Will rare Volkswagen Citi Golf find new home for a cool R1m?

The Citizen

18-07-2025

A VW Citi Golf Mk1 Limited Edition, with 29km on the clock, took bidding at an auction in Bryanston last week to R550 000.
The Citizen reports this lofty number that many enthusiasts thought would see the iconic car go to a new owner. But the reserve price was not met, and rumour has it that this number was almost double that at a staggering R1m.
The original owner would have paid R113 500 for the car off the dealer's floor in November 2009. According to a South African inflation calculator, R100 in 2009 is worth R216.76 in 2025. And this translates into a price of only R246 022 today. But we all know that nothing over the past 16 years has gone up by the rate of inflation.
Low mileage key
Rather take a basic return on a R100 000 investment at a local bank, using a rate of 9%. Then the value of this VW Citi Golf Mk1 Limited Edition rises to a more realistic R450 000.
Maybe the price offered at R550 000 is not a bad one, but the real value with a car like this is that it's number three of the last 1 000 Citi Golfs ever produced. And when you add in the fact that it is like new with only delivery mileage on the clock, R1-million might just be the magic number. Time will tell.
The introduction of the VW Citi Mk1 in 2009 was a send-off and the closing of the final chapter of the best-ever selling hatchback in South African motoring history at the time. Citi had provided South African motorists with a fun, unique, affordable driving package for 25 years. It had defied all marketing norms and theories of how long a lifecycle of model in a brand can continue.
Volkswagen of South Africa introduced the Golf 1 in 1978. And the Citi Golf made its first appearance on South African roads in 1984. The Citi was a more affordable alternative to bigger more expensive 'Jumbo' Golf IIs that hit our roads in the same year.
Various Citi Golf editions
The VW Citi Golf stayed fresh over the years by the ongoing introduction of special and limited-edition models such as the Designa, CTI, Deco, Sonic, Wolf, Bafana Bafana, R Line, Xcite, Billabong and GTS.
The Citi Golf Mk1 features the 74kW 1.6-litre fuel injected engine and not the iconic 1.8-litre powertrain from the legendary GTi and CTi. It also came fitted with 15-inch, gunmetal painted alloy wheels; polished exhaust tailpipe, dark taillights, double headlights and chrome highlight around grille.
The interior has sport seats with partial leather, leather steering wheel, the original golf ball gear knob, floor mats with Mk1 logo and red stitching detail throughout. And the car was only available in two colours; Black and Shadow Blue metallic.