Tuner Tuesday: A Tale of Twin Tornados – 1990 Volkswagen Corrado Magnum Wagons

We live in a world of soundbites and short attention spans. Some days it seems like a bit of a coup to remember just what you had for breakfast or where you left the keys last night – never mind to go back a week, a month, a year, or a decade. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a history teacher when I’m not doing this, and I’ve found it increasingly difficult to keep the attention of my students through the 1.5 hour lectures and if it’s a night class, forget it. The proliferation of the internet – the promise of limitless and immediate information – instead seems to be a flood which has washed away the interest, the researching, the enthusiasm for finding something new. But I came across something very interesting when looking for more information about an interesting duo of Corrados that our reader Jesse sent in. It was an internet thread on a forum – nothing special there. What was special was the timeline that thread covered and the subject matter. It started with the announcement of the purchase of the two prototype Corrado Magnum wagons in February, 2007. What followed was 15 pages of comments that spanned an amazing 9 years in what must be one of the longest threads out there documenting the owner trying to get these two unique G60 Corrados to the U.S.. If you want a snapshot of the development of the internet fora in one spot, look at the comments here. In typical VW Vortex style, there are insults tossed, claims the cars don’t exist, that the seller is a liar, threats to steal the cars and that they’re ugly. But there’s also adoration for the buyer who endured an arduous 7 years of storage in the Netherlands before finally getting the clearance to bring the forlorn Volkswagen prototypes to the U.S.. Back to my original point, though – after all that, you’d assume that they’d be locked away by the new owner, never to be seen again save an occasional show, yet here they both are for sale today, along with a few other neat and unique Corrados from the same collection:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 Volkswagen Corrado Magnum at LuxSport

Year: 1990
Model: Corrado Magnum
Engine: 1.8 liter supercharged inline-4
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 4,971 mi
Price: $49,995

The lower mileage of the two, the Magnum which wears Borbet Type B mesh wheels has just shy of 5,000 miles on the clock. It also features a cloth interior which is mostly stock outside of the addition of a period phone. Condition is very good, original and photographs are thorough.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 Volkswagen Corrado Magnum at Luxsport

Year: 1990
Model: Corrado Magnum
Engine: 1.8 liter supercharged inline-4
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 8,344 mi
Price: $49,995

Wearing the much chunkier Borbet Type As, the second Magnum had slightly different features including a full leather Recaro interior and wood trim inside. Condition again is top and commensurate with the low mileage and long term storage these cars went through.

Now, the design – it’s polarizing, but certainly these are the second most rare Corrados in existence. I say second most because Volkswagen also commissioned a convertible Corrado, which apparently the buyer of these two Magums also bought. Details about why Volkswagen commissioned the prototypes and then abandoned them is lacking, but then that’s not a surprise as large manufacturers often do that. What is perhaps more surprising is that both survived at all and remain together 26 years later. The combination of the long roof, some Audi bits and the slightly pudgy Corrado front end isn’t the prettiest profile, but it’s certainly unique. Contemplating the prototypes, I’m just reminded of the Nissan Pulsar Sportbak and that takes away from the mystique. Still, the story of how these cars got to the U.S. at all is pretty amazing and probably worth some of the $100,000 asking price for the duo. For a diehard Corrado fan, the pricing wouldn’t likely even be that objectionable. Unfortunately for the seller, that person already bought them ten years ago.

Special thanks to our reader Jesse for the great spot!

-Carter