20/09/2026
Volkswagen’s chief designer Herbert Schäfer once famously said there were only two people who knew how to design a Golf: Giorgetto Giugiaro and himself. I beg to differ: I always thought Volkswagens from the Schäfer era (1980–1995) looked a bit homespun, which made me dislike them—an opinion entirely based on looking at the cars without ever having driven them.
Well, that changed last week when kekkekarren and myself were invited to join the Crème21 rally on behalf of Volkswagen Nederland. We met the , Scirocco2, and up close and personal. Reviewing the cars in one post would be too much, but I turned out to be completely wrong about not liking the Schäfer cars. By God, did we have fun. I made a full U-turn when it comes to the Golf II: what an incredibly competent car this is.
Here’s a big shoutout to the team at Volkswagen Classic, a handful of passionate people who run Volkswagen’s rolling heritage collection and made this rally an unforgettable experience. Laura made sure everything was perfectly organized, appearing like a genie from a bottle whenever help, advice, or sweets were needed. Steffen quietly made sure the cars were kept in tip-top shape. The two really seemed to enjoy seeing us enjoy the . Bit even better, they joined in on the fun. We completely cracked up seeing Steffen make his perfectly sensible Passat fly around the bends, while I was hanging on to the steering wheel of our Golf for dear life, trying to keep up with them. And let’s not forget the media team, Manuel and Karim, who captured the whole adventure on film.
I simply can’t wait to share the images with you!