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1987 Volkswagen Scirocco 16V

1987 Volkswagen Scirocco 16V

Published August 20, 2015 by Carter

Last night, I watched a “Throwback” Motorweek which reviewed the then-new top-tier twin-turbocharged Japanese sport coupes. It pitted the height of the market cars against each other – the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4, the Toyota Supra Turbo, the Mazda RX-7 and the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo in a head to head. It’s hard to believe only a year or two after that segment aired, all of those cars would have disappeared from the U.S. market. While vestiges of them have returned, we’re still generally left without that glut of fast Japanese GT cruisers that were available in the early 1990s. It reminded me of another segment that all but disappeared around the same time; the sports economy coupe. True, cars like the Scion TC live on, but remember when there were 11 or 12 different small coupes you could buy? Like the “HYBRID!”s of their day, each offered shouty colored badges about what made them special; a DOCH here, a 16 valve there, or if you were really, really cool, you had a TURBO badge somewhere on your car. Preferably, multiple places. I remember fondly my friend in high school’s Plymouth Sundance Turbo; it might as well have been a Ferrari to us. While Volkswagen never went that far, they did continue to offer their version of a sport coupe, the Scirocco, through the late 80s. Still sporting its Giugiaro-inspired but Karmann-stolen all-angles design proudly, the Scirocco had a bit of a mystique as all Volkswagen coupes had that it was the best of the class, even if by the numbers it wasn’t:

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1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II

1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II

Published June 19, 2015 by Carter

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way: this 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E’s asking price is $700,000. No, I’m not joking. For that amount, you could purchase many things; planes, sailboats, vacation homes – all on top of your normal home. You could send many disadvantaged youth through secondary education, or you could feed most of Darfur through the rest of the year. But you’re not into those things, you’re into cars – so what makes this Batmobile-inspired W201 so special? Like the M3 and V8 quattro, it was a DTM star, and like all of the Evolution models they were not imported to the United States. That makes them covetous for marque fans, cars that adorned true racing fan’s walls and imaginations in the late 80s and early 90s, and gives you instant credibility at any European event you turn up to. Well before “Evo” became synonymous with Mitsubishi’s physics-defying Lancer, Evo meant that BMW, Audi or Mercedes-Benz were attempting to homologate some aero tweaks and a hotter motor to win in the DTM race series. Along with the M3 and Quattro, these were the cars that spawned an entire generation of go-faster flares, vents and wings that can still be seen evolving on the WRX and, aptly named, Lancer Evolution. But while the M3 is a known quantity and the market star of the three big DTM cars from the early 1990s, to me the Mercedes-Benz was the one that really nailed the look with their road going version. The Evolution II looked the business; more aero and extreme than the M3, more special looking than the V8 quattro’s Evo kit, it stood apart from the crowd. All of them were special, but somehow the Evolution II was a bit more special:

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1987 Volkswagen GTi 16V with 60,000 Miles

1987 Volkswagen GTi 16V with 60,000 Miles

Published May 25, 2015 by Carter

1987 saw some serious upgrades for the original “Hot Hatch” GTi. Externally, you’d have to be a seriously devoted Volkswagen fan to pick them all out. The body and trim remained effectively the same as they had been in 1985 and 1986, but new “Teardrop” alloys replaced the leftover “Snowflake” (also known as “Avus”) and “Bottlecap” (also known as “Montreal”) wheels that had adorned the earlier models. Squint closely at the front, and a new deeper chin spoiler sat under the bumper with two brake ducts. The GTi sported a new spiky hairdo as well, with a new roof-mounted Fuba antenna which would become signature for the model going forward. But the change that enthusiasts really liked was under the hood, where eight more valves made their appearance on the venerable 1.8 mill that had powered the GTi. That new motor was announced on every side of the car with new “16V” badges adorning the front, rear and side trim. Horsepower increase was relatively modest – about 13 more horsepower over the high-compression 8V that the car ran in 1985 and 1986. But the letters DOHC were magical pixie dust for wannabe racers in the 1980s, and the entered you into the coolest club out there – Club Twin Cam. Everything sprouted Twin Cams in the 1980s, but it brought the GTi up a notch in performance to compete with the new crop of Hot Hatches it had helped to sprout. 0-60 was now achieved in under 8 seconds – a serious feat for an economy car at that time. The new 16V GTis would be available – as before – in only four colors; Diamond Silver Metallic, Dark Blue Mica, signature Tornado Red or my favorite, Red Pearl Mica (LE3P) that this low mileage example is shown in:

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1987 Volkswagen Scirocco GTX 16V

1987 Volkswagen Scirocco GTX 16V

Published May 2, 2015 by Paul

If you haven’t watched the Petrolicious segment highlighting Road & Track Senior Editor Jason Cammisa’s Volkswagen Scirocco, it’s worth a watch. In this short clip, he discusses how after driving some of the most high-dollar, powerful vehicles on the market currently, he years to step back into his Scirocco for pure driving pleasure. One point Cammisa touched on was the issue of steering feel in the Scirocco and how that kind of experience is lacking in new cars. I couldn’t have agreed more. Thankfully, we can always look back to the modern classics, such as this 1987 Scirocco GTX 16V for sale in The Netherlands. With just under 30,000 miles on the clock, it’s tempting to consider importing this VW and turning back time.

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