My first new 'off the showroom floor' car was a Scirocco. Other than being too loud (road and wind noise) it was an awesome car but then I married and had a kid and it was too small so I got a new VW Jetta diesel. Also am amazing car. Never a problem starting and running even in cold Michigan winters.
I bought an '86 Scirocco 16V in 1992. It was red as well and was the 2nd Scirocco I owned. My first was an '82 8-valve model. Loved them both, but I actually had a little money to put into the 16v for Neuspeed stuff. I still miss that car today.
This actually may have been my favorite car. I bought a red 1986 1/2 16V when they first came out from Continental VW in Denver. Oh it was fun to drive! I remember decimating a Nissan Z car who had the personalized plates “WHOOSH.” BTW, EPA rated the highway fuel mileage at 28, I consistently got between 35-38 mpg with it. So, now I just bought a 40th Anniversary Edition GTI with a manual transmission, and sadly, this might be the end of an era for VW ICE engines and manual transmissions. I’ve only put 2,500 miles on it in five months, and it may exceed the fun I had in my Scirocco 16V, but that Scirocco will always be on my mind. I’m sorry I ever let that car go!
I always liked checking these out in German VW dealers. They were called GTX 16v or lower spec'd GT 16v/ Got to drive one and it was sweet. My love back then though went to a 1989 Opel Kadett GSi16v w/ 2.0i-16v 150hp engines. That was one bad assed autobahn cruiser back in those days.
I remember this episode from the 80s .Sexy car even today ! As a teen i remember seeing this exact same car in Magazines in 86-87 era. Best looking VW hatch ever arguably
@@ConsciousRobot I think it’s pretty sexy hatch for it’s time, but sometimes when I am lonely I will shave one leg so it feels like I’m sleeping with a woman.
I was thinking do cars even have those anymore? Granted I only driven VW and Audi so been awhile been in other manufacturers. Do you really need a voltage meter anyways? Oil I can understand but I watch my thermostat reading.
@@lm1314 Thermostat doesn't have anything to do with voltage or oil pressure. A voltage meter would give you a heads up on issues with your alternator or electrical system. Why are you only driving crap quality VWs and Audis is the real question? ;)
@@samd1405 well I had my 1996 Jetta GLS for 9 years and 2005 Jetta GLI for 13 years so guess not crap quality for those two. My sister-in-law got rid of her 1995 Honda Accord after 4 years due to issues. I do admit going off my brand by just getting a 1990 BMW 325i convertible manual for summer run around car. I like German cars. I know not always most reliable but like the driving dynamics compared to numb American, Japanese and Korean cars.
They're not that dependable as they used to be my neighbor had a Jetta he hated it and my uncle had a Passat nothing but electrical problems but Volkswagens back in this era like in the 80s 70s and 60s we're way more reliable than today's cars
I had two Sciroccos...The first one was a 1983 eight valve. Bought it used with low mileage. It was the most frustrating car that I had ever owned. Let's list the issues - multiple gearbox rebuilds, sunroof mechanism failure (stuck open), climate control fan resistor failure, air con evaporator failure due to badly routed lines, multiple front wheel bearing failures associated with gearbox rebuilds, and stereo failure all in about two years. It seemed like a black cloud was following me when I owned this car. Finally, one winter afternoon I lost control on an icy road and somehow managed to destroy every panel on the passenger side without doing any damage to a Toyota pickup's rear bumper. Shortly after this unfortunate episode, it was traded for a used 1985 Prelude. The Prelude was brilliant and the black cloud vanished! Fast forward to 1990...Spotted this little red 16V at a VW dealer in Baltimore - it had 9k on the clock and they wanted $9k for it. I talked them into letting me take it home for the night. I was smitten. This car was for my wife and her car was to be traded - a 1985 Fiat/Bertone X19. Remember those? The X19 was a nice car, but not too practical. They gave me $3k as a trade and the deal was done. We kept that car until about 1997 and decided to get a new Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. The Scirocco was sold to a kid for $2500 and he drove it for years - used to see it at the Safeway where he worked...This edition was very reliable, but was worn out when we sold it. The clock stopped working at around 70k and I estimate the car had about 150k on it. Memorable repairs were limited to wheel bearings (of course), timing belts, air con compressor, and hard to access roof-mounted radio antenna. BTW, the 1985 Prelude got rear ended and totaled and I wound up getting a 1988 version.
Yeah, I had the 1987 Karmann version. Red. Bought it used in 1989 for $9k (I think). It had 40,000 miles, so just broken in. It was fast. I had a black nose bra on it, so it was very pretty. I kept it until 2003 when a terrible, wet snowstorm (36 inches) collapses the hatch, the snow melted, soaking everything. Seal on the hatch never recovered, and I gave it away. It had 200,000 miles on it and never gave me any fits.
This was my car! (actually a 1987). Tornado Red. A lot of fun, but ohhhhh, not reliable. Everything broke. The shift rods cracked, door handles pulled out of the doors, sun visors snapped, and finally the worst - a leaking gas tank. Took three trips to the dealer to diagnose the gas smell and had it replaced under warranty. A few years later, after I had gotten rid of it, I got a recall notice from VW saying "some Sciroccos" may have developed a hairline crack in the gas tank. Oh really? It was great to drive, looked beautiful (and still does), but tough to live with.
When you look at the Tv commercials today with all the car companies trying to get you excited about performance variants of their hearse-like bulbous, ugly SUVs, it only makes you long even more for the days when cool cars like the Scirocco and the Audi Quattro ruled the roads.
I enjoy all these Retro Reviews and impatiently wait on the next uploads . I hope you have the 1987 Car Of The Year Thunderbird Turbo-coupe coming soon .
While I really love the original Giuguaro styling of the early Scirocco, this one still looked good and performed well. Fun coupes are in short supply; it's a real pity that we live in a time when me-too S/CUVs are so popular and prices are so high. I wish cars like the Scirocco, Toyota Celica and Honda CRX and Prelude would come back and better still, sell.
I have a 1988 2.2L 16V that is a riot to drive!!! I LOVE it and will never sell it. It handles like nothing else out there! I have beaten an Evolution VIII and a STI both with 400hp around a track and I only had a stock 2.0 16V at the time, with 116hp and 123tq at the wheels!!! I bored out a 2.0 16V to 2.2L, put Weisco Pistons, H-Beam rods, a new crank, and a Euro-Cam in it along with a transmission with shorter gears. Raceland coilovers, and powder coated black six spoke rims top it off. still nees a paint job, but that's coming soon. Anyway, I love these cars and hope they don't dissapear to fast, I don't see them very often anymore...😞
They still build the Scirocco. They just don’t bring it to the states. Look around you, there’s not much clamor for a 2 + 2 anymore and between the GTI and the R I guess VW considers their performance market is covered. But I’d consider one. I’d like to fine one of these or perhaps a Corrado
Beautiful German car ! Why does Motorweek always complain about not having enough instrument cluster read outs, they should go see some American cars from that era, that don’t even have a tachometer.
My brother “handed me down” this same car, color and all when I started college. I remember it had such a hard time starting in the winter and ended up selling it. New owner changed a faulty wire underneath the car and it solved the problem. I ended up getting a 1997 Golf, just wasn’t the same.
I love my Scirocco 16V, bought it from a guy for $4000 who kept it in storage most of it's life, and was setting it up for autocross. This car defiantly turns a lot of heads these days, not many have survived but I'm glad mine did!
My dad got offered $500 trade in price in 2003 for his 91 Jetta coupe diesel. So he asked the dealer if he could use the phone, he called me and asked if I have 500$. I've had it since 2003 and it's not going anywhere. It's on my channel. He keeps his cars in eat off of condition.
I had 2 friends with Sciraccos. One had a first Gen the other had an 84.. I like them both but really wanted a 2nd Gen.. Never got me one, moved on to Beemers..
I love my old early 2000s gtech. I think the new ones got lame , my buddy bought one a few years ago when ended up returning it. Nothing like the original(s) ...I had/have the good one.
I G-teched mine also and consistently got 8 seconds flat. Car and Drivers' official road test got a time of 8 flat also, and 15.9 second quarter mile, but some were a little faster than others. Motorweeks' times are usually slower than Car and Drivers times.
+EgoShredder Especially the rear one. It looks like a set of clown shoes. The first thing I did with mine was find a set of Euro bumpers. They look so much better.
That's the poor engineering of VW to get around the mandated 5 mph bumpers. They could have done anything else, but they chose to go the cheap route of bulky bumpers.
Noseefood :Giugaro designed (what became the Izuzu Impulse) for VW but VW didnt like it and designed their own in-house Scirocco...so Izuzu bought the design and called it the Impulse.
Here's mine: www.cardomain.com/ride/4013359/1987-volkswagen-scirocco/ Still doing my restoration. With coil overs, sway bars, upper/lower strut bracing, good tires, hardly any body roll so it runs on rails! From another 16v I used to have, until a semi smashed it flat, I have a 2.0l which will be bored out to 2.1l, forged pistons and blueprinted. The 2.0l already has a nice Autotec cam but currently on stock cam springs which are ok but matching cam springs will have better results. Pulls much faster and better top end HP than the stock 16v motor. The ignition system will be upgraded to a stock VW Digi II system. Some people prefer some aftermarket or Megasquirt, but the Digi II's work flawlessly and very well for street application if one knows how to tune them. I am leaving most of the car American looking since they're harder to find now. (Maybe I'll get another one down the road and Euro that one.) I have German headlights and clear turns to put on. Changed the front grill from stock to Kamei. Will add a gauge pod along the A frame for vacuum and oil pressure. Loose shifter is tightened with good bushings and short shift kit. This is my fun GT cruiser.
Lucky you! Although I'd probably prefer Black or Flash Silver. Mine was Red and the sun was really hard on it. Funny (sad, not ha ha) about your other one getting squashed by a semi. I was towing my beloved '84 cross country when it had the same thing happen to it, at a rest stop in NM. It's name was actually RENNPANZER - one of the worst days of my life. L-O-V-E these cars! Best wishes on your resto and may the years that follow be gentle to it.
Ah yeah, the first appearance of the Fuba roof antenna as an OEM part (at least in the US). Recall reading that VW claimed the usual location on the driver side fender had interference from the alternator.
Woooooow faster then a Porsche 0-60 for way less then half price…pathetic for Porsche, beautiful for scirocco…too bad vw make garbage cars now and way overpriced….good old days.
Wrong. Volkswagen still makes great cars . I've had a 79 scirocco, girlfriend had an 81 cabrio rabbit, then we got a 96 Jetta, then 2007 Passat wagon 2.0 ( a rocket) now I have a 2016 Jetta 1.4 5 spd 80,000 miles Rock solid dependability . Next up , either a Jetta Sport or GLI. All have been great cars . And the new Jetta Sport and GLI get great reviews .
Loved this car...a high school buddy had the GTI 16v back in ‘87... the whole trunk was fitted with two 12” CerwinVega woofers... Could hear him a mile away. He used always redline it...
That instrument panel is *exactly* the same one that was in my Mom’s ‘85 Jetta. I just wish that Jetta had had this 16-valve engine - it needed more power, although it was certainly a decent car for the time.
I would prefer a 1st gen car with single windshield wiper, but this was a pretty car! And how about a review of that Sterling 825 in the background @2:26, please. =)
Yeah, I love the 80's Group B Rally Audi quattro coupe rally car. And you're right the Scirocco 16V does look like it's bigger sister the Audi quattro coupe. VAG ( Volkswagen Audi Group ) they are sister companies😂
Points for deliberately avoiding the obvious cliche at the very end! My older brother had one of these cars, and it was really sharp looking. It still looks to me like kin to the Delorean, which it should given its Giugiaro design lineage. The one thing I do remember about my brother's Sciracco was the horizontal dashboard plastic under the windshield was horribly affected by too many summers out in the baking sun. This was why those windshield sunblockers became so popular for a decade or so.
VW's of the era had a very unmistakable German design. They would never be mistaken for coming from anywhere else. Not true anymore, unfortunately. Some VW vehicles look as if they could have come off the boat from Japan or Korea.
My buddy in high school had a red one exactly just like this one. The hand rolled sunroof had me laughing so hard though when he's trying to drive and act cool while opening the sunroof while I just opened my power sunroof on my Toyota Celica GT-S.
I don't see what's wrong with that gauge cluster, the speedo and tach look easy to read, classic black with white font. If he wants to bitch, go look at what GM was doing with gauge clusters in 1986, especially Cadillac. Speedo and fuel gauge, that's all you got no matter the model, the regular cluster looks like it came from 1966, the digital cluster looks like your microwave clock, utter crap.
@@marcusjosefsson4998 Yeah, correct. The Euro spec Scirocco 16V had more hp & torque and didn't have the outrageous super huge park bench bumpers, like the U.S spec Scirocco 16V.
What an utter trivial review. What is this BS about the gauges? Utterly pathetic negative point to lead with. I owned a GTX for several years, and the clarity of the main instruments was a major plus.
I test drove a new one in '86 and still remember how fast it was. I had to pass on it though because of the lack of legroom up front for anyone over 6 feet. I couldn't put the seat back far enough to extend my legs. Probably a good thing since the reliability from what I've heard was the shits.
