The
Volkswagen Derby is a saloon version of the
Volkswagen PoloThe Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car manufactured by Volkswagen. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, coupé and estate variants.-History:...
superminiA supermini is a British car classification term that describes automobiles larger than a city car but smaller than a small family car. This car class is also known as the B-segment across Europe, and as Subcompact in North America....
, produced by the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
automaker
VolkswagenThe Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft , also known as Volkswagen Group or as VW, is an automobile manufacturer and mobility organisation based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany and is the pioneer brand within the Volkswagen Group, which contains the car brands Audi AG, Bentley Motors Ltd.,...
, between 1977 and 1981.
During 1981, Volkswagen introduced the second generation Polo and the second generation Derby; in 1984 the Derby name was dropped and the saloon version of the Polo became the Polo Classic.
Most parts of the Derby are interchangeable with the Mk1 Polo, and many drivetrain components are compatible with the Mk2 models.
The
Volkswagen Derby is a saloon version of the
Volkswagen PoloThe Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car manufactured by Volkswagen. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, coupé and estate variants.-History:...
superminiA supermini is a British car classification term that describes automobiles larger than a city car but smaller than a small family car. This car class is also known as the B-segment across Europe, and as Subcompact in North America....
, produced by the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
automaker
VolkswagenThe Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft , also known as Volkswagen Group or as VW, is an automobile manufacturer and mobility organisation based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany and is the pioneer brand within the Volkswagen Group, which contains the car brands Audi AG, Bentley Motors Ltd.,...
, between 1977 and 1981.
During 1981, Volkswagen introduced the second generation Polo and the second generation Derby; in 1984 the Derby name was dropped and the saloon version of the Polo became the Polo Classic.
Most parts of the Derby are interchangeable with the Mk1 Polo, and many drivetrain components are compatible with the Mk2 models. Body parts at the rear and also the rear window are different. Lights of the early version are the same as the Mk1 Polo and the car which began this design: the
Audi 50The Audi 50 is a supermini produced by German automaker Audi from 1974 to 1978 and sold only in Europe.Audi 50 was built by Volkswagen in Wolfsburg....
, which dates to just before the full merger of Audi and Volkswagen.
Versions available
In Europe, the Derby was available with 0.9-litre (895 cc) 1.1-litre (1093 cc) and 1.3-litre (1272 cc) 4-cylinder engines, with 40, 50 and 60bhp respectively. The Derby Formel E ("Formula E"), offered in 1981 only, was an economy-optimised Derby featuring, among other things, a longer ratio gearbox, automatic engine turn-off when idling and a high compression version on the 1100cc engine that demanded super instead of regular petrol. The Formel E concept was also available on other contemporary VW (and Audi) models.
The following versions were available:
- 900 L
- 1100 LS
- 1100 LX
- 1100 CLS
- 1300 LS
- 1300 GL
- 1300 GLS
- 1100 Formel E
In 1980, the Derby underwent a face lift together with the Polo. The restyle attempted to separate the styling of the Polo and the Derby more significantly, which also brought the styling of the Derby in-line with its bigger counterpart: The Volkswagen Jetta. These revisions included square headlamps, a restyled grille and plastic bumpers, together with some interior changes including a new dashboard and instrumentation taken from the Mk1 Golf.
In 1984, the Derby was re-badged as the Polo Classic in Europe, and the Derby's unique square headlamp front end, which had been carried over from the Mk1 was replaced with standard Polo equimpent.
In the UK, the Derby name was dropped with the Mk1, and the Polo Classic name was used from the Mk2's inception. However, early Polo Classics still retained the Derby styling. In turn, the "Classic" branding for the saloon was dropped in 1987 which meant that the Polo and the Derby's integration was complete.
In 1991, the Polo saloon was withdrawn and would not return until 1996, when a version based on a badge engineered SEAT Ibiza/Cordoba platform was launched. This version was known as the VW Derby in Mexico.
Marketing
This model was not sold outside of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, although some parts of
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
did get the Derby —
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
,
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
and
MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
were the main export markets within Eurasia, also some parts of
Eastern EuropeEastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly context-dependent and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
bordering on Asia had this car. The name was used on a re-badged
SEAT CordobaThe SEAT Córdoba is the saloon, estate and coupé version of the supermini SEAT Ibiza, built by Spanish automaker SEAT from 1993 to 2008. It is named after a city in Central Argentina, where several famous rally events have been held in the past...
in Mexico (see section below): but marketed as the Volkswagen Polo Classic saloon in
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
.
South American Polo Classic
In
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
Volkswagen marketed a face-lifted version of the 1999-2001
Polo Classic which as the
Derby in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and a
Volkswagen CaddyThe name Volkswagen Caddy has been used by the Volkswagen Group to describe four different Caddy models:*Typ 14 was derived from the Volkswagen Golf Mk1,*Typ 9K was derived from the Volkswagen Polo Mk3 / SEAT Ibiza platform,...
the
SEAT IncaThe SEAT Inca is a panel van, manufactured between 1995 and 2003. It was designed and assembled in Spain by SEAT, S.A., and based upon the SEAT Ibiza Mk2 , with which it shared its chassis and front body panels...
derived van which shares the same platform and front end styling as the South American Type 6K.
VW Derby in Mexico (1995-2009) and VW Derby Van (2004-2009)
The VW Derby arrived to Mexico in late 1994 as a 95 model and was imported from Europe until the 2001 model year due because the Derby had a strong popularity in the country in the early 2000s the Derby began coming from Argentina because production had already being stopped in Europe at the time and in the 2005 model year was refreshed and was a resemblence of the facelift of the first generation Seat Cordoba but soon after as the competition in that segment grew the Derby began losing sales so bad that in the 2008 model year only 2,987 units were sold when in the early 2000s were sold in the worst years around 10,000 units and part of this was because the car aged very fast and couldnt compete with the other maker also it was always only offered in a 5-speed manual transmition. Quality was an other issue so VW Mexico decided to stop importing the the Derby to Mexico in February 2009 along with the brazilian made Pointer and the VW Lupo also imported from Brazil. The Derby Van was the same as the Derby only that had two doors and was sold only for fleet use and arrived in 2004; in 2005 received the same facelift as the Derby and also was a poor seller so at the same time the Derby sedan was discontinued VW Mexico dicided to drop it too. In Argentina the Polo classic will survive until the end of 2010 because sales there have been always better than in Mexico.
The 6K Polo Classic and 9K Caddy have been produced since 2000, although saloon versions of the Polo have not been sold in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
since 2002. All face-lifted Type 6K/9K models are built in
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
.
This model had a 1.8-litre engine, which was exclusive to
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
, and not offered on the
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an
Volkswagen PoloThe Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car manufactured by Volkswagen. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, coupé and estate variants.-History:...
saloon / estate.
External links