Elliott was the director of VAG’s commercial vehicle division and he observes of the GLS’s rivals: “I am very biased towards Volkswagen, so I’d say it was much better than the Fiesta or the Metro. The Ford looked good and was popular, as was the Metro, but reliability-wise it is VW Polo all the way.” He acquired this car in 2016 and says: “My friend James Wade, the professional darts player known as ‘The Mechanic’, knew I was looking for one and he spotted this Polo, so I bought it.”
The Polo Series 1 was Volkswagen’s fifth water-cooled car after the K70, Passat, Scirocco and original Golf. In 1975, certain Beetle owners muttered the word “traitor” about VW’s defection from air-cooling for its cars’ engines. Today, Elliott finds “it is a real head-turner. People point and smile, and I think everyone’s dad drove one as that is the common theme – it gets more attention than my Porsche 911.”
Or, to quote one modest VW brochure, it was “Small but Great”.