Volkswagen Gol
The Volkswagen Gol is a subcompact car that was manufactured by Volkswagen do Brasil from 1980 to 2023 as Volkswagen's entry-level car in the Latin American market—where it succeeded the Volkswagen Type 1 and the Volkswagen Brasilia. Several variants of the Gol-derived Voyage and Parati were marketed in North America as the Volkswagen Fox from 1987 to 1993.
The Gol has been produced in several variants, such as three- and five-door hatchbacks, two- and four-door sedans, three- and five-door station wagons, and two-door single and extra-cab coupé utilities.
The Gol was the best-selling car in Brazil for 27 consecutive years, from 1987 to 2014, and has been the most popular car in Argentina since 1988; approximately five million Gols have been manufactured in South America since 1980. In March 2013 it was announced that cumulative production of the Gol and its derivatives had reached 10 million units. It takes its name from the Portuguese word for goal in football, taking advantage of the Brazilians' passion for the sport.
Following a continuous production for 43 years, the production of the Gol ended in 2023. A downgraded version of the Volkswagen Polo called the Polo Track became its replacement.
Body styles
The Gol family contains several body styles. The three- and five-door hatchback variants are known as the Volkswagen Gol in most markets, with the exception of Egypt, Ukraine and CIS, where they are marketed as the Volkswagen Pointer. The first-generation Gol was available only as a three-door hatchback; all generations since have offered a five-door variant as well.The sedan has only been produced for the first and third generations. The Brazilian-built sedans were marketed as the Volkswagen Voyage, while the Argentinian ones were referred to as the Volkswagen Gacel. In the United States and Canada, they were sold as the Volkswagen Fox. After a facelift in 1991, Argentinian-built, entry-level models were renamed the Volkswagen Senda. In the second generation this model was replaced by the Volkswagen Polo Mk3 Classic, which was still sold in Mexico and Argentina. But a new Voyage notchback sedan returned in 2008 for the third generation.
Volkswagen Parati is a station wagon built on both generations since May 1982. The Parati I was a three-door sold in North America as the Fox Wagon. The second-generation Parati is sold in Argentina as the Gol Country. A five-door version was added in 1997 and the three-door version was dropped after the first facelift. It is named after Paraty, a city on the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro state. It was formerly called Pointer Station Wagon in Mexico and it was sold there between 1999 and 2005. In 2012, The Parati was discontinued and replaced by the SpaceFox.
Volkswagen Saveiro is a lightweight pickup truck. All Gol generations have been sold with this bodystyle, which was introduced to the market in 1982. It is named after a traditional Brazilian fishing boat. It has been sold as the Pointer Pick Up in Mexico since 1999.
First generation (''Typ'' 30, 1980)
The Gol was released in 1980 to replace the Brasilia, which was in turn a replacement for the Beetle on the Brazilian market. It was based on its own unique BX platform derived from the existing VW/Audi B1 and B2 platforms. With a design specific to Latin America, the Gol featured the 1.3-liter air-cooled, flat-four engine from the Beetle, but front-mounted. A 1.6-liter engine was added later. The Voyage two-door sedan variant of the Gol was released in June 1981 and received a 1.5-liter inline water-cooled gasoline engine instead. The same engine was offered with an ethanol option. In 1985, the air-cooled engine of the Gol was replaced by a 1.6-liter longitudinally-mounted water-cooled gasoline inline-four engine from the Passat. By May 1982 the Voyage 1.5 was upgraded to 1.6. In 1984 a water-cooled Voyage 1.8 was launched as a higher-level option. A 1.6-liter diesel engine was made, although only for export as diesel engines are not allowed in passenger cars in the Brazilian market.In January 1983 a four-door Voyage sedan was released. It was known as the VW Amazon in some export markets, later as the Fox in North America. The four-door Voyage was built in the Autolatina Pacheco factory in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1983 to 1994. It was sold under the name Gacel with the Argentine-built 1.6 OHC engine with a carburettor, later also with a diesel 1.6.
The first generation Gol had two mild facelifts for 1987 and 1991. The 1989 Gol GTi was the first Brazilian-built car to use fuel injection. The 2.0-liter inline-four engine was the same used by the Santana. In 1991, as a result of changes to the tax laws in Brazil, a flurry of cars with engines under one liters appeared. Fiat was first, and Volkswagen quickly responded with the spartan Gol 1000. It had a Ford-developed 997 cc engine with and was not available in any other bodystyle. Between 1990 and 1995, the Ford CHT 1.6 replaced the original 1.6 in the range, also as a result of the Autolatina lineup.
Sports versions
GT 1.8 (1984–1986)
The Gol GT 1.8 was the BX family's first sports version and an answer to the Ford Escort XR3, a successful sports car in Brazilian market. With a 1.8 liter engine borrowed from Santana, the Gol GT was much faster than the Escort XR3, but externally did not have the same beauty. The first series still had a four-speed manual gearbox, but soon this was changed to a five-speed unit.GTS 1.8 (1987–1994)
Successor of Gol GT, the GTS had an updated design, following the new 87 BX line up style and also featuring new accessories that were not available before, such as rear spoiler and side skirts. The 1.8 liter engine produced running on gasoline or running on ethanol. The GTS was a very successful model and was kept in production alongside the upcoming GTI.GTI 2000 (1989–1994)
Known as the first Brazilian built car equipped with electronic fuel injection, the Gol GTI was presented in January 1989 and featured a larger 2.0 liter engine with power of running only on gasoline. Claimed top speed is. This engine was the same as used in the larger Santana, albeit fitted with fuel injection for the GTI.North America
marketed variants of the Gol in North America as entry-level models from February 1987 until 1993 under the Volkswagen Fox nameplate. It was intended to provide Volkswagen dealers with a competitor to the then very successful Hyundai Excel and Yugo low-price cars. Initially offered as a two-door and four-door sedan as well as a two-door wagon, the wagon was discontinued for model year 1991 along with the two-door sedan for the Canadian market. That same year the remaining Fox versions received a mild restyling.All North American models employed a longitudinally-mounted inline-four 1.8 L gasoline engine producing at 5,500 rpm and of torque at 3,250 rpm.
Early models featured Bosch CIS-E type Jetronic electro-mechanical fuel injection, using an oxygen sensor to assist in fuel management. Later models employed Bosch Digifant electronic fuel injection. In Canada from 1987 to early 1988 it was offered with the simpler Bosch CIS fuel injection system without an oxygen sensor or catalytic converter for the engine fuel management system.
Over the course of its model history, trim levels included base Fox, GL, GTS, GLS, GL Sport, Polo, and a Wolfsburg Edition. Options included air conditioning, five-speed manual transmission and metallic paint. No automatic transmission was offered. The GL trim featured revised cloth trim, rear license plate backing, ceiling-mounted map light, glove compartment light, trunk light, tachometer, body-colored bumpers, hubcaps, passenger side exterior rear view mirror, 175/70-13 tires, locking gas cap and three-point rear seat belts.
1990 and later US models featured "automatic" non-motorized front seat shoulder belts along with a knee-bar and manual front lap belts, while Canadian models retained the manual pillar-mounted front seat belts.
The 1991 facelift included revised grille, headlights, turn signals, badges, and hubcaps, as well as reduction of towing hooks from four to two.
Second generation (''Typ'' 37/5X/5W, 1994)
The second generation Gol, known as Project AB9 during development, debuted in September 1994. It was still based on the BX platform, and is very different from the earlier model, with an updated body and longer wheelbase than the 1980 original. Nicknamed "Gol Bolinha", the previous generation started to be nicknamed as "Gol Quadrado", "Squared Gol". The new version was an answer to the then newly released Chevrolet Corsa.The Gol G2 was available in the following versions: 1000i, 1000i Plus, CL, GL, Furgão and GTi, with 1.0, 1.6, 1.8, and 2.0 liter engines. The 1.0 was supplied by Ford, as part of the AutoLatina collaboration. The Gol G2 also had two special editions. The first, "Gol Rolling Stones", was in 1995 - commemorating that band's "Voodoo Lounge Tour" leg in Brazil. Then, the following year came "Gol Atlanta". In November 1996, Volkswagen began to produce its own 1.0 engine, called the AT-1000. This version was derived from their larger 1.6.
As the Ford-built engine had been in limited supply, Volkswagen could now ramp up production of their entry level Gols beginning in January 1997. There were also 16 valve versions of the 1.0 AT-1000 engine launched in September 1996. The 1.0 16V has, up from in the eight-valve version. In 1995 the Autolatina partnership was dissolved. In 1998, a 1.9 liter diesel engine was installed in the Gol G2, only sold in markets outside of Brazil.
Also this version of Gol had some chronic deficiencies of design, such as bad alignment of body parts, due to problems with the robots on the assembly line, and poor quality of plastic parts. A curious fact about this version of Gol is that the driver's seat is not well aligned with the steering wheel and pedals, causing a rather uncomfortable driving position. Another surprise was Volkswagen's original decision to sell the Gol and Parati only in three-door version, a step which was not appreciated by buyers. Fiat took the top spot in the Brazilian market for the last months of 1997, but once Volkswagen released quickly developed five-door models the Gol and Parati propelled Volkswagen back into first place in early 1998.