Volkswagen used to name their cars after winds. Today, Nice Price or Crack Pipe has a 16V Scirocco, and it's up to you to see if it blows.
Yumpin' yiminy! An Ikea-filling 94% of you found the price on yesterday's Saab 96 to be nice, despite it's not being on its roof, nor filled with Lingonberry pies. That Swede steed proved almost as popular as the eponymous bikini team from the land of the midnight sun, and showed that while Saab may currently be on death-watch, at one time they were the life of the party. An Ill wind is blowing for Saab today, and some of the blame for that goes to competition from such 800-lb gorillas of the European car market as Volkswagen. Despite Sweden's position of neutrality before and during WWII, German troops freely crossed the country's borders during the conflict. Similarly, VW has walked all over the Born of Jets car maker in sales, especially here in the States.
Part of Volkswagen's success can be tied to platform farming. Wolfsburg is adroit at taking the most expensive parts of a car- the drivetrain and chassis - and wrapping them in different coats that each have a distinct personality. One of the early examples of this - from the mid-‘70s - was the Golf-based Scirocco. Named for a Mediterranean wind, and designed by an Italian, the Scirocco was an instant hit. It maintained the pissing dog cornering stance of the Golf, but looked a lot more stylish when doing so.
By the time the Mk2 Scirocco hit the streets, the edgy Guigaro styling had been replaced by an internal design that didn't pack quite as much of a visual punch. But a real punch was coming in the form of a 16-valve head for the tried and true 1.8-litre inline four. While pretty much every four-banger built today rocks two cams, sixteen valves, and an attitude, that was the exception, rather than the rule back when Wang Chung seemed equally fresh. The 16V engine was able to motivate the 2,285-lb Scirocco to sixty in about eight seconds, less than a second off of the time of a contemporary 325i. The 16V was the first of Scirocco to get discs on each corner making stopping as confidence-inspiring as going.
This '86 Scirocco sports the 123-bhp engine, and the uniquely-identifying original body kit. What it doesn't have are the botox bumpers or sealed beam headlamps that originally blighted the U.S. editions, and the look is improved with the changes. Inside, the standard plaid Recaros have been replaced by a pair that are even more bolsterous, and a fat Momo wheel greets your entry. In addition to these changes, the seller provides a greedy child's Christmas list of replaced or upgraded parts, many of which you might expect in a 23 year old car rocking 150K on its clock. A few things that haven't held up so well are the sunroof and the weatherstriping, but other than that, the car looks pretty clean.
That fact, and the claim that the seller is a VW Tech puts this into the consideration set. But that price may just blow it out of there. The seller is asking $4,000 for the car, and while that's not a lot of cheddar, there's still the question of whether this, or any 16V Scirocco, is worth that.
So, what do you think? Does $4,000 for this '86 sixteener raise your sails? Or, all things considered, does that price blow?
You decide!
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