Classic green VR6 Corrado Storm for sale
Very few UK-only special editions are as evocative as the run-out Corrado from forever ago...
Remember back when everyone used to call out the Corrado as a cheap-to-buy future modern classic? It made sense: nice to look at, lovely to drive, well-built, plentiful enough to be affordable but not two-a-penny - and all of it underwritten by one of the great ‘90s engines. People tended to love them too, whether from afar or as owners. But like a lot of stuff from what now seems like a hedonistic, free-for-all decade, VW’s coupe has mostly fallen by the wayside - or at any rate, it never achieved the sort of hallowed status that guarantees investment-grade returns.
There are several reasons for this, though probably it has much to do with the cars that came immediately afterwards. In truth, the Corrado was less a car of the ’90s and more a wonderful last throw of what dice VW had left from the ‘80s. Its underlying platform was certainly of that era; the styling, too. Only the narrow-angled VR6, introduced in 1991, truly nailed its colours to the Britpop mast. And by the end of the decade, cars like the B5 RS4, invested with twice the power courtesy of turbocharging, showed what could be achieved if German manufacturers really put their back into it.
Regardless, if you’re the right kind of age, it is impossible not to nurse a soft spot for the liftback coupe built atop a Mk2 Golf chassis. Doubly so if the car in question is a Storm, the run-out special edition that VW built to satisfy the UK market. Just 500 were produced, split between Classic Green with cream leather and Mystic Blue with black. This is the former, which tends to be the one enthusiasts remember, for reasons that should be obvious.
For the uninitiated, the Storm trim wasn’t just a badge, either. You got the colour-coded grille, heated seats and 15-inch BBS Solitude alloys. Yes, it still looked like it was on stilts - a novelty seemingly shared by all Corrodos - yet it still came off as restrained and effortlessly cool. Naturally you got the later 2.9-litre motor with 190hp, good enough for 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds; though of course the VR6 was more about presence than pure performance. It filled the Storm out perfectly.
This example appears to occupy the useful middle ground between museum piece and shed contender. The selling dealer says it stayed with its first owner for roughly the first 62,000 miles, and the MOT record backs up a life of predominately light use: it’s covered fewer than 700 miles since 2018. But apparently some meaningful money has been spent, too, including a new clutch, new exhaust, refurbished original wheels and a bare-metal, glass-out respray.
As well as looking the part, its appeal is helped enormously by comparative rarity: according to the vendor, there are just 16 examples still on the road. That seems like quite the drop-off, until you recall that it’s been more than 30 years since a new Storm graced a showroom. Hasn’t time flown? And while it never reached the fantasy garage price bracket that so many noughties legends have gone onto, an asking price of £17,950 suggests that the Corrado’s reputation as a cult classic is well intact.
It's a shame that the light refurb that the car had does not extend to the interior. The leather looks tired, but I bet it would come up well with some investment.
All in, it's potentially not a bad price for such a car, but for £18k I'd want the whole car to be up to scratch, not just the exterior.
If this were my purchase I’d go for a re-trim on the front seat(s) to bring it up to the level of the rest of the car.
But the same garage has a Chevette HS in, albeit at £44k-ish iirc, and that appeals more to me (honourable mention to the BMW E9 CSL too..!)
Back to the Corrado, in period they never appealed to me as much as a Golf, but now that situation is reversed, and yes, yes I would.
Hadn't really thought about it before, but those three cars cost more than the house where they are parked!If this were my purchase I d go for a re-trim on the front seat(s) to bring it up to the level of the rest of the car.
But the same garage has a Chevette HS in, albeit at £44k-ish iirc, and that appeals more to me (honourable mention to the BMW E9 CSL too..!)
Back to the Corrado, in period they never appealed to me as much as a Golf, but now that situation is reversed, and yes, yes I would.
I think they were a bit marmite if you liked them you loved them but they wern’t for everyone.
Nice interior.
I could never really stretch to a VR6, and I considered the G60 costly to run with regular Supercharger rebuilds required.
I’ve also read some horror stories on here about the reliability of some VR6 cars. Both my 16 Vs - absolutely bulletproof. And I have heard the handling of the 16V was marginally better than having the heavier lump up front, a fine handling chassis though. And also such a handsome car.
Mind, some parts are getting extremely difficult to get a hold of now. To be expected on a car of this age with not a huge following.
If this were my purchase I d go for a re-trim on the front seat(s) to bring it up to the level of the rest of the car.
But the same garage has a Chevette HS in, albeit at £44k-ish iirc, and that appeals more to me (honourable mention to the BMW E9 CSL too..!)
Back to the Corrado, in period they never appealed to me as much as a Golf, but now that situation is reversed, and yes, yes I would.
Failing that a Corrado CR6 and a mk2 GTi Campaign would do
Lovely.
There must have been so many articles about how these were going to rise in value in the near future: in fairness in the mid/late 90s they seemed to be resisting depreciation well, but that's as far as it went. The mk2 Golf GTi was the one that gained a huge following of the time, and the Corrado seemed to be too left-field for the masses. I remember my Corrado era fondly: they felt really well built ( :cough: door handles, sunroofs :cough: ), the 16v versions seemingly revved forever, whilst the VR6 felt a level above with 6 cylinders, but all flavours felt like premium products.
Having owned a couple in my youth I’d be very tempted to try a few more if I had the space. £5k on one for a few months. Rinse and repeat. Vtec Prelude, turbo Fiat, 1.8 V6 mx-3, mx-6, 200sx, probe, Calibra, Hyundai coupe, puma, celica etc. So many dedicated designs that weren’t just 2 door versions of a saloon.
As an aside - not sure how old the writer is but they need a history lesson if they think anyone was nailing their colours to the britpop mast in 1991!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff