Celebrate The Golf GTI's 40th Anniversary With 400 One-Off Horsepower

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Yes, this is a Golf R400 in a new dress, and no, they are not going to build more.

Every year, Volkswagen is giving their apprentices from the Wolfsburg and Zwickau plants a chance to build show cars for the annual VW GTI meet at Lake Wörthersee in Austria. It’s a pretty good gig, and since 2016 marks the GTI’s 40th anniversary, the Wolfsburg team’s latest concept had to have 400PS, ten for each year of the GTI’s existence.

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The resulting concept is the Golf GTI Heartbeat, which is essentially a Clubsport with the R400's 395 horsepower engine.

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Meanwhile, the kids from the Zwickau plant beefed up the way more practical Golf R Variant, turning it into the Performance 35 with 350 horses, ten for each Wörthersee party.

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It even comes with a bike for your kid.

Wörthersee. Shiny GTIs and beer by a lake.