VW Burned Its Biggest Fans With This Bad April Fools' Day Joke

Volkswagen fans are a special breed. They're maybe more committed than any other brand loyalists, clinging to their love for hot hatchbacks and German tuner culture as the company repeatedly plays the antagonist. VW has done so in the past by flaunting retro-inspired concepts that it will never build, constantly calling back to the history people love while building cars that depart from that heritage in all the wrong ways. To put it plainly, being a VW diehard has been rough for well over a decade, and the automaker just poured salt in the wound yet again.

VW posted a teaser to social media on March 28, hinting that it might officially revive the beloved, multi-colored Harlequin models from yesteryear. These were factory-built Polos and Golfs that featured rainbow-like paint schemes with each body panel wearing its own vibrant hue. Enthusiasts go crazy for them, and there are even registries that keep track of which examples still survive, where they are, and who owns them. It's serious.

This was met with major applause. Facebook friends I made during my former days as a Dubber lit up with excitement, sharing the post far and wide. It looked like VW was finally going to build something cool from its past simply because it can.

Then, it turned out to be an April Fools' Day joke. VW once again failed to read the room and put out this deflating announcement Monday morning under the guise of crappy humor:

Fans were expectedly disappointed. Levi Krohn, whose comment is at the top of the screenshot posted above, is a Harlequin owner himself—he's on his second, actually. I reached out to Krohn to get his perspective as a VW guy, and the pain comes through in his response.

"I really think they kind of ‘shot themselves in the foot’ with this April Fools' Day joke," Krohn tells me. "VW is pretty known for its niche ideas and has a very strong following for coming up with and producing some wild concepts. I know a ton of people would love to see Harlequin re-done in a new style, paying homage to the original Polo and Golf versions.