Challenge, Accepted!

It’s ten years of the Polo in India. We’ve raced it, we’ve rallied it, we’ve done the commute and weekend drives. We’ve lived with it, owned it, and still love it. Now for the ultimate challenge

- Sirish Chandran

“IMPOSSIBLE!”

“C’mon man, it can’t be impossible.”

“This is impossible!”

“Really?”

“Yes, Sirish! It won’t go! It’s so steep! It’s so narrow! It’s so dangerous!”

“Umm… but won’t it make for a good story?”

“What’s wrong with you???”

Oh shit, have I bitten off more than I can chew?

Let’s take a step back. Ten steps actually. This is the tenth year of the Polo in India. I still remember the hype leading up to the launch of the small Volkswagen. There were those road-block newspaper ads, the talking paper, the inauguration of the vast plant in Pune, the non-stop stream of press events leading up to the price announcement. And then there was the media drive itself, a sea of red Polos spilling out of the parking lot of the Taj in Bandra — to date, a manufacturer hasn’t laid out such a vast fleet on a media launch. It really was something else.

And it was ages ago. I was much younger. I edited another magazine. Social media wasn’t the many-headed monster that it is today. And after discovering India is an altogether different kettle of fish, VW has hit the reset button. In the intervening period, Volkswagen also transformed the motorsport landscape of our country by launching the first professionally managed and organized single-make racing series. A few years later the TDI engines of the Polo Cup were swapped for TSI, then the body shell switched to the Vento and now young racers start their career with the Ameo Cup. And in the middle of it, when a bunch of enthusiasts wanted to go rallying, the factory went out of their way to support the privately-entered project with parts, tech support, and even a payable-when-able credit system.