PoloDriver

The first Bank Holiday in May means only one thing to VW enthusiasts of a classic persuasion; Stanford Hall. The long-running Leicestershire and Warwickshire VW Owners Club show has kicked off many enthusiasts’ seasons for the last 34 years and is usually blessed with good weather. This year wasn’t quite so good on that front (in fact, at times it was very cold), but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the owners who brought their classic Volkswagens to the grounds of Stanford Hall itself, just outside Lutterworth.

Traditionally a show with an air-cooled bias, the water-cooled fraternity have been embraced in recent years and 2009’s event saw something of a Polo coming, with the forming of a dedicated single-model concours class. It was the same again this year. The field may have been a little down on 2009 with only four cars vying for points, but 2010’s competition threw up a few surprises. One of which, was Nathan Popple’s 1986 Polo C hatchback, which has appeared on the scene after being liberated by a selling elderly owner. Not the first choice for a concours car you may think, but for a first time out, the low-mileage ‘breadvan’ picked up a respectable 108 points out of 150.

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Don’t be fooled by the stories this week about the possibility of a 1.6-litre turbocharged 210bhp Polo R. The UK’s Autocar and Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport have both been sources of speculative ‘are they, aren’t they’ stories this week regarding a possible hardcore Polo. And that’s just they are: speculation. We’ve been onto the Volkswagen UK press office today, and they’ve told us: ‘The news of a Polo R is speculation – we have no plans to build an R model of the Polo.’ So it’s official: a Polo R still isn’t on the cards.

The R’s possible arrival has been one of the most hotly-debated and popular Polo forum and internet topics for months. We doubted that the R was coming at all – the GTI is due to hit the UK in August, and with prices starting at £18,275 for the three-door 178bhp car, an expensive R version would surely be a very niche-market product. Saying that, with reports stating that the allocation for the £30,300 Golf R has sold out, there is obviously a market for super-hot über-hatches.

Edit, 22 May 2010: senior officials at Volkswagen in Germany have now also confirmed that there will be no Polo R, partly in order to protect the Audi S1, which will have the same 1.4-litre, 178bhp TSI engine as the 2010 Polo GTI.

Are you disappointed that Volkswagen have said ‘no’ to building a Polo R? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment.

US website Motor Authority has recently hinted that the Polo is still to appear Stateside, just a little later than Volkswagen’s initial plans. Now slightly more involved, the company’s plans for the federal Polo are said to include the new sedan (saloon, new rendering above) and a stretched iteration of the hatchback model on sale in Europe; something between a mini-van and a traditional hatch.

Production is rumoured to start in 2011 at VW’s Puebla plant in Mexico, and the US Polo will be aimed at competitors such as the Ford Fiesta and Honda Jazz/Fit. A sedan version of the car developed for the Indian and Asian market is already slated to go on sale later this year. Head across to Motor Authority to read more.

[Image: Motor Authority]

The 2010 Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa kicked off at the weekend with its first races of the season at Scribante. 2009 title defender Matthew Hodges claimed victory over Devin Robertson, with a 2.3 second lead in the first round and was 3.6 seconds ahead in the second. Twenty cars raced around the 2.48km circuit near Cape Town, with Kyle Barnes and Jacques Joubert taking the remaining podium places. The 2010 Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa series is similar to the other racing Polo championships run in Europe and India. Just as in those series, the one-make format highlights new young driving talent. As many as 30 drivers regularly take to the track in technically identical cars, full grids ensure close-fought races.

The first Volkswagen event for many this year takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend. Sunday 2 May sees the staging of Stanford Hall 2010, which by our reckoning, is the 34th running of the well-loved classic Volkswagen show. Largely focusing on standard cars, the event used to favour air-cooled VWs, but over the past few years there’s been an ever-increasing water-cooled contingent.

The UK Polo forums have been buzzing with news of older Polos’ anticipated attendance, and we know at least one club will be present. We’ll be there, too, and with our range of promotional material, you should be able to spot us. Find us in the club stand area, and if we’re not checking out the show, pop across to talk Polo.