Tony Bastable takes a look at the new sports Volkswagen Sirocco at Kempton Park. First shown: 09/10/1974 If you would like to license a clip from this video please e mail: archive@fremantle.com Quote: VT9860
Every automaker wants their cars to get a 4 or 5 star crash test rating. To do that, they've decreased the amount of glass and added more metal; sometimes up to your eyeballs. On some cars visibility is really bad--like peeking out of a tank. Instead of seeing things, now we get cameras to see for us! I don't like it.
@@mosesberkowitz3298 I hadnt thought of the crash test rating, i just thought it was fashion idiom. Good post, i dont like it either. I close relative turned up in astra hire car and I really dont know how she could see out of the damn thing.
@@davidmg1925 Roll over due to not seeing the obstruction due to thick pillars or crash anyway and be crushed by the roof collapsing. We'd better take the thick pillars....
Which continued into the mid-80s. The sealing strip around the perimeter of the trunk opening in my '86 Mk1 Cabriolet has done the same for years. Always meant to tack it down, but the car's now been off the road for as long as it was on it. Even so, I was really torn between the second-hand Cabriolet that I got, and the Scirocco (especially the later 16v variant) that I coveted nearly as much.
Rubber seal? Now its a list of too complicated shite thats constantly breaking down in cars . I prefer those old ones. Those cars VW Golfs same models are still running in Africa all over!
I often wish the 2010s Scirocco harked back to the original, a retro design, much like the yank makers have done in the last 10 or so years with the Mustang, Challenger and Camaro. Instead the Scirocco we did get to my eyes looks like a bloated, lowered golf with some boy racer tat thrown on.
@@rogercliftonville-acton1574 What can you expect from VW these days?! They haven't come up with an interesting car design since the 90´s Corrado... for the past 20 yrs VW cars have been crap.
@@Thecrazyvaclav By 1974 some Datsuns, Alfas etc had overhead cam engines with twin carbs, 5 speed gearboxes, independent suspension, quite ahead of their time in those days.
@@Thecrazyvaclav Yes with superb leaf spring suspension (Two of my friends had early Escorts - one lost control round a corner and crashed into a tree - the other rolled his on a downhill access road to a 3 lane A road - don't ask me how). Both survived thankfully with only cuts and bruises.
With the Scirocco no longer in production, it's so refreshing to see a review on the first model that started it all. Wow! What a cool vid. 👍🏼 #Nostalgic #Throwback #VDub
I remember my brother having a metallic green one. He used to hide the keys from me so I couldn't play in it. I soon found out that my dad's MK3 Cortina keys would unlock it, so still got to play in it without my brother knowing. Ha !
Actually it was designed like that like early golfs. The idea was the inside rear lifting would balance the under steer of the front wheel drive. Sounds shocking idea nowadays mind lol
Nice. Always liked the Scirocco shape. Equipped for computer diagnosis. This is the beginning of the rot setting in. Cool flares bro. Really go with the interior
A friend of mine had it and it was a blast to drive. His was silver. The hatchback was a nightmare to open. The stereo could be left on without the key in the ignition, yes, the battery died often if you turned the volume down and did not check turn off the power on it. It had a water leak which I think shorted something and it started the car on its own ( I don’t recall, exactly what it affected).
I would want a car looking a lot like this but with the 2018 technology, like what the US did with the mustang and challenger. I am totally in love with that design (the actual modern scirroco produced by VW is just boring).
Agreed.The modern Scirroco is clautrophobic inside, but looks dreadful from the rear - like a clumsy overweight modern beetle. The Mk1 was sharp looking for a very long time. Well until they rusted anyway. (No wheel arch guards in those days didnt help)
Always Loved The Styling Of The Mk1 Scirocco. Nothing To Beat It. True The Body Roll And Handling Leaved A Lot To Be Desired.! But Still Love It. The Rounding Edges Of The Mk 2 Lost Those Beautifully Aggressive Lines.
Yes for sure good ol' Police 5,,,keep emailing peeled,,,I met him at Brands Hatch at the Brut 33 stand,,saw Henry Cooper but the one I wanted to see was Barry Sheene but he was elsewhere,,,,they were great days,,,nice to watch on here and re live,,,,,Have a great week,,,
'Foreign Cars....' laments Bastable. The part where he said 'Built by people who don't speak English, are efficient and don't go on strike' was probably edited out.
@@fradaja You are rewriting history. Thatcher didn't come to power until 1979, when BL was beyond help. She wasn't going to waste tax payers money on a poor management, coupled with a self entitled and complacent work force. She did the only sane thing - got rid of it.
Very good and very succinct review. Praise for the dynamics, but no let up on the ergo problems. An example for today's reviewers - especially for some of the rambling and often biased youtubers of today. I think by the end of its life the mk1 Scirocco was extremely competent - LJKS used to rave about it.
That was an easy engine to work on. Unfortunately, they took a lot of working. At least mine did. But it was real easy to get the cylinder head off (it didn't weigh anything) and it wasn't too hard to change the transmission. But man, why was I taking the head off and changing transmissions? I haven't laid a hand on my Lexus in 15 years.
Steve Barclay I wasn’t a huge fan of the Capris either, they were a safe bet in terms of cost of parts and service compared to the scirocco, Alfa sprints and Lancia Betas which I lusted after, although the latter two weren’t exactly well built.
I had a 1988 Scirocco Scala. Nice looking silver car but it had a huge rear spoiler. It was front wheel drive of course so from 75 mph the front wheels got increasingly light - terrifying! Bewildering why VW did that.
The Scirocco made a huge impact in the US leading to a whole new category. Quite a huge jump from the Karmann Ghia which is still cool in its own right.
those old vw were nimble and fun to drive, the opel manta gt was fun too but heavier. i also tested the capri but was a slow 1.6. with those skinny tires and long travel suspensions you could drive even at normal speeds, and were amazing on gravel roads. modern small cars have much bigger tires and hard handling.
With FHA and HSTB regulations, a pocket rocket so sublimely designed as this Scirocco MK1 was back in the 70s is near impossible today. Back then it was a fly's weight and today would be almost 1.75 American tons. Too bad they can't do something like this today. Even with the basics of today (power windows, ABS, power steering and dare I say, a manual transmission) the car could still be affordable and fun to drive.
Nowadays, presenters have their heads up the bottoms of German car firms. Forty years ago, they were rude..... ironic when the competition to the first Scirocco was pretty bad. By comparison that first Scirocco was magic.
Makes me smile, by BL... Marina 1.8 TC Coupe perhaps? Great when your going straight but real 'brown trouser' motoring when the Twisties arrive. Yeah, the Sirocco was pretty modern by the standards of '74.
Man, something was wrong with that car. It was the first year, so things like that weatherseal coming off of the hatch is understandable. The crowded pedals was a right hand drive artifact. My US car had the pedal assembly on the other side and I never had any of the crowding problems this gentleman had. Also, I had cool black caps on the wheel lugs. And a brown leather knob on the shifter. I do remember that the shifter had a great deal of "variability", so mistaking first and third gear happened until the driver had a week or so of experience. Really fun car. I traded my 75 in for an 85 and enjoyed that car too.
2:26 The presenter misses an oil pressure gauge. Well, this is a German car, not your typical English PoS where you have to keep one eye on that gauge constantly. Instead a clock, because German 😄
I thought that these early Sciroccos had a large single wiper for some reason. Very attractive car though. I love that seat trim. As VW were always a bit mean on equipment levels it probably lend itself to being a great classic car choice alongside the Golf GTi.
I had one, the quality inside was so much better than a ford for example. It felt classy and very nippy as only 800kg. Styling much better than the mk2.
What did they use diagnostic tool to in a car from 1974? everything is super easy the only thing i can think they use it for must be fuel injection but it looks like its a carburetor
4 years left till the end of production for the 128 3P (Berlinetta) and Scirocco would keep on till the 80's! Italians would have the Alfa Romeo Alfasud Coupe Sprint as competition to the VW.
Just like the early Golf's they ironed out the early design faults by 1978 and by then it was a much more sophisticated vehicle. 74 was first out of the box year.
Designfehler? die '74er sind optisch am schönsten, später hatte es viel zu viel Kunststoff und auch die großen Blinker ab '77 sahen absolut scheiße aus.
Well, you've got to remember that inertia reel seat belts were themselves a new and novel thing in 1974, so there was some experimentation on the latching mechanisms going on across the industry.
My June 77 Audi 100 has those exact seat belts. No belts in the rear. Been in storage for 30 years. I actually prefer that design. I do hope they have a Audi 100 test in the Thames archive.
I used to have an 88 Toyota Celica, same basic type of car. Though it was better than the original Scirocco in so many ways, I have always wanted one of those first generation Sciroccos. Their styling has always looked so crisp and pretty, and if it's a bit slow by modern standards, pedestrians would have more time to admire its looks. But mine would be black, blue or whatever dark green VW was offering, and no yellow plaid!
Probably seemed innovative at the time. The fact that a car was rwd mightent necessarily have been a selling point. as it was seen as standard of cars at the time.
I had a gold 76. Just a ts I think it was but it flew. Felt much faster I'm than 85 bhp. Was very nice inside real quality. In the end rusted to death though. The styling was far better than the MK2. I would have it now had an oil pressure gauge too by the gear lever.
With anorak firmly donned, the spongy brake pedal was pronounced on right hand drive cars. Rather than move the master cylinder and servo, VW just fitted a long bar across the car joined to the pedal. A torsion bar, insufficiently stuff, that added literal springiness to the brakes. Mk 1 Golfs were similarly afflicted.
My friend had one he wrote it off when he landed upside down in a field after losing control on a bad bend he was racing a rover 3.5 at the time lucky for him he and his two friends got out ok vw strength