While the "official" gift for one's 20^th anniversary is supposed to be china, we'd like to suggest that if you have an automotive enthusiast to whom you've been partnered for two decades you ought to think "Germany," instead.  Specifically, the 20^th Anniversary GTI.  While statistics indicate that about half of marriages fail long before double-digit annual measures are necessary, VW is marking the original Rabbit GTI from days of yore with a product that is so good that the engineers from back in the day probably could only dream of something like this vehicle.  From the outside, it is a Golf.  But with nice touches.  Some discrete.  Some not-so.  As in a little Rabbit logo on the rear hatch, along with the red GTI badge, which is repeated in the front grille.  There are a lowered rear bumper, a polished exhaust pipe, and

inside, on the dash, there is a small plate with the serial number of which of the 4,000 vehicles you have.  (We drove 3012, by the way.)

The things that make this car great are the little things.  The touches, like the drilled-aluminum dead pedal that's about the size of a baking sheet and the metal trim on the doorsill.  The red trim not only on the Recaro front seats, but even along the edges of the seat belts.  The golf-ball like knob for the six-speed manual transmission.  OK, there are some big things, too.  Like the 18-inch, 15-spoke alloy wheels through which the red brake calipers can be seen.  You need those all-around disc brakes because under the hood there a 1.8-liter turbocharged engine that provides 180 hp @ 5,000 rpm and 173 lb.-ft. of torque from 1,950 to 5,000 rpm.

In some regards (e.g., the stance on those Z-rated tires that makes the car look as much like a drawing as a three-dimensional thing) the 20^th Anniversary Edition is over the top.  But let's face it: This car is a celebration.  And when you drive it, you just have to get a goofy grin of satisfaction on your face.  A gift, indeed.