PoloDriver

If you’re here, you’re probably aware the Volkswagen Polo celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, and today marks another important date in its history. The first-generation Polo was presented to the international media from 16-22 March 1975, following the beginning of production not quite two weeks earlier.

The international press presentation and driving event was staged in Hanover, 55 miles west from Volkwagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters. We like the idea of tens of brightly-coloured Polos whizzing around the streets of the Lower Saxony capital city – the scene would be similar to this footage of the August 1974 Audi 50 press launch in Sardinia – and venturing out onto the vast and empty autobahns to cruise flat out at a top speed of 82mph…

Volkswagen’s smallest model in its new wave of water-cooled cars was also on show at the 48th Salon de L’Auto Geneve – the Geneva motor show – having been unveiled there on 13 March 1975. On display until the show’s end on 23 March, a gleaming Marino Yellow Polo L took centre stage on an underlit revolving platform, with a few others scattered about around it. This fantastic video shows some rare footage of the event, and doesn’t our star of the show look fabulous?

In this 50th anniversary year, we’ll have more posts on notable dates and models, but for now, head to our heritage pages to learn more about the history of the Polo, and in particular, how the first-generation Polo arrived as a cut-price version of the Audi 50, outliving its more expensive relative by four years. Happy international media presentation birthday, Polo!