Weekend Edition: On the Polo Harlekin

Volkswagen_Polo_1995_2001_3
That recent stroll around the junkyard near Hamburg, Germany, left a lasting impression. The Volkswagen Polo Harlekin appealed to me perhaps stronger than before: seeing a partially disassembled one teetering above a regular blue one drove the point home that it would make actual, yet ludicrous sense to buy Harlekins now, as there still are decent ones for sale.
They’re priced about the same as a regular, uh, colour-coded Polo would, which means you wouldn’t really need to pay much more than a grand or a grand and a half for one. You can get a rough one for only a few hundred, too, but there’s likely to be welding in your near future. As 800 euro cars come, the Harlekin makes a strong case for itself.


It’s probably one of the weirdest Polo special editions, depending how high you rate the previous model’s Genesis edition that was named after the band and only came in a weird nightclub shade of purple.
volkswagen_polo__harlekin__3
Here’s the basic layout: bodyshell came in Ginster Yellow, Chagall Blue, Pistachio Green and Flash Red, and the rest of the panels were mismatched according to a very specific combination. No colour appeared next to itself, so it’s a hint for anyone looking for crash damage replacement panels. There were 3800 cars built instead of the planned 1000, so it was somewhat of a success, and it also spawned the US-model Golf Harlekin.
The core car itself is a very simple, mid-1990s affair. You get most of the time a 60-horsepower 1.4 engine, and depending of the spec, power steering. The addition of the latter is usually noted in the German ads’ headlines as “Volkswagen Polo 60 Servo Harlekin”, which for me sounds like a schlocky European part-time detective/clown alias. Harlekin, Servo Harlekin. At your service *honk honk*

There’s even a Harlekin for sale in Finland currently, a 700 euro example with obvious rot showing. It’s the basic problem with something like the Polo: it was supposed to be a somewhat disposable grocery getter, and up until today they haven’t just been that special to be pampered. The 1990s model doesn’t feel quirky enough to stand out without a wacky colour scheme like the Harlekin, and then there are gearbox issues and oil breather maladies that can wreak havoc on a bargain-bin car.
momoben-1
Polo Harlekins came with a grey cloth interior with some Mondrian flavoured colour bits in the seats, and the steering wheel was dark blue. It would be fitting to throw on a Momo Benetton wheel, of course.
My advice to you? Start drinking heavily scouring German used car sites for affordable, fixable Polo Harlekins and stash them away. Few things are more 1990s than these things, and parts are cheap. And you don’t really need to worry about shade matching when getting junkyard doors for your car.
[Steering wheel courtesy of vwvortex]

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  1. dead_elvis Avatar
    dead_elvis

    I didn’t understand the appeal of these when they first appeared, and still don’t.
    Of course, I’d wear Levis & a black t-shirt every day if I could. I don’t really get “colorful” in general.

    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      You’d fit right in here.
      Our national colour is apparently black now.
      http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1404703552/028/10241028.jpg

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        Neat. I wonder if their airconditioning cost have risen significantly?

        1. Rover 1 Avatar
          Rover 1

          Not at the altitudes they fly at. All flights from NZ are long haul, (min flight time 4 hours +) And carbon fibre doesn’t expand and contract like metal so the paint is more stable.

  2. Eric Rucker Avatar

    It’s also worth noting that in the US, we got the Golf Harlequin instead.

  3. Manic_King Avatar
    Manic_King

    Once huge and now dead German mail order tuning parts biz D&W (their yearly catalogue was usually more than inch thick and had everything from brake handles to wheel sets), had whole section dedicated to Harlekin parts once: seat covers, wiper blades, stickers, rims, antennas, steering wheels etc. Not only MOMO made those but also Personal, Raid and others. Whole Harlekin parts industry existed once.
    https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xpf1/t51.2885-15/s320x320/e15/10005491_1498009383790886_1650115633_n.jpg
    http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTc2WDEwMjQ=/z/aKMAAOSw3ydVrBBc/$_72.JPG

    1. theskig Avatar
      theskig

      I like all those colors.
      Now cars are only black/gray/white it’ a sad view when jammed on streets.
      I do my rebel small part owing a red car 🙂

    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      Looks like it involved a long and logical thought process, (and drinking heavily ?)

    2. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      What I really love with this one is that at first glance, it just looks like a bad thought executed quickly. But spend an extra second and there’s actually quite some labour hours in there – everywhere. Very cool project!

  4. theskig Avatar
    theskig

    In my town in Italy there was one used by a driving school. Loved it.