The internet has again been ablaze with indignant enthusiasts frustrated with VWoA’s decision to cease importation of the 2-door GTI. Of course, the GTI is still available in more practical (and some would say better looking) 4-door configuration, and the decision wasn’t without basis as that model outsold the dual portal example many times over. Nevertheless, there’s always a big conglomerate of fandom that actively shouts about all of the things they can no longer or were never able to have.
Why this is somewhat surprising to me is because if you go back a few decades, we lost something even cooler. The Corrado represented the end of a 20 year reign of really cool 2-door coupe Volkswagens. Go back even farther, and another two decades of Karmann Ghia represented great looks and a sportier platform (in theory) with affordable underpinnings. While there are a few fans who call for the current Scirocco to be imported, nearly as many seem to say “Why?”, when the GTI is available alongside. Perhaps now that the 2-door GTI has been killed off to the U.S. market, more attention will be levied on these slinky coupes? Every Corrado, then, gives us pause to consider an entire market segment that was effectively eliminated in the mid-1990s after being some of the most appealing options in the catalog. They sure went out with a bang, though: