Is This VW Polo G40 A Forgotten Hot Hatch Classic?

Last week, the VW Polo turned 50, something we thought was worth celebrating for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s unusual for any car nameplate to make it to half a century and counting, and secondly, the Polo is an increasingly rare thing – a straightforward, honest-to-goodness supermini still on sale in 2025.

The big anniversary got us thinking about our favourite versions of VW’s humble supermini, and naturally, that got us thinking about the hot versions. Most have worn the GTI badge, but the first performance Polo didn’t – it was named the G40.

That’s ‘G’ for ‘G-Lader’, VW’s unusual design of supercharger that it was fond of whacking on some of its cars in the late ’80s and early ’90s. In fact, the Polo was the first car to get this treatment – the original G, if you will – the G40 version first appearing as a sporty derivative of the Mk2 Polo Coupe in 1987.

At first, a limited-run thing for left-hand drive markets only, the G40 returned as a regular member of the range following the Polo’s facelift in 1991, and now it was available in the UK, too.

Despite only packing a 1.3-litre engine, the supercharger meant it was knocking out a respectable 111bhp, a figure that put it right in the ballpark of bigger-engined, naturally aspirated hot hatches of the era. In fact, at the time, the just-launched eight-valve version of the Mk3 Golf GTI could only manage 114bhp from its 2.0-litre engine.

The results were 0-62mph in 8.1 seconds and a 121mph top speed, again respectable numbers for a smaller hot hatch of the time. It looked the business too, with chunky bumpers, natty BBS wheels and some typical hot VW red striping. Finishing off the look inside were some bucket seats complete with the obligatory early ’90s jazzy patterned upholstery.

For whatever reason, though, the G40 wasn’t a great success in the UK, especially compared to contemporaries like the Renault 5 GT Turbo, Ford Fiesta XR2i and of course, the Peugeot 205 GTi. It’s thought that only around 600 or so were shifted here before it went off sale in 1994.

That means you don’t often right-hand drive G40s for sale, but find one we have, and it’s a minter. Having covered just over 30,000 miles from new, it’s unsurprisingly priced quite punchily at £14,995. But then go check out the prices being asked for even ratty-looking 205 GTis and 5 GT Turbos, and come back to us when you’ve picked your jaw up off the floor.

There’s a tiny question mark over its MOT history. Its last two tests come up squeaky clean, but there’s no history listed online before 2024. Auto Trader doesn’t flag it as an import, so we have to assume that it was squirrelled away somewhere since before MOT records went digital in 2005. That would certainly chime with the fact that, on average, it’s covered less than 1000 miles a year in its life.

Frankly, there was a time not that long ago when you probably could have picked up this car, in this condition, for about a third of what it’s listed at now. But with this era of hot hatch now utter catnip for collectors, it almost seems like the G40’s slipped under the radar a bit. And hey, it’s still quite a lot less than an absolutely boggo, brand-new Polo.