The manual transmission Volkswagen GTI went out with a fizzle instead of the bang it deserved. The last stick-shift GTI ever built was just sold unceremoniously at a dealership in Montana—no dramatic assembly line celebration, no confetti, not even an announcement from Wolfsburg. It was treated like any other GTI allocation, but thankfully, it was bought by one of the most devoted Volkswagen fans in America.
Jamie Orr loves Dubs. He’s imported some sick Euro-market-only models and even made his own Harlequin Atlas. If that’s not enough, he’s also the one who started buying bottles of Volkswagen ketchup from the factory in Wolfsburg, bringing them back to the United States, and making trophies out of them for car show winners. It was because of Orr’s enthusiasm and ketchup commitment that VW gave away bottles of ketchup to American enthusiasts for the first time ever last year. What I’m getting at is: If anyone should own the final manual GTI in America, it’s Orr.
After months of back and forth between Orr and VW, he eventually tracked the car down to Missoula Volkswagen in Montana. It wasn’t special-ordered; instead, the final manual GTI was just a normal dealership allocation, available for anyone to buy. So, he drove hundreds of miles from his home in Pennsylvania to snag it. Nothing against Missoula, Montana—I’m sure it’s a lovely place, filled with lovely people—but that doesn’t seem like a fitting end to the last manual version of one of the most important cars of all time.
Last year, VW announced a special edition GTI exclusive to North America that would mark the end of manuals on this side of the Atlantic. It’s called the VW Golf GTI 380, and it came exclusively with a three-pedal gearbox, the 19-inch black wheels from the Golf R 20th Anniversary edition, standard adaptive dampers, and summer performance tires. If you spec’d S or SE trim, you got VW’s signature plaid seats, but leather came on the Autobahn trim. More importantly, it came with a golf ball shift knob, as all GTIs should. Unfortunately, VW didn’t even paint the last one in a cool color. It’s just black.
It’s a bummer to see the last American manual GTI just fizzle out like that. It should have been celebrated as it left the assembly line. There should have been at least a press release. It’s the Volkswagen GTI for cryin’ out loud, one of the greatest hot hatches, if not the greatest hot hatch, in history.
At least it went to an owner who will appreciate it.
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