Bring back red interiors! And keep golf ball shifters, they’re good.

Sometimes form follows function. Sometimes form has nothing to do with function. Sometimes you have to take a hairpin turn in your Citroën 2CV van at speeds that are just barely on the safe side of safe.

I know you’re in pain. Years of indignities, losses, betrayals and broken promises have left you empty and wondering if there’s anything left to be hopeful about. I feel much the same. But come with me. There is a better way. We can find peace together, in an old Volkswagen GTI.

Last month, Volkswagen held a car show called “Coming Home” just outside of the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg. Though the show was meant for Volkswagen GTI enthusiasts, people showed up from around Europe with all sorts of VWs, and the show turned out to be a celebration of Vee-Dub glory.

The latest Volkswagen GTI marks 40 years of the iconic hot hatchback. Of course, the most fitting way to do so is to take both cars out for a lovely drive on winding Welsh roadway to see how they compare.

I rarely think of a Volkswagen GTI as a dirt monster. It’s a car that always comes up in the context of tarmac shenanigans—track days, autocrosses, and general acts of on-road hooliganism. This assumption—fed by the low-profile tires and big, pretty wheels—is wrong. It’s downright amazing on dirt.

Volkswagen has shifted its focus to electric vehicles. Now the automaker plans to use one of its most beloved performance nameplates, the GTI, to lead the charge with EVs. But the rumor is that they’ll start with a hybrid first.

The build was coming down to the wire, and this show car-owning automotive photographer knew he had only a short window to get official photos taken of his car at a race track that wasn’t exactly around the corner from him. There wasn’t much time to plan—that is, if he’d gone the traditional route with it.

It feels like we just got the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf family here in America, but VW is already giving it some major updates. You’ll need a keen eye to spot those differences on the outside, but there are some big changes in the cabin and under the hood. Also, more power for our beloved GTI version.

If you prefer your Volkswagen GTIs the old-fashioned way, with just two doors and offering a challenge for anyone who wants to get into the back seat, you better act now. The two-door GTI is about to be discontinued in the U.S.

It’s hard to say something original about one of the best and most loved hot hatchbacks on the market, especially one that’s been on the market a few years now. Instead, I’ll just answer your questions about the 2016 Volkswagen GTI.

Recently someone asked our man Doug if there was a “best of all words” car. Many have made the argument that Volkswagen’s iconic GTI offers one of the best combinations of fun, affordability, and practicality. But which generation will go down as the all-time classic?

Can’t afford a Porsche Cayman GT4? That’s okay, me either, and the wait list for those stretches into the next century anyway. But if you need a track day, bro car with a bit more accessibility and practicality, the Volkswagen GTI Clubsport has got us covered.

Is the Volkswagen GTI not quite hot enough for you, but you don’t want to go full-on Golf R? Here’s your answer: the 2016 Volkswagen GTI Clubsport, the most powerful production GTI ever.

I know it’s our job as car enthusiasts to bitch and moan about how great cars used to be, and how soft and insulated and watered-down they all feel now, but you have to admit you’re getting a lot more bang for your buck today than you did in decades past.

As we’ve been in the habit of collecting horrible car dealer experiences lately, let us also take a moment to remember that customers can be every bit as bad. Case in point: this text message exchange between a dealer and a would-be Volkswagen GTI buyer that devolves into a missive of poorly-spelled insults. Human…

The Wörthersee meeting in Austria is the biggest annual Volkswagen gathering, and the company always makes sure the fans have enough crazy concept cars to take pictures of. This year’s GTI will be designed by a group of apprentices aged 17-25, so prepare your Matchboxes!