealthiest and most infectious new cars on sale. It’s therefore the perfect accomplice for a spot of Vampire stalking, as Jon Quirk found out
Set dark in the shadows of a stormy day, it’s easy to see how a furtive mind could conspire the small fishing port of Whitby to become a key setting for one of the most successful horror novels of all time.
Dublin-born writer Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker first visited this craggy landscape in the north east of England under the pretense of a family holiday in 1890, but thanks to a visit to the local library, it also became the figurative birthplace of Dracula. Fast forward 84 years and another legend was born, albeit something considerably less terrifying. The Volkswagen Golf was first presented as an affordable, front wheel-drive, hatchback alternative to the now ageing and impractical Beetle. It was classless, but also a bit gutless. The Golf GTI arrived to remedy the performance constraints one year later and in so doing, inadvertently created the ‘hot hatch’ genre we know and thrash. The MkII that followed in the 80s helped the GTI grow in popularity and stature, offering a refreshing downplay in an era of exuberance, and the moniker has remained in continuous production ever since. In this road trip, editor-in-chief Jon Quirk marks Halloween with a spine-tingling drive in latest Golf GTI from Whitby to London. (Originally published in Auto Trader's digital magazine, ignition) Click here to read our Expert Review of the Volkswagen Golf GTI And, click here to find a Golf GTI in our classifieds
Dublin-born writer Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker first visited this craggy landscape in the north east of England under the pretense of a family holiday in 1890, but thanks to a visit to the local library, it also became the figurative birthplace of Dracula. Fast forward 84 years and another legend was born, albeit something considerably less terrifying. The Volkswagen Golf was first presented as an affordable, front wheel-drive, hatchback alternative to the now ageing and impractical Beetle. It was classless, but also a bit gutless. The Golf GTI arrived to remedy the performance constraints one year later and in so doing, inadvertently created the ‘hot hatch’ genre we know and thrash. The MkII that followed in the 80s helped the GTI grow in popularity and stature, offering a refreshing downplay in an era of exuberance, and the moniker has remained in continuous production ever since. In this road trip, editor-in-chief Jon Quirk marks Halloween with a spine-tingling drive in latest Golf GTI from Whitby to London. (Originally published in Auto Trader's digital magazine, ignition) Click here to read our Expert Review of the Volkswagen Golf GTI And, click here to find a Golf GTI in our classifieds