Volkswagen Scirocco: Spotted
It's long played second fiddle to the Golf, but the Scirocco offers far more than just a sleeker design
Evidence dating back to the days of Cain and Abel suggests sibling rivalry really does exist, and it seems for every David Milliband there's an Ed prowling ominously in the wings, or a Noel ready to do battle with Liam.
When VW launched the boxy Golf way back in 1974 it also gave the world a lightweight sibling in the form of the Scirocco. The Golf caught the public's imagination and, with one or two mild hiccups, has never let go of it since. The subcutaneously similar Scirocco, a low and lithe coupe designed by il maestro Giugiaro, was a beautiful car that was much admired but always doomed to play second fiddle, especially so when the iconoclastic GTI version of the Golf appeared in 1977.
Even I have been happy to believe in the virtues of the ancient Mk1 Golf GTI, despite never having set foot in one. Last year, the chance came to drive one, and I found it to be such a demoralising experience - mostly due to its unassisted steering, which was so heavy I thought it had broken - that I'm still in counselling now, a year on.
A week after the Golf drive, however, I drove a Mk1 Scirocco Storm, and as I always suspected this diminutive coupe was a much nicer thing. It was lower, sweeter and felt infinitely more agile. It's true that neither car had much in the way of performance, especially by today's standards - and neither of them had any brakes at all by any standards - but it was the Scirocco that definitely felt the nimbler.
The Scirocco was later updated with a more sober-suited Mk2 version, and it soldiered on until 1992, only to reappear again as an all-new Mk3 car in 2008. By then, there was always the sneaking suspicion that the Golf - which had lost its way in mid-life but came good with the 2005 Mk5 model - made the swoopy, wide-hipped two-door coupe look a little, er, superfluous. Nevertheless, the new Scirocco went well and sold well, at least initially, and it should have in theory offered some of the advantages of a longer, lower and wider car.
Now, used ones are looking tempting. Indeed £6000 for this ten-year-old example with a full service history sounds good to us. You'll get all the 197hp 2.0-litre trimmings of the contemporary Golf GTI, along with a mildly different suspension and an arguably more stylish bodyshell, although that distinction is less clear-cut than it was back in the 1970s. It is certainly a car any potential owner on a budget could take pride in, although whether their sibling would approve of it is a matter of conjecture.
Mark Pearson
SPECIFICATION: VOLKSWAGEN SCIROCCO
Engine: 1,984cc, inline four
Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power(hp): 197 @6000rpm
Torque(lb ft): 207 @1700rpm
MPG: 37
CO2: 179g/km
First registered: 2008
Recorded mileage: 90,000
Price new: £20,500
Yours for: £6,050
I was looking at these or the equivalent Golf GTi and the looks swung me into the Scirocco as well as it being a slightly less generic choice than the Golf.
Although I think 6k is strong money for that car, I was going to ask similar for mine. 09 plate, 70k, FSH, APR Intake, Eibach Sportlines, every option (aside from parking sensors), almost brand new Pilot Sports on Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2s... hmm...
Also: point of order - the Scirocco was launched ahead of the Golf in order to iron out any foibles in what was to be a make or break car for VW.
Gruesome combo of white body and black wheels so I'd have to chuck £500 at a wheel refinisher but even so it's not much more than, say, a Fiat 500 of that age.
Much experience of the MK3 Scirocco - they really are a pleasure to drive... great driving position, free revving engines (petrol), look pretty special even now from most angles and a good dose of practicality for day to day harmony. Well equipped too.
BTW - had a MK1 Golf GTI back in the day and the steering was never heavy - just a delight in every way really - I wonder if the one sampled by the Author had a mechanical problem or (like the Scirocco in the ad) something odd going on in the wheel department!
A touch of 'snowflake' appearing in motoring journalism?
A touch of 'snowflake' appearing in motoring journalism?
At parking speeds, 185 or 195/60 15s (or was it 14s??) were ludicrously heavy on a Mk2 Scirocco (and a Cavalier SRi) - although the main problem was the incredibly slipperiness in colder weather of vinyl-covered steering wheels that were in vogue at the time. No small wonder that PAS soon followed.
Then again, I remember parking a K10 Micra for a colleague and that had surprisingly heavy steering and a viciously hard-edged plastic rim too.
I suspect that having become acclimatised to the goods-vehicle spinning the rim with the palm of the hand technique, even 175/70-13s might seem stubborn buggers today.
When the PAS pump fell off my MX-5, I drove that around for a while without, because I preferred the steering feel. That did have a nice leather Momo wheel, which made life far better. Second MX-5 was duly ordered without PAS. And a Momo wheel was fitted...
I know on the Mk2, if you put bigger / wider tyres on, parking speed steering got rather errr bicep stretching
Performance for the day was pretty good, 110bhp may not be much by modern standards,, but the Mk1s were tiny by modern standards & very light, Maybe similar to an early Elise. 0-60 was about 8secs.
The smart money between a Golf 6 Scirocco and a Golf 7 Golf is on the Golf. The mk7 was to the 6 what the 5 was to the 4 - a CONSIDERABLY better vehicle.
Performance for the day was pretty good, 110bhp may not be much by modern standards,, but the Mk1s were tiny by modern standards & very light, Maybe similar to an early Elise. 0-60 was about 8secs.
Mk1 GTi is only 810kg!! Mk1 Elise only had 118bhp and was 725kg without speccing a single extra, so I agree, the Mk1 GTi was better than it's 110bhp would suggest in 2018!
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