This weekend sees Mondello Park host their annual Carole Nash Historic Festival and amongst the many attractions will be a host of the iconic Golf GTI models. To celebrate an incredible 50 years since the first 1.6 Mk1 GTIs rolled off the production lines, Volkswagen have produced a 50 Edition to celebrate the anniversary.
Volkswagen Ireland will have the first public Irish appearance of the GTI Edition 50 in the paddock on both days, accompanied by one of each other incarnation of the famous Hot Hatch! Owners of Golf GTI will be admitted free of charge (car and driver) on both days and, if they arrive before 10am, can park in the paddock and take part of a GTI 50 Parade Lap at lunchtime.
The Golf GTI has a lot of history at Mondello Park. Larry Mooney, above, was a very successful exponent of the Mk1 in Production Saloons in the 1980s and Tony Brennan and others followed in his footsteps with some rapid Mk2 16v models in the Dunlop Saloon series in the 1990s. On Sunday, there will be a paddock display of various models and all will take to the track at lunchtime on both days.
Note to Golf GTI owners. Admission is free on both days for car and driver, additional passengers will need admission tickets, available on the Mondello Park website – Historic Festival 2026
GTI drivers can collect their admission lanyard at Gate 4, the main gate and if they want to participate in the parade laps at lunchtime, proceed to park as directed in the paddock area before 10am. No access to the paddock for cars after this time and only cars in the paddock area may join the parade laps.
The evennt will also have a host of other attractions including Historic Car Races, Race Bike Demos, an incredible 5 car F1 demo live on track (one of which is the ex Michael Schumacher Benetton 192!), F1 superstar Alex Dunne, Derek Daly, who is launching his new “Serial Survivor” autobiography, live music and much much more!
