Why Does It Matter?
Sedans might not be the go-to car design for most buyers anymore, but we鈥檙e still blessed with some cheap and fun new four-doors. There鈥檚 the Honda Civic Si, the Hyundai Elantra Sport and the Volkswagen Jetta GLI, to name a few. And the Jetta kind of gave birth to the whole compact sport sedan segment, now didn鈥檛 it? Think about it. Back in the 1990s, if you wanted four doors, performance and a bit of refinement, you had to dish out large sums of money for a BMW or an Audi. Meanwhile, Volkswagen had it all figured out with its hot Jetta鈥攐ne of which packed six cylinders of narrow-angle fury. I took an old GLX VR6 for a drive in the countryside, and it made me realize that Volkswagen actually paved the way for many of the sport sedans we take for granted today. Full Disclosure: The opportunity to drive a 1998 Jetta GLX came from a work colleague and Canadian Jalopnik reader who owns one. He looked at me one day at the office and asked me if I wanted to review his car.
Not many people know this, but there has been a fast Jetta for almost as long as a Golf GTI. These things appeared some time in 1984 under the GLI name, along with the second-generation of what鈥檚 now known as the Jetta. And just like the current car, it was essentially a four-door GTI. Its 1.8-liter engine only made a measly 90 horsepower but the GLI was light, agile and a shit-ton of fun to drive. In 1993, North America was introduced to the third-gen Jetta known鈥攂elieve it or not鈥攁s the MKIII. That model is generally credited with making the Jetta a household name in this half of the world. The Classic Green aspiring gentleman鈥檚 sedan you see here is kind of an oddball in the GLI鈥檚 timeline. Not only did it wear an 鈥淴鈥?instead of an 鈥淚鈥?in its nomenclature, it was the first quick Jetta to be powered by the VR6 engine, the same engine that powered the Corrado performance hatchback.
The GLX basically kept the standard Jetta鈥檚 McPherson strut suspension, but with stiffer springs and larger sway bars. Its rear brakes were discs instead of drums, and except for a tiny decklid spoiler, 16-inch wheels, a front lip and 鈥淕LX VR6鈥?badging, there wasn鈥檛 much about the GLX that set it apart from a normal ho-hum Jetta. I guess that鈥檚 all you needed in the 鈥?0s to be considered 鈥渉ot.8-liter narrow-angle V6 would send a claimed 172 horsepower and 173 lb-ft of torque straight to the front wheels. While an automatic gearbox was available, the one to get was the close-ratio five-speed manual. Honestly, besides some artfully laid-out spark plug wires that could count as engine bay decoration, that was about all there was to this performance version of the MKIII Jetta. The 0-60 time stood at roughly seven seconds. Why Does it Matter? This is arguably the most intriguing of the sporty Jettas, largely due to its engine. Because it was quite revolutionary at the time, Volkswagen stuffed these things into everything it could, from sports coupes to cargo vans.
It also only had one cylinder head, which made spark plug and head gasket maintenance a lot simpler than a conventional V6. But the VR6鈥檚 signature feature was always its exhaust note. Tuners would bolt aftermarket mufflers on their Golfs, Jettas, Corrados and even Passats to make them sound like an expensive Audi or Porsche. Furthermore, the simplicity of this GLX defines the whole ethos of the sport sedan itself. These cars were designed to be fast, but also subtle and unassuming, and boy did they nail it back then. Next to this, today鈥檚 cars look like Christmas trees with their fancy LED鈥檚 and fake air vents. 1998 was the last model-year of the third generation Jetta here in North-America. While US-spec cars came with leather seats, Canadian GLX鈥檚 could be had with cloth, which is what this car has, giving it extra points for nineties nostalgia. Check out that zebra-like texture on that driver鈥檚 seat up there!
Perhaps it was a delete option back in 1998? You guys can confirm that one for me in the comments. Something this square and angular would never fly by today鈥檚 safety standards. Even the rearview mirror is a straight-edged rectangle. It is the textbook definition of a three-box design, almost as though VW鈥檚 own designers didn鈥檛 even bother with designing it- 鈥淟et鈥檚 just make a sedan, guys鈥? It鈥檚 a stark contrast to today鈥檚 car designing realities where five of the world鈥檚 best stylists are called in to draw a Camry. Even back in 1998, Volkswagens had a reputation for having functional, no-frills interiors. But boy does this Jetta remind you how spoiled we鈥檝e become with our fancy chrome inserts, ambient lighting and connectivity features. Not to mention seats and steering wheels that adjust in all possible configurations. Yeah, there鈥檚 none of that here. Just a black wall of a dashboard with big physical dials and a skinny steering wheel that doesn鈥檛 telescope.
