MEET THE OWNER - ANDREW THOMSON AND HIS VOLKSWAGEN SANTANA

Andrew Thomson recently acquired a car from the 1980s that has been almost entirely forgotten in the UK through no fault of its own. The Santana GX5 was spacious, dependable, and very well-appointed, but its main fault was that the Volkswagen badge meant little to the UK’s middle managers.

The Santana debuted in 1981 and was essentially an elongated saloon version of the B2-series Passat. Autocar pointed out that it not only had the same 1,897cc five-cylinder engine as the Audi 80CD, but it was “within a few inches of having the same dimensions”. However, the company’s management believed that brand loyalty to VW in several markets was such that their traditional customers would not contemplate buying an Audi.

UK sales began in 1982, with the concessionaire only importing the GX5 flagship. The price was £7,974.58, placing it at the top of the Ford Sierra/Vauxhall Cavalier market and the lower end of the Granada/Carlton. It was also usefully cheaper and more conventional-looking than the latest Audi 100 C3. Meanwhile, the brochure indulged in the heights (or depths) of hyperbole: “Never before has a manufacturer managed to combine so successfully the complete needs of the executive car buyer: the emotive desires of beauty, style, elegance, and speed.”

Slightly more prosaically, The Observer believed the Santana was “a worthy successor to the high engineering principles laid down by Dr Porsche for the first Volkswagen”. The Daily Telegraph found it “distinctly lively”, and Autocar added it was “fast, economical and comfortable and it is sufficiently unlike any previous VW to attract a lot of people”.

On paper, the Santana had a lot to offer buyers in search of a family saloon. The top speed was 111 mph, and the boot could accommodate a vast amount of luggage. The GX5 was also nicely appointed; power-assisted steering, central locking, front fog lamps, head restraints fore and aft, and a height-adjustable driver’s seat were standard fittings.

However, by the early 1980s, too many British buyers associated the VW brand with solid, reliable everyday motoring and Audi with prestige. In 1985, Volkswagen dispensed with the Santana name for all European markets apart from Spain, with all models using the Passat badge. B2 production in Europe ended in 1988, and by then, the Santana was already an unusual sight in the UK. Today, just six are believed to be in use - https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/family/volkswagen_volkswagen_santana?make=volkswagen

But this is not to suggest the Santana was a failure, for VW intended it as a ‘World Car’. In 1983, the Shanghai Tractor Automobile Corporation (STAC) assembled the first of a thirty-year run of Chinese-market Santanas. As for Andrew’s GX5, it surely lives up to the brochure’s promise of “a luxury car that can satisfy all the needs of today’s discerning buyers.”

With thanks to: Andrew Thomson