Volkswagen Touareg design review: ‘First Touareg was the best’

The 1997 Golf IV is widely recognized as a masterpiece of disciplined and relevant automotive design. The sleek, perfectly balanced exterior design is also extremely clean and timeless and a huge improvement over the bland Golf III.

Volkswagen Golf III, top model VR6.

The interior of the Golf IV was a revelation for the class. It brought a level of quality to the Golf – and thus the entire compact mid-sized segment – ​​that had not been seen before.

The Volkswagen Golf IV inside.

Both the interior and exterior design appealed, because of the flawless styling, but also because of the unprecedented step up in build quality and use of materials. The Golf IV remained no less than
virtually unchanged on the market for eight years. Volkswagen apparently realized that it was impossible to improve on perfection.

When it came time to replace the Golf IV, Volkswagen failed to do so. The 2003 Golf V, with its rather corpulent appearance, could not match the IV.

Volkswagen Golf V.

The understated charm of the fourth Golf was replaced in the fifth generation by a much more flashy aesthetic, with complex lamp graphics and – on the top model R32 – the large and heavily chromed grille. That silverware arrived at Volkswagen in an attempt to go even higher. The hall of mirrors mounted on the bow had a completely opposite effect.

It was during that period that the first Touareg made its appearance.

The car was clearly developed in the period before the terrible R32 showed its shiny inflamed nose, because the first Touareg is absolutely not as disgusting as the Golf V. However, it lacks the finesse, the high degree of refinement and design quality that characterizes the Golf IV.

The creation of a top SUV was of great importance to Volkswagen. In Wolfsburg they were at the end of that
already working on it in the 1990s, because in 2000 the brand presented the Advance Activity Vehicle, a
pickup SUV crossover with design DNA that was clearly similar to that of the production Touareg.

This was followed in 2002 by the Volkswagen Magellan Concept. Proportionally it was comparable
what would become the Touareg, but with a clearly different nose, with a
large and coarse, but also rather anonymous gaping grille.

Then there is the new, facelifted model of the current Touareg. This generation adds
– apart from the almost impossibly large grille and lower fake air intake mules – nothing at all
to the 2019 model. The truly enormous Down the Road Graphic makes up for the bit
refinement from the pre-facelift model gone. And depending on the version, the car is equipped
with either large holes in the nose or a lot – a lot – of chrome.

Current Touareg is proportionally fine

This car was not very bad, but far from the Golf IV masterpiece. Proportionally, the Touareg is fine, but not exceptionally good, with the large overhang at the front and a barely recognizable silhouette. The D-pillar was also considerably more recognizable in the first Touareg.

The first Touareg remains the best. This is the most Volkswagen-looking Volkswagen SUV, with simpler and pure front, sides and rear ends. With a strong, upright D-pillar and a series of successful character features, such as the surfacing solutions, of the Golf IV design.

The changes to the current Touareg, through the facelift, are relatively minor and none
improvement over the original design. The big difference, however, is that the basis, in stark contrast to the Golf IV, could definitely be improved.