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
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