At the recently held SEMA Show, Volkswagen announced several concepts, one of which is the Golf A59 prototype. The concept was developed at the end of the last century under the name Golf Mk3 Rallye as part of a feasibility study for the company’s possible entry into the World Rally Championship (WRC).
In 1993, Schmidt Motorsport from Cadolzburg created the Golf Mk3 Rallye, and the reason for this was the need for a road model due to the FIA rule for the WRC in 1994, which is the production of 2,500 homologation units of the rally car. Unfortunately, it never went into mass production, and only two examples were produced, of which this one is in driving condition.
The car is equipped with a unique lightweight carbon/Kevlar body kit that includes additional intakes on the front bumper, hood vents made of GRP, significantly wider WRC-inspired fenders, a large spoiler and a sports bumper that has room for four exhaust pipes, but two are still set. There is also a large VW logo on the tailgate, plastic side windows and a rear windscreen. Inside, it is equipped with Recaro A8 seats, a three-spoke steering wheel, a digital instrument cluster, additional controls and a roll cage.
The prototype received Bilstein shock absorbers in the front with a longer stroke and wider shoulders, while the rear is multilink with Bilstein struts. There’s also a set of 16-inch Speedline SL817 wheels wrapped in 225/45 R16 tires.
When it comes to the powertrain, the Golf Mk3 Rallye is powered by a 2.0L turbo 4-cylinder engine with 271 hp (199 kW) and 273 lb-ft (370 Nm) of torque. Power is sent to both axles via a 6-speed manual transmission with a rear limited-slip differential. The A59 reached a top speed of 168 mph (270 kph) and was the fastest Golf at the time.
Source: VW
