The…what? Clearly that’s a Jetta, right? Well, you’re both right and wrong at the same time. The Jetta was marketed as several different names across the globe, including Bora and Vento in Europe. In Mexico, though, the first generation was known as the Atlantic, and here today we have one of those that has relocated to the US. While it looks pretty racey on the BBS wheels with the lowered stance, you’ll not find many other go-faster bits on it. Still, if you want to cause some head scratches at the next VW meet…
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We have 15 years of archives. Links older than a year may have been updated to point to similar cars available to bid on eBay.Tag: rare Volkswagen
It’s the time of year where’s it’s fun to take to Europe and consider what might be available for import in just a few days. I found a few fun ones to consider here but would love to hear what you’re looking for. First off, this clean ’99 Audi A3 1.8 manual with only 66k miles for under 3k Euro!
1999 Audi A3 on Mobile.de
2 CommentsAs Volkswagen in Germany switched to water-cooled designs, Volkswagen do Brasil attempted to extend the life of the basic Beetle platform in two ways; the Brasília created a new hatchback rival to the Golf, and the SP models were a leap forward for the Karmann Ghia coupes (of which Brazil already had their own special version – the TC).
‘SP’ referenced São Paulo where the SP and SP2 were produced. The early model had a 1.6 liter flat-4, while the SP2 moved up to a 75 horsepower 1.7 air-cooled flat-4 mounted in the rear. The proportions of the body styling seemed to suggest the opposite though, with the long, low hood and hatchback GT profile looking more like a traditional sports car than any VW had before. Other period designs were borrowed – the Volkswagen 411, the Porsche 924 and Audi’s 100 Coupe S all had similar angles.
Only about 11,300 of these ultra-rare, Brazil-only SP2s were produced. They’re about as legendary as air-cooled VWs get in the U.S., so when one pops up for sale it’s worth a look:
1975 Volkswagen SP2 on eBay
Comments closedAfter its unceremonious and unexplained exit from the U.S. market with the introduction of the third generation Golf in 1993, the GTI came roaring back in a big way for the 1995 model year. Sure, it was bigger, bulkier and well…roundier, but it came with a bunch more gusto thanks to the addition of the VR6 motor as seen in the Corrado and Passat models. Though the single-overhead cam, twelve valve head lacked the race-bred feel of the Mk.II 16V, the new motor more than made up for it with the addition of two more cylinders. Good for 172 horsepower and 173 lb.ft of torque, it swept the hot hatch from 0-60 in 7.1 seconds and produced a 15.5 second quarter mile at over 90 mph. But much like the original, the GTI was more than the sum of its numbers, with drivers enjoying the great 6-cylinder soundtrack which accompanied the waves of usable torque.
On its way out of production, VW sweetened the VR6 even more with the “Driver’s Edition” model in 1997. Red stitching, red calipers and special Speedline wheels made an appearance, and while the package was ’97-only it was more-or-less completely carried over to the ’98s. That’s what we have here in this mildly modified Tornado Red example:
1998 Volkswagen GTI VR6 on eBay
Comments closedSome cars you just can’t forget. The first-generation Scirocco is one of my favorite designs, but they’re so infrequently seen today that it’s easy to try to keep a mental map of the ones that pop up for sale. In the case of today’s car, though, that was assisted by the color. There were no British Racing Green Sciroccos that left the factory, but I’ve looked at one – more than once – and so when this car popped up for sale, I was sure I’d seen it before. I first looked at this car in February 2015, and it appeared again in March of the same year. Then, with A1 Avus wheels on it, it turned up on Bring a Trailer in 2017. The fourth time’s the charm?