The Volkswagen Corrado comes recommended to me by a man whose opinion I trust. John Stevens was the head of the Audi Quattro performance driving school, and chief instructor at Brands Hatch. He recommended the Corrado as a fine handling car and expressed regret that VW discontinued it.
The Corrado was a three-door hatchback coupe, built between 1988 and 1995. A successor to the Scirocco, it featured a rear spoiler that rose automatically at around 50mph. All Corrado models were front-wheel drive, and this version comes with a 1.8 litre naturally-aspirated 16 valve engine. A little down on power: it only produces 136bhp, it compensates with engaging handling. ‘Car’ magazine listed it as one of the ’25 cars to drive before you die’. A very balanced car, the Corrado has plenty of grip and traction and responsive steering, giving you plenty of driving enjoyment for your money.
Another benefit of this car is the interior. For a coupe, it’s quite spacious, with a deep boot and ample room for your rear passengers. The adjustable steering column means you can find a good driving position as well.
This model is far from the quickest of the Corrados out there, and perhaps won’t live up to its name, which means ‘running’ in Spanish.The later models with superchargers and bigger engines deliver more performance, but this one should still be good for about 125mph. When new, this model could get from 0-60 in a little under 9 seconds, and could do 30mpg. This one has had some modifications, namely 280mm Audi TT brakes and TT wheels. Unfortunately, it comes without tax or MOT, and with 185,000 on the clock. Still, for £1000 you could do a lot worse.
The advert reads: 'VW Corrado 1.8 16v. Nice car but need quick sale to pay the bills no stupid offers as this car is nice! 280mm audi TT brakes, Audi TT Wheels and a few other mods.
Bad points- No Tax No Mot but only needs about £100 to pass MOT.'