PoloDriver

Of all the publicity materials created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Volkswagen Polo, this one has to be one of our favourites so far. The Miniatur Wunderland model railway tourist attraction in Hamburg currently has a special Polo train running on its tracks.

Since 2000, Miniatur Wunderland in the ‘Speicherstadt’ (former warehouse district) of Hamburg has been one of the most popular attractions in Germany. Its many themed worlds are grouped around a very special model railway, and to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of the Polo, there is an equally special car transport train loaded with miniature versions of the small Volkswagen.

A (ahem) small part of Volkswagen’s anniversary campaign to mark the half-century birthday of the Polo, more than 70 1:87-scale Polos travel around the miniature area of the ‘City of Hamburg’ on a car transporter train – past sights such as the Elbphilharmonie, Elbe bridges and the harbour – on 12 carriages.

Most of the dinky Polos – Wiking 1:87s we think – seem to be the fifth-generation 6R cars, but there is the odd first-generation Polo dotted among them. The attention to detail is truly superb. Each car wears VW’s special ‘50 Years of Polo’ branding, and even the stations are decorated with billboards with the same logo!

Volkswagen doesn’t state exactly how long the Polo train will be travelling around Minatur Wunderland, but we imagine it would be for the rest of the anniversary year. And with new landscapes including Italy, Provence, and Monaco – complete with a Formula One Grand Prix layout! – a visit to the small-scale attraction is enticing enough in these quarters as it is…

One of the past marketing lines for the Polo was ‘How can a small car be so big’, and that resonates more than ever during 2025, as we celebrate the Polo’s big milestone birthday. It’s also pulled sharply – and fantastically – into focus in the promotional campaign at Minatur Wunderland. Bravo!

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If we’re honest, this is one we weren’t expecting. As part of Volkswagen’s push – and it is a push, going on the sizable amount of social media content generated so far – to celebrate 50 years of the Polo, a special livery has been unveiled at the Bicester Scramble event in the UK. A birthday suit – no, not that kind – if you like.

Chosen by social media poll on Instagram, fans could pick from four different blue, green, red, and yellow liveries referencing… yep, you’re already there aren’t you, the Polo Harlequin from 1996. But the car the winning livery would be adorning wasn’t a standard Polo. A show car replica of the 2018 Polo R WRX World Rallycross car driven to victory by Johan Kristoffersson was the chosen recipient, itself appearing nearly identical to the Polo R WRCs that enjoyed rally success in the World Rally Championship from 2013-2016. (In actual fact, some of the Polo WRXs were repurposed Polo R WRCs, repurposed after their competition careers had ended.)

Pop art-inspired
What’s particularly notable about the Harlequin WRX reveal was that it was at a UK event. We were there to see the car in the metal, and it looked stunning, placed at the top of the main drive at the Bicester Motion campus, ensuring a full and steady flow of car fans to pass by it all day. Parked on a low-rise pedestal, the car was, as you might expect, fantastically eye-catching, its pop art-inspired livery using the original Harlequin colours of Chagallblau (Chagall Blue, Pantone code LD5D), Flashrot (Flash Red, LP3G), Ginstergelb (Ginster Yellow, LR132) and Pistazie (Pistachio, LD6D).

In addition to the liveried car, Volkswagen UK displayed a 1980 first-generation Polo GLS in Inari Silver and a second-generation Cherry Red 1990 Polo CL – both mainstays of its heritage press fleet – to make it a real family affair. Sixth-generation Black Edition and GTI models reminded showgoers of the current Polo family, and helped highlight the Polo’s continued evolution and celebrate its 20 million – and counting – sales worldwide.

‘Special and enduring model’
Mike Orford, head of PR and communications at Volkswagen UK, said, ‘The Polo is a model that resonates with so many people for different reasons. They might have been fans of the Polo rally cars as they dominated world championships, their parents might have owned a Mk 1 or Mk 2 Polo, or it might have been the car in which they learned to drive. Whatever the reason is, the Polo is a special and enduring model for Volkswagen and that’s why it is great when we get to celebrate these milestone moments in such a colourful way.

‘We’re really looking forward to seeing this one-off livery in action later in the year as the birthday celebrations really ramp up,’ Orford continued. Yes, the next time the livery will be seen isn’t likely to be stationary, on a pedestal; other championship-winning Polo rally cars are set to wear it for ‘thrilling’ birthday-related activities later this year. Catch them if you can!

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