No, honestly. 1996 Polo Harlequin was definitely no joke!
One from the archives today. The coming of April Fool’s Day reminded us of this press advertisement from 1996. Detailing the arrival of the Polo Harlequin special edition, this advert states that the colourful model was just one of several new Polo variations due to go on sale. On sale in the UK not long after its appearance at the 1995 London Motor Show, the Polo Harlequin was based on the 1.4 CL. The car featured its own unique upholstery, driver’s airbag, GLX ‘sports bumpers’, white indicators and darkened rear light clusters.
The car was made in batches of four (Yellow, Pistachio Green, Chagall Blue and Flash Red were the colourways) and the customer could not specify a certain panel to be a certain colour – the colour combination that the car arrived in would be a complete surprise. The price at launch in April 1996 (five-door only) was £11,095. It’s believed that Volkswagen UK sold just 113 examples, of which 62 are alleged to be still on the road with 9 cars currently SORNed (although many cars have been reportedly resprayed a single colour). The significance of April Fool’s Day? This advertisement was placed in the Daily Express on 1 April 1996!
