Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Curbside Classic, Racer and New Republic.
VW Scirocco Mk1 – Irreplicable, Although VW Keeps Trying — Curbside Classic
Scirocco: Awesome since 1974.
Volkswagen has endlessly tried (and still is) to replicate the brilliant success of the gen1 Scirocco. Ironic too, since they can't really take full credit for its existence. Success has many fathers, but VW's paternity is limited to lending its new Golf's genes; a sperm donor of sorts. It took a bit more to actually develop and put the Scirocco into production, some major risk taking on the part of its progenitors. The result was well worth it.
IndyCar: Bourdais bringing new attitude to KV — Racer
IndyCar news and notes that matter.
Every racing driver has a reputation of some sorts – the diva, the motivator, the whiner (or worse). And while those tags aren't always fair or accurate, they're hard to shed once they've made the rounds in the paddock.
The Loneliness of Vladimir Putin — New Republic
Interesting.
On December 19, Maria Baronova met me on the steps of the Nikulinsky courthouse, a squat Soviet-era building lost in a construction zone somewhere in Moscow's eternal sprawl. Against the once-white building and dull pewter sky, Baronova was the sole splash of color, her puffy magenta jacket open to the cold afternoon.