American fans of Volkswagen products have always had it rough. VW take an almost adversarial approach to dealing with US enthusiasts, and nothing seems to bring them more joy than promising Americans special editions and then keeping them as Europe-only models at the 11th hour. Most recently we were promised the GTI Edition 35. The "35" in the name refers to the 35 years that the GTI has been offered, so that would have to go for the US.

This is because, in true VW fashion, the GTI wasn't offered in the US for the first few years of production. There aren't very many special editions to celebrate 28th anniversaries, but we were assured several times that the car would make it across the pond. Predictably, VW has changed their minds, and a VW spokesman in Germany told Car and Driver that "VW of America simply didn't want the car". It would have been nice to get a 235hp GTI, but at least we're getting used to disappointment.