VW debuts a custom throwback 2021 Jetta GLI for its Enthusiast Fleet
This particular vehicle looks back to the 2004 Jetta GLI for inspiration, and even borrows that car's rare and gorgeous launch color.
This Jetta is a love letter to the 2004 Jetta GLI, and a good one, at that.
We've always liked Volkswagen's Jetta GLI . It takes everything we appreciate about the GTI and puts it in what has historically felt like a more "adult" package. The current generation is no different. It's still quick, agile and very handsome, and for those reasons, enthusiasts still love it. In tribute to that, Volkswagen announced the first of a series of enthusiast-focused concepts on Tuesday as part of its "Enthusiast Fleet."
This 2021 VW Jetta GLI concept is a bit of a throwback to the glory days of the MKIV Jetta GLI with its body kit, BBS wheels and lovely Blue Lagoon paint job. If the name Blue Lagoon tickles your memory, that's probably because it was the short-lived launch color for the Jetta GLI in 2004, and it was a good one.
This Enthusiast Fleet GLI started as a manual transmission-equipped Autobahn trim level in black and was then vinyl wrapped to its current color. Volkswagen then worked with Fifteen52, Black Forest Industries, H&R, Air Design, BBS, Recaro and Continental to get the car looking like you see it here.
The result is a VW tragic's dream. The vintage-looking but new Recaro Ergomed seats and weighted golf ball shifter make the inside just enough of a throwback without going into overly syrupy nostalgia territory. The exterior would make Jesse from The Fast and the Furious blue with envy.
If you want to see this thing in person, we have good news. Volkswagen plans to haul it around the country this year, along with the other three Enthusiast Fleet models, to various VW fan community events.
