POLO MK1

About the Polo Mk1

The original Polo launched in 1975 as a rebadged Audi 50, and VW immediately made it their own. The small hatchback offered German build quality in a city-sized package, with simple air-cooled-era engines that were easy to maintain and surprisingly eager. Between 1975 and 1981, it established VW in the supermini segment that the Beetle had vacated. The Polo was not revolutionary — it was evolutionary, taking the lessons of the Golf and shrinking them into a format that European city dwellers could actually park.