A look back at the top 10 posts on our blog from the past year. What German enthusiast autos are you looking for in 2023?…
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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: Scirocco
Have you ever seen a familiar face and just can’t place it? Perhaps I’m getting old, but that’s what happened to me the first time I came across this Scirocco. Well, I say “first time”…but in reality I was quite sure that I’d seen it before. About a year ago a car quite similar to this one popped up for sale near my house. Now, 80s VW products are all but gone near me as cars that you see on a regular basis. Yet I recall the photos of this one being posted for sale looking as though they had been shot not but two miles down the road from me. I had not seen the car in the flesh, or metal as it were, but it had to be local. The ad claimed all sorts of goodies…then, it was gone – to me at least, until I saw it pop back up on eBay.
Now, the car in question was in West Palm Beach – where I am quite certain I do not live, so initially I thought I was just mistaken and this was a similar car to what I remembered. But there was almost no information in the ad itself, so I decided to check the VIN. Sure enough, in a flash Google proved that my memory was not false and the car had previously resided in Rhode Island. It also had quite a bit more detail than the current ad. So, let’s take a look:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco 16V on eBay
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This Scirocco we looked at back in August is back on the block wearing teardrop 16V wheels and sporting a substantial price drop to $11,500 (from $17,900).
Though the shape of the new Scirocco was modern for the time, underneath the specification changed little from the outgoing model. It was still a Mk.1 underneath, with a 1.7 liter, 74 horsepower inline-4 providing adequate motivation to the 2,000 lb. coupe. Where the original Giugiaro design had held lovely nuance, the Karmann-penned follow-up borrowed heavily from the Asso di Picche design (ironically, also from Giugiaro) meaning it was all angles, everywhere. But it pulled it off reasonably well, and the second generation was quite popular, selling about a quarter million units in total. There were rolling changes throughout the years as more power, bigger spoilers and wheels, and even a more traditional second wiper appeared. But in terms of purity, the simple design shows through well despite the clunky U.S. spec bumpers on the early models like this 1982:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1982 Volkswagen Scirocco on eBay
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It seems fitting to follow up the clean 82 Scirocco from the other day with another unique example. This one comes from the following model year, and was sold in the US as the California Edition. But it was part of a larger campaign that celebrated the 600,000th Scirocco produced in Osnabrück, Germany by Karmann.
Karmann started with a Wolfsburg Edition Scirocco, which added leather inside, blacked-out trim, and effectively all of the running gear from the contemporary GTI. That meant you got the 90 horsepower 1.8-liter motor, the close-ratio gearbox, and an upgraded suspension. Wolfsburg Editions were available in three colors – Black Metallic, Mars Red, or Zermatt Silver. The California Edition took the Wolfsburg package a step farther, though.
A claimed 505 were produced, all in Zermatt Silver over black leather. On top of the Wolfsburg standard equipment, they added the GTI’s 14″ Avus wheels and a Kamei X1 body kit. These are rare bits of kit, but one has popped up for sale in the original state they were sold exclusively in:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Volkswagen Scirocco California Edition on eBay
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Back to our old friend, the Scirocco. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that Volkswagen’s water-cooled coupes aren’t my favorite cars in the lineup. And that’s mostly true, with one notable exception. I adore the first generation Scirocco. To me, it’s the early 911 of the water-cooled Volkswagens. Flawed, but full of style and charm. And just like the early 911s, the real treat is to find an ‘S’ model – if you can.
In all reality the Scirocco S was just an appearance package. It shared all of the basic aspects of the Scirocco, but the optional 5-speed was standard, it came with 13″ alloys, a special interior, red stripes, and a front spoiler. Doesn’t sound like much, eh? In all honesty, it wasn’t, and on top of that you only could choose from a few exterior colors. But while finding a clean and original Mk.3 GTI can be tough, finding an original S model Scirocco in good shape borders on impossible. While today’s example is a bit of a project, when you throw in a dose of the heavy-hitting name ‘Callaway’, it’s worth taking note:
