You might have seen the Honda Prelude is back, and coming to Europe next year. Yes, it’s a little bit tame by two-door standards, but on the other hand, it’s really nice to see actual coupes back in manufacturer lineups. Who knows - the Honda could well spark a renaissance, however unlikely it seems right now. Imagine Alfa Romeo with a GTV back, Nissan with a 200SX, Mazda with an MX-6 and so on. Perhaps even a Probe and a Calibra, too…
No rebirth for the common coupe would be complete without a VW Corrado. Launched way back in 1988 as a replacement for the second Scirocco (which would actually soldier on for a few more years), it really was a high point for the brand in a very good era. The Corrado was solid yet stylish, blessed with a brilliant front-drive chassis and the sort of satisfaction behind the wheel that very few rivals could match. Despite the relative age of the underpinnings, the Corrado was very highly regarded.
It was the VR6 that really brought the best from the car, though, with the sound and the power to do its sports coupe billing justice. The 2.9 saw the introduction of some Mk3 Golf bits, too, complete with a wider front track to make it look even better. It was a proper flagship that received rave reviews 30-odd years ago. Granted, it was expensive, at £20,000 in 1992. Or almost £45,000 right now. So while almost 100,000 Corrados were made before production wound up in the mid-90s, it’s reckoned only around 3,500 VR6s were sold here. Don’t forget a few of them will be automatic, too.
Three decades later, the number is dwindling, with half as many on the roads as in 2015 and SORN numbers not increasing by the same amount, according to HowManyLeft. So this one is a proper unicorn; unmodified, low mileage, manual, and not rusty. You seldom see Corrados now of any stripe, let alone ones seemingly this good.
The ad suggests this VR6 has spent most of its life in Devon, with three previous owners since 1994. True, it was laid up for a 15-year period between 2007 and 2022, but crucially in a garage, so the bodywork still looks fantastic. It’s only covered a few hundred miles since then, so there might be some recommissioning in order for those who want to use the VW regularly, though it’s said to come fresh from a specialist checkover. So, in theory, you could just jump in and enjoy.
Alright, so it’s £20k, or about exactly the same as it would have cost 31 years ago. In this condition - look at the boot floor! - and with fewer than 50,000 miles, it’s perhaps a bit too nice to frequently drive, however tempting the prospect would be. What a car for classic Vee-Dub meets up and down the country, though. And absolutely perfect if VW ever brings the Corrado name back from the dead…
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