7. 2004 Volkswagen Golf R32
The R32 was Volkswagen’s first true stab at building an uber-Golf since the days of the Limited and Rallye, and like those cars, it almost wasn’t sold in North America. Thankfully, enthusiast minds within Volkswagen prevailed, and were rewarded with brisk sales. VW originally expected the 5000-car allotment for the U.S. to sell in two years; instead, the entire run was spoken for in roughly half that time. And why wouldn’t it be? The R32 represented the fourth-generation Golf’s swansong, and was packed with every sort of performance goodie the imagination could want. A 3.2-liter VR6 V-6 delivered a stout 240 hp, which was sent through a six-speed manual transmission to a Haldex-sourced 4Motion all-wheel-drive system.
