40 ROCK
As 40th birthdays go, most of us could feel a bit envious of the Golf GTI. Instead of taking it easy, the original performance Volkswagen stormed into its fifth decade with an uncharacteristic show of force. This was an anniversary marked by the GTI’s first season competing under TCR rules, and a little of that motorsport engineering propelling the 310hp GTI Clubsport S to a Nürburgring lap record a few weeks after its headline reveal at Wörthersee. A reminder from Wolfsburg that the trailblazer could still cut it.
Edinburgh-based Chris Baird was in the right place to pick up on that hype. As the GTI turned 40 back in 2016, he’d been taking a break from the building trade to indulge in a life-long love of cars. Working at a local Volkswagen showroom didn’t turn out to be the perfect fit – it lasted about a year before he returned to running his own business – but the Clubsport-branded residents of that forecourt left a lasting impression.
“My wife wanted a Tiguan R-Line, but I got lucky finding this one,” he says, smiling. “It came up just after I’d left Volkswagen, and at a good price, so
