Car Throttle

The Volkswagen GTI turns 35 this year. 35!  They've really been selling a hopped-up version of their shopping cart for 35 years now!  And it's really not that much of a surprise.  Sure, people were skeptical that the GTI would be popular when it first came out - who wants a fast Golf?  Why wouldn't I just get a Mustang? - but the combination of fun-to-drive and practicality sparked an entire market segment that still persists today, having gone through more troughs and waves than the stock market.  (OK, maybe that's a stretch.) Also celebrating a milestone anniversary this year is the Wörthersee festival held in Reifnitz, Austria, which is officially putting 30 candles in it's cake.  This GTI-centric 3-day show attracts thousands of rabid fans

It's a VW tradition.  Every year at the Worthersee show in southern Austria, which is the largest VW and Audi show in the world, VW usually debuts some fantastic concept cars to thousands of adoring fans.  A few years ago, it was a MKV Golf with a twin-turbocharged W12 mounted where the back seats go, driving the rear wheels.  In a sign of the times, this year it's a pair of spruced-up production hatchbacks: a MKVI GTi and a new Polo.  While they're not overendowed with weapons-grade horsepower (sadly), they do present distinctly producable packages for the Golf and Polo. The GTi Worthersee is a modified new Golf GTI, and the biggest difference is the paint - called Firespark Metallic, it's a deep-deep-deep cherry red with