Let us take things right back to the start of my automotive history. This is a Volkswagen Polo 1.4 CL from the late 1990s (this is a 1999, and mine was a 1998), which was my first car.
My mother, my sister and I bought her from the local Volkswagen dealer in St. Cross, a very affluent area of Winchester, in May 2001. I had her before I passed my test, and took lessons from my mother in her. She even appeared in the school magazine, I think!
My sister and I passed our tests in quick succession in the autumn of 2001, and for four and half years afterwards, the Polo remained a faithful, yet uninspiring, companion. The build quality was a strange mixture of Volkswagen typical solidity and cheapness. For example, the Clarion stereo had a barely fitting face off front, which was very difficult to manipulate, the central locking kept sticking, the electric mirror motors sounded horrible, and the electric window switches were in the centre console so that they did not have to be modified from left to right hand drive, and felt really cheap and nasty. However, there was always a good amount of weight to the doors, the seats were very supportive and there was a general solidity to the way that the car drove.
With just 60 bhp, the Polo is not fast, but she was more difficult to stall than my driving school car (a Citroen Saxo), which is probably down to having much more torque, so she was easier to drive in traffic. The pedal box, however, was quite small, so it wasn't always comfortable for everyone. I think she got reasonable economy, but it was a long time ago now!
The handling was safe and predictable, which is excellent for younger drivers and the rear window was entirely vertical, so she was quite easy to park. In the end, despite giving my mother, my sister and I good service for four and half years, she just became a little dull for me, so she, along with another car, was sold to make way for a 2003 Seat Leon, which was more suitable for my needs. I sold her to an antique dealer for his wife, and by the time this happened, the central locking was very sticky and the radio barely worked, but he seemed pretty happy nevertheless. He knew Volkswagens, and he said it felt like a miniature version of his Passat. I couldn't have agreed more.
