Volkswagen Golf R 400 (or R 420) now looks set for a Goodwood or Worthersee debut

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The extreme VW Golf R400 (or, more probably, R420) now looks set to debut as a production car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed or Worthersee.

Volkswagen has been dropping hints for some time that the Golf R 400 Concept we saw in Beijing two years ago is heading for production, but it now looks like it’s finally game on.

Drive in Australia is reporting VW’s head of production, Dominik Hoburg, saying there’s a surprise coming to celebrate the Golf’s 40th anniversary, and that we should expect it in May or June. We can’t think of anything else the surprise could be other than a production version of the R 400 / R 420.

We did originally expect the R 420 (the more likely name considering its likely 420hp) to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, but that plan was perhaps sidelined with the ‘Dieselgate’ crisis looming, but it seems the debut is now imminent.

Herr Hoburg has said May or June is when we should expect a ‘Fast’ surprise, and that points to the R420 debuting either at the Worthersee Show or at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, certainly the most likely events.

When the Golf R420 does arrive, we’re expecting it to to be a limited edition model – rather than a permanent fixture at the top of the Golf range – with prices around the £50k mark and sub-4 second 0-62mph, on its way to 174mph.