RAD RIDES: 1996 Golf Harlequin
Volkswagen’s Crazy Color-Swapped HAtchBack
STORY | EVAN GRIFFEY
Photography | KARL NOAKES
Color-blind panel installers? They ran out of body parts on the production line? A highfalutin VW exec lost a bet? Maybe a special edition offered for those who can’t decide on a color? Looking for logical reasons for Volkswagen Harlequins is a lonely road… and it stretches farther back in time than one would think.
Volkswagen first conjured the idea of a multicolored car in a 1964 print ad that showcased the interchangeability of Beetle body panels between model years. This ‘concept’ laid dormant for 30 years.
There is contention of whether the print ad was consciously or subconsciously in play when Volkswagen Wolfsburg produced a small number of multicolored Mk3 Polos in 1994 to showcase the new model’s production techniques and customization options. These cars were initially intended to star in brochures and fill dealer displays, but once consumers spotted the patchwork Polos, they came running, tails wagging, begging to buy one.
During this era, Europe had fallen in love with limited-edition specials featuring unique decals, fabrics, and paint schemes. Natural progression took root, and Volkswagen produced 1,000 Polos under the name “Harlekin,” featuring a schizophrenic mix of Flash Red, Chagall Blue, Ginster Yellow, and Pistachio Green panels and distinctive “Joker” plaid interior touches. Enthusiasm remained high, prompting a second run of 2,800 cars.
Encouraged by the Polo’s success, VW North America created the Golf Harlequin in 1995 and hit the big auto shows with high expectations and hopeful hearts. Feedback seemed favorable, so VW pulled the trigger and built 264 Golf Harlequins. Assembled at VW’s Puebla, Mexico plant, these Golfs started off monochromatic, then VW swapped the key body panels… but it wasn’t a frantic, musical chairs methodology, the transformation was executed in accordance with guidelines laid out by VW’s European HQ. The car’s original color could be gleaned in the roof, rear quarter panels, and rocker panels, the grille surround and front fenders matched, the front doors were a side-to-side match, as were the rear doors. In the cabin, the seats featured fabric with the car’s four signature colors.
The danger of polling booth visitors at an auto show is that the respondents are likely VW fans who are inherently pre-programmed to embrace quirkiness… feverishly. More traditional American consumers aren’t wired the same, and the Golf Harlequin floundered; its bold, multicolored look proved too overstimulating for the buying public.
Today, only about 100 Golf Harlequins are believed to remain, making it one of the rarest Golfs ever. Powered by a 2.0-liter fuel-injected four-cylinder producing 115 horsepower and 122 lb-ft of torque, the Harlequin came standard with a five-speed manual. Though a commercial flop, the Harlequin Golf has become a cherished, unicorn-level collectible for VW enthusiasts.
DUSTIN SHIPMAN’S 1996 GOLF HARLEQUIN
For Dustin Shipman (@crafted_obsession), it’s all about the story. “I love the story,” says Dustin. “I love the rarity of it. The quirkiness. Like, who in their right mind builds a car with four different colors? VW did! If you’re a water-cooled VW Nerd/’90s baby, it’s a must-have!”
Dustin was down to own one, but where do you start? “In 2017, I had been talking to a friend of mine about saving for a Harlequin. A couple weeks later, he calls me and says frantically, ‘Dude, I found a Harlequin on a side street up here in Bellingham!’ He knocked on some doors, found the owner, and as fate would have it… she was willing to sell. Shoutout to Carson Duncan for doing the dirty work! A few sleepless nights later, my brother-in-law, Jesus Guerrero, and I made the trip up there, and I was like a kid in a candy store!”
Dustin reports the car has more than lived up to expectations. “The provenance, not many cars have that history... that special oddball rarity. I feel like I’m driving a piece of VW history. In its current rendition, I love the mashup of ‘90s styling, the VR6 power plant, and the wheels. But I think the thing I fancy most about it is the fact that it brings people together; kids, car collectors, motorsport enthusiasts, and VW nerds.”
A VR6 powerplant? “I swapped it… a few times,” quips Dustin with a laugh. “Purists probably wouldn’t agree, but cars were meant to be driven. I owned a 2004 Golf R32 and yearned for another VR6-powered car. I pieced together a 12-valve, 2.8-liter VR6 swap in March 2018. Me and my good friend Sean Hess swapped it in a weekend.”
“It went through a couple different boosted iterations after that, including a VF Engineering supercharger, a few days after the swap, and a custom turbo setup using an old Cummins Holset turbo in the summer of 2020. Both of which were awesome in their own ways, but I wanted something a little more drivable. So I sold off the turbo engine and purchased the ‘Big Block’ of the VR6 world, a 3.6-liter, 24-valve.”
“Very few people had done the swap into a Mk3 chassis at the time, but it was doable. Piece by piece… much like a Lego build from my younger days. I assembled my favorite setup thus far, a naturally aspirated 3.6 with more than 300 horses under the hood and some mean Wookie sounds screaming from the back! It puts a grin on my face every time I drive it. I pulled the swap off in March 2022, and I believe it was the first 3.6-liter-swapped Harlequin. Everything, aside from the swap harness, was done by me and a few of my friends in my garage.”
Dustin is definitely a winner in the ‘Smiles for Miles Derby.’ “I could write a book about the adventures I’ve had with the car. All of the shows and events I take it to. The memories I’ve made with my kiddos Coco and Lylah. From drives to get ice cream at the local parlor to 1,000-mile treks to a V-Dub show to late nights in the garage with friends, to waving to friends as I pass them at the dragstrip, the car has been awesome. I always told myself I never wanted to grow up. And well, this thing always has me feeling like a kid again.” So all you have to do is drive? Sounds like the Fountain of Youth to us.
