New VW Polo is a silky smooth, efficient & well-built motor that is one of the all-time greats – it’s a mega bit of kit

DON’T trust the robot woman living in your dashboard.

I asked for directions to the “Polo factory” and ended up here.

It’s 50 years since Polo first hit the road in 1975 as a rebadged Audi 50[/caption]

It has also been 50 years of the mint Polo without a hole in it[/caption]

Volkswagen has sold 1.7m Polo cars here since 1975[/caption]

Nestle’s sweet factory in York.

Nothing to do with Volkswagen.

Still, it turned out to be a good place to photograph the original Mk1 Polo with today’s GTI.

The old girl is actually a 1981-reg GLS with 28,000 miles on the clock.
Proper timewarp car.

Turn-key start. So you know it’s switched on or off.

Choke. Ask your parents. Skinny steering wheel. Four-speed gearbox. Manual handbrake. Wind-up windows. Fag lighter. Simple dials. No hidden sub-menus. Carpet everywhere.

Love at first sight.

It’s actually 50 years since Polo first hit the road in 1975 as a rebadged Audi 50. Fifty years of the mint Polo without a hole in it.

The other Polo, the mint with a hole in it, has been around much longer. Since 1948.

Nestle York produces up to 28,000 Polo sweets a minute, 1.7million packs a day.

It just so happens that Volkswagen has sold 1.7m Polo cars here since 1975.

Love my stats.

Another thing I learned is that Nestle’s delivery trucks are greener than a tube of Polos.

It has 18 trucks. Two pure electric. The others run on biofuels including hydrotreated vegetable oil. No diesels.

Absolute weapon

York also makes KitKat, Aero, Yorkie bars (obviously) and chocolate for Quality Street.

Right, Volkswagen.

Today’s sixth-gen Polo starts at £21k for the cheery, 1-litre turbo Polo Life.

It doesn’t disappoint. Smart interior. Twin screens. Well-built. Drives sweetly. And it’ll nudge 50mpg.

Fifty years of engineering expertise has been poured into it, remember. My son has a 16-reg Polo and he loves it.

At the top of the tree is the £31k Polo GTI.

Mega bit of kit.

I kept this test car for as long as I could. Y’know, just to be thorough.

It’s essentially two cars in one. Silky smooth and efficient when you want it to be silky smooth and efficient. Absolute weapon when you don’t.

Like pressing the enhance colour button on your Instagram photos.
GTI is powered by a 2-litre turbo petrol packing 207hp.

Plenty quick enough. Lowered suspension and an electronic diff lock help it stick to its line on a bend. Like I said, proper hot hatch fun.

Other observations. Polo has grown in size over the years and is now easily mistaken for a Golf.

Especially the GTI with its red stripe, honeycomb grille and twin exhausts.

But it remains a small but mighty car. One of the all-time greats.
Even with a robot voice assistant.

• VOLKSWAGEN has an “Epic Sale” on until September 8, slashing £750 off every new motor including Polo.

Today’s Polo GTI is powered by a 2-litre turbo petrol packing 207hp[/caption]

This polo doesn’t disappoint. Smart interior. Twin screens. Well-built. And drives sweetly[/caption]