Now in its seventh generation, the Golf GTi remains the hot-hatch by which all rivals are judged.

The inaugural version was made available to a delighted German public in June 1976 and whilst it wasn't until July 1979 that right-hand drive models landed on British shores, a special order of 22 left-hand drive cars was imported by Volkswagen the year before in order to give already eager UK enthusiasts a sneaky peek at this new and exciting genre of performance car.

The ploy worked perfectly as the car's unique combination of handling, performance, packaging and affordability was an instant hit.

Suddenly, there was the perfect solution for the enthusiast who'd forsaken his sports car to transport a young family - the GTi was what you might call a 'cake and eat it' car.
 
This fabulous Mars Red Mk1 dates from 1982 and is one of the last 1,600cc cars before the arrival of the 1800 later that year.

It's in excellent condition following restoration work, after which it has been in long ...