RE: Shed of the Week: VW Scirocco

[TonyRPH]

It looks as though the car is based in Scotland.

It will be rusty.

[paulshears]

My brother has one that he's put a turbo diesel engine in it

[BigMon]

I like them.

A bloke in Torquay has gone a mint J reg one that he's owned from new. I bumped into him at Sainsburys and he gave me full chapter and verse on it.

Don't fit in it though.

[Steamer]

paulshears said:

My brother has one that he's put a turbo diesel engine in it

Interesting colours for both cars there.

Which diesel engine did he fit?.. and what was the outcome of that race?

[thegreenhell]

HardMiles said:

Decent looks and a retro vibe for shed money, but 74 horses from the factory is woeful! Good find shed and as usual, st job Volkswagen! In the wise words of dick TV; “They don’t do good ones!” :-)

74bhp was a perfectly reasonable power output three decades ago, when a standard Golf GTi only had something like 112. Also, it only weighs 875kg, which is less than a new Lotus Elise, whereas a similar-sized new car would probably weigh at least 1300kg.

You can't judge it by modern standards because it's not a modern car. It's 30+ years old. Back when this was new, a 30 year old car was a Morris Minor or Ford Anglia.

[JoeBolt]

I ran a 1982 Scirocco GL for 4 years and about 60,000 miles in the late 80's.

It had an awful single wiper and a 4 + E gearbox with an 'Econometer' in the instrument panel. I also remember the 'high beam' indicator light was orange for some reason instead of the usual blue.

For a while I used it in 'West' Germany on German insurance for which the 'PS' had to be specified. I'm sure mine was 85PS which equates to just under 84BHP. It had a 1.6, 8v, single carb. engine, same as this shed.

It was never going to set the autobahns alight or attract the attention of the Politzei, but I liked it. It was my first 'good' car in that everything worked reliably and it wasn't a rust bucket. (My previous two cars had been woeful BL products of the 1970's).

[Nickp82]

Is the 74bhp really that bad? We already know it is light so the fact it also has crap brakes means it could be quite fun just to hustle from corner to corner using the absolute minimum braking required.

For me this shape Scirocco is an instant reminder of being 17 and returning home one evening thinking it would be a good idea to borrow the 1.8 auto version my Dad had parked up waiting for some work to be done (intention being to impress my soon to be Girlfriend). I may or may not have had a full license, I may or may not have backed it in to a neighbour's Range Rover on the way out, I may or may not have left my Walkman as security for a jerry can of petrol when I ran out of fuel at 2am with no money, I may or may not have frightened the life out of an early morning runner when I went barrelling in to a corner on the way home and nearly went straight on rather than round the corner. I definitely was (probably still am) a fking Idiot.

[Jimmy Recard]

I don’t want it at all, but I can certainly see the appeal. The later Sciroccos look better than ever, I think. They look about a million times better than any Corrado, at least

[woody33]

The look and design of 80's cars are maturing quite nicely, like a fine wine. Years of just being ugly old bangers with huge rear light clusters, they are now starting to look quite retro cool. However, the weather on Arran involves a LOT of rain. Combine this with 80's rustproofing and I would be a bit concerned.

[nunpuncher]

Wonder if they'd knock the ferry fare off.

[KPB1973]

I tried one back in about 1999, when they were considered slightly-classy bangers rather than upcoming classics.

I'd always liked the look of them and thought a 1.8 Scala would feel like a cut-price GTi.

In reality, it drove like a cheap 1970's car wrapped with an exterior that could have been designed in the 90s. Very odd.

[Turbobanana]

Steamer said:

Which diesel engine did he fit?.. and what was the outcome of that race?

Air pollution, by the look of it.

[soxboy]

75bhp was ok in the day, the later GTII had the 1.8 carb with 90bhp. I had a Golf Driver 1.6 with the same engine and it went well enough for the time, the handling was ok.

IIRC at the time insurance on the Scirocco was quite expensive as body part weren't cheap so Golf was a more rational choice. A mate of mine struggled to sell a GT better than this only about 3 or 4 years ago for less than £500.

Also, the mk1 Scirocco was launched before the Golf in order to iron out some of the potential production issues. Sadly that didn't include rust protection.

[horsemeatscandal]

This Scirocco lives near me. Google street view took this photo in 2009, hasn’t turned a wheel since I’d say. Lots more orange than white nowadays.

Not a fan of old VWs myself, but always thought it was a shame. Probably a ‘one day’ project for the owner that will never materialise. Or they’re dead, dunno.

Anyone any idea what model it is?

Edit: I think it’s a mk2 actually, but all the same.

Edit again: this shed IS a mk2. I’ve lost the plot. See above point re. old VWs....

Edited by horsemeatscandal on Friday 10th August 11:26

[J4CKO]

Nickp82 said:

Is the 74bhp really that bad? We already know it is light so the fact it also has crap brakes means it could be quite fun just to hustle from corner to corner using the absolute minimum braking required.

For me this shape Scirocco is an instant reminder of being 17 and returning home one evening thinking it would be a good idea to borrow the 1.8 auto version my Dad had parked up waiting for some work to be done (intention being to impress my soon to be Girlfriend). I may or may not have had a full license, I may or may not have backed it in to a neighbour's Range Rover on the way out, I may or may not have left my Walkman as security for a jerry can of petrol when I ran out of fuel at 2am with no money, I may or may not have frightened the life out of an early morning runner when I went barrelling in to a corner on the way home and nearly went straight on rather than round the corner. I definitely was (probably still am) a fking Idiot.

A Sierra 1.6 had the same power and managed, people werent that aware of outputs then from what I remember, it was pretty simple choosing was based on engine capacity and cylinders, I think some still apply those rules to downsized engines with turbos, despite a 1 litre triple now being more powerful and torquier than a lot of 2 litre N/A engines, a bit like how fuel injection and four valves per cylinder used to freak some out a bit back in the eighties and nineties.

[Limpet]

Still a great looking car. My cousin has three of them - a GT-II, a Scala and a CL. All either restored or current projects, but all taxed and tested, in running order, and used regularly between him and his wife.

He reckons they really get under your skin.

[BFleming]

It's a bit more Classic Car Weekly than SOTW. A friend had one as his first car, and it was brutally unreliable. The Mk1 Scirocco is the holy grail, but it's been many years since these were shed money. I remember putting the highback seats & instruments from a Mk1 into my Golf 1.5D. Straight swap.

[Steamer]

Turbobanana said:

Steamer said:

Which diesel engine did he fit?.. and what was the outcome of that race?

Air pollution, by the look of it.

Jesus - I only just noticed that was an Ash Cloud pouring out the back!.. I thought it was something that got in the way of the shot like a black flag waving

[Limpet]

J4CKO said:

A Sierra 1.6 had the same power and managed, people werent that aware of outputs then from what I remember, it was pretty simple choosing was based on engine capacity and cylinders, I think some still apply those rules to downsized engines with turbos, despite a 1 litre triple now being more powerful and torquier than a lot of 2 litre N/A engines, a bit like how fuel injection and four valves per cylinder used to freak some out a bit back in the eighties and nineties.

Completely agree.

I ran an early mk1 Sierra 1.6 for a couple of years, and it was perfectly acceptable unless loaded up. Not a quick car by any stretch of the imagination, but felt lively enough in daily use, and was nowhere near the slowest thing on the road.

People forget just how fat and bloated cars have become nowadays. Family hatchbacks weighed no more than a current supermini, so every horsepower went that bit further. My Sierra was about half a tonne lighter than an equivalent current Mondeo.

[dapprman]

Owned an de-badged early MK2 GTi with the 1.6i engine. Bought it off a friend who used to change cars regularly - was actually with him when he went to see the car at a garage where it was being sold as a GT (must have been a quick turn around trade in and a dodgy garage who never looked under the bonnet).

The car felt quicker than it was at the time (think 0-60 was meant to be ~9.5 seconds) and it was a blast to drive, or at least compared to the previous cars I had owned plus the company car Vauxhall Cavalier 1.7TD GL I was forced to use. As some one who always suffered from back tweaks before my first slipped disk I do seem to remember finding the seats rather supportive and comfortable.