Just days ago, I wrote about different special editions of cars, including Volkswagen’s rock band themed ones from the 1990s: the Golf Pink Floyd, Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones and Genesis. Those were sold all over Europe, and coincided with the stadium tours of the aforementioned bands: for Pink Floyd, Division Bell; for Rolling Stones, Voodoo Lounge … and so on.
This spring, Volkswagen of Austria has also released some very limited edition hatchbacks: the Golf Falco Edition and the GTI Falco Edition, to commemorate the late Austrian singer and his ‘80s success. The cars are sold exclusively on the Austrian market and feature special touches inside out.
Falco, born in 1957 as Johann or Hans Hölzel, achieved brief worldwide fame in 1986 as his single Rock Me Amadeus made it to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song, ostensibly about the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and riding the popularity of the Oscar-winning Amadeus movie from 1984, is noteworthy for making it so big despite being mostly sung and rapped in German with only a handful of English phrases in there, such as “No plastic money anymore.” The music video combines Mozart-era cosplay with the punk and biker scene of ‘80s Vienna, giving it a sort of similar anachronistic vibe as the Marie Antoinette film of 2006.
As well as Rock Me Amadeus, Falco was also well known for his earlier hit, Der Kommissar, which is also rapped in a mixture of German and English. His early work, from the debut album Einzelhaft (Solitary confinement) and Junge Roemer (Young Romans), is full of bona-fide ‘80s synthpop classics, and much of Falco’s output focuses on the struggling, sometimes drug-afflicted youth of German-speaking Europe.
In his videos, Falco almost appears as if he was an SNL character, as he’s obviously playing a role and hamming it up. He was interviewed by Dick Clark for American Bandstand in 1986, and in the brief clip he also mentions the idea of “playing a guy called Falco”. He also kind of looks like someone German-speaking was playing Tom Cruise, especially as he had a penchant for aviator glasses and leather jackets.
While remaining a star in his homeland, he would never quite replicate his Rock Me Amadeus success. In 1986, Falco released Emotional, which only reached the tops of the charts in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, followed by a Giorgio Moroder-produced duet with Brigitte Nielsen [Ed note: “Body Next To Body,” here’s the video. And hold up, did Kid Rock rip off part of the rap for “Bawitaba”? – Pete]. Eventually, Falco slid back into obscurity and moved to the Dominican Republic, where he would sadly pass away in a car crash at the age of 40.
His premature death did afford him lasting posthumous success, and some of his more unappreciated albums, such as a cyberpunk-themed 1990 effort, have found new fans. His final album, Verdammt wir leben noch, was released after his death, and the title translates to “Goddamn it, we’re still alive.” In recent years, Falco’s classics have been sampled and remixed and refreshed with guaranteed airplay and streaming.
Would it be fair to say the Volkswagen Golf GTI also relies mostly on what it was in the mid-1980s, a class-leading hot hatchback with worldwide success? The 1990s Mk3 GTI wasn’t quite top-of-the-form, and in some markets the millennial Mk4 GTI was available with as little as 125 horsepower, despite mostly being sold with the 150-180hp 1.8-liter turbo.
Subsequent generations have had plenty of power, and again a more competent driving experience, but the Mk8 GTI has been memorable for a rare Volkswagen user interface misstep with the terrible haptic controls on the steering wheel. These days, if you spec a Mk8, it will have the regular buttons that Volkswagen has famously brought back, even on its EVs.
The hot hatch segment has shrunk enough to make the GTI one of the last of its kind, and Volkswagen is supplementing it with electric versions such as the new ID.Polo GTI.
Buying a Golf GTI Falco Edition also means getting one of the last analog versions of an iconic car, no matter how digital the driving experience of a 2026 car is. The Falco stuff on it is also very cool, if you happen to be a fan. It’s also easy to combine the car’s features with some classic Falco songs:
– Out of the Dark, Into the Light (automatic headlights)
– Coming Home (Follow-me-home function)
– Der Kommissar (navigation with speed camera markings)
– Zuviel Hitze (automatic air condition, for “Too Much Heat”)
– Vienna Calling (phone connectivity)
As special editions come, these are quite neatly done, and with a lot more effort than, let’s say, a Bon Jovi Golf, which didn’t have special band-specific upholstery like the Pink Floyd and Genesis cars did.
There are bits of Rock Me Amadeus lyrics on the window frames and a Falco signature on the C-pillar; inside, the cars have Harman-Kardon stereos and a gift box with the Falco 3 album and GTI badged Beats Studio Pro headphones is included. In the Volkswagen Austria Instagram post, an old friend of Falco from the Viennese scene picks up the car.
While customers can choose between different engine and transmission combinations on the non-GTI Falco Golf, from TSI to TDI and mild hybrid, only 40 Falco GTIs will be produced, and they are specced even higher than the “regular” Falco edition Golf, with a black roof, 19-inch wheels, and the optional, adaptive DCC chassis.
The Golf GTI Falco edition is priced at 56,490 Euros in Austria, or around $64,400, and it’s available in three colours: metallic red, black, and moon grey. The Golf Falco Edition, which starts from 32,990 Euros ($37,600), can be had with a six-speed manual gearbox depending on the engine choice, but the GTI is DSG only.
Top graphic images: A&M Records; Volkswagen
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