I’ve been known to mispronounce my share of words over the years, especially when it comes to cars. I much prefer proper nouns as automotive model names – whether real, foreign, coined, whatever – over alphanumeric nomenclature that seems to be popular among European and Asian makes. Give me some time for trial and error, and I will eventually get it right. The Pontiac Parisienne is one such example. When the “Pontiac Impala” was introduced to the U.S. market from Canada, I was a young elementary school student at a time when foreign language studies weren’t part of the normal curriculum for kids that age.
Also around that time, I was pretty sure the slick, beautiful French coupe called a Fuego (which I could easily pronounce) came from a company called “Ruh-NAWLT”. It probably wasn’t until my family had purchased an ’85 Renault Encore hatchback that I started to say the name of its marque correctly, even if my back-of-the-throat French “R” could still use some work to this day.
There are more examples, but the model I’m writing about today is one I had thought for sure I had nailed in the pronunciation department… until very recently. I want to be clear that I am a fan of the Volkswagen Scirocco, especially the first generation cars (model years 1975 – ’81 in the U.S.) that predated our featured car. In an excellent QOTD feature by Jim Brophy, he had asked for examples of cars we had hated when we were younger but had later grown to appreciate.
I can’t say that I ever hated any Scirocco, but when I was a kid, the first one looked, to me at that time, simply like a slightly fancier and meaner Rabbit hatchback. Superficial aesthetic details like the arrangement of the tri-color taillamps, the linear styling, the flat, blunt front panel, and the central, round “VW” badge in the center of the grille seemed to share so much family DNA that I couldn’t see these sporty coupes were special. Time has given me a real appreciation for the fine looks of the original, though version 2.0 has also grown on me, even if a little less so.
Getting back to the name, I had grown up pronouncing it “Sher-ROC-ko”. I pronounced it that way for years. At some point, though – it might have been in college – I had heard it called a “Sir-ROH-co”. I’ll admit that sometimes when I have heard something pronounced differently than the way I’m accustomed to by someone who looks or sounds like they know what they’re talking about, and depending on the circumstance or thing, I have started using their pronunciation out of fear of sounding stupid. So, maybe twenty years ago or so, “Sir-ROH-co” stuck and I’ve been pronouncing the model name of this Vee-Dub that way ever since. This was originally going to be the initial premise of this piece: a humorously self-deprecating essay that outlined how it had taken me a long time, but I finally saw the light and started calling this sporty Volkswagen by its correct name. However…
Doing a little internet research on the Tube of You, I’ve discovered that not only are “Sher-ROC-ko” and “Sir-ROH-co” acceptable English pronunciations, there’s also “Sir Rocco” (and I’m sure maybe even a couple more). I’m just going to throw this out there (and Jim Klein, I looking at you, as I think of you as one of Curbside’s main VW aficionados, with the receipts here, here and here): What pronunciation did Volkswagen intend for this model in North America? This burning question may be answered only one or two comments in from the readership, but I’m also curious to know how others have pronounced “Scirocco”. As for me, I’m sticking with my original pronunciation, so “Sher-ROC-ko” it is. For now.
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, February 24, 2013.
I have always pronounced it as ‘Sher-ROC-ko’. That is what I had always heard when I was younger. I have not heard anything about the car in years now until this article.
I always heard it pronounced, “Sure-Rock-o”, in ads, and by a guy I knew who owned one. The accent was placed on the second syllable, for emphasis. That’s how I always called them myself.
everybody says the malaise period for cars was the 70’s… i don’t think it was. i think it was the 80’s. the scirocco in the 80’s on the other hand…. what a beauty of it’s time. i under appreciated it back then. and the renault le car of the 80’s in north america…. again…. different… if not polarizing. in a time when all cars began to look the same designed by committee.. there were a few jewels that stood out.
Isn’t it like scissors?
There were television commercials for the car. Anyone care to search YouTube to get Volkswagen’s “official” take on it?
Two commercials are embedded in the text. 🙂
1. I think your original pronunciation is correct. Maybe there are other technically correct ways to say it, but frankly I think anyone trying to “fancy it up” is just being haughty.
2. A first generation Scirocco is on my personal short list of ones-that-got-away. Not because I ever intended to buy one when I probably could have, but because I too was woefully ignorant of their charms besides the obvious good looks. When I was focused on the 80’s whiz-bangery of turbocharging and digital bling I should have been open to the simple goodness of the Scirocco. By the time I realized I really wanted one they were all used up.
Interesting — I never thought about the pronunciation of this. I’ve always pronounced it like you did (“Sher-ROC-ko”), and I’m sure I pronounced it that way because my father did… and Dad seemed like an authority on this, since he was one of the very few who bought a first-year (1975) Scirocco.
On of the cars I bungled the most in pronunciation was Mazda’s Protégé — I’d never heard that word before (or at least had never seen it spelled), so I assumed it was the Mazda “Pro-teeg.” Oops.
More recently, I pronounced Scion as “Skion” — and when someone pointed that out, I became aware that I pronounced most words that started with Sc- as Sk- instead (like Scimitar, not that I refer to scimitars often in casual conversation…). Well, I guess Sc- words except for Scirocco… language sure is complicated, isn’t it.
Sher-ROC-co is how I always knew it.
But at one time, Re-NAWLT WAS correct in the U.S. It was only in the ’70s and ’80s that Renault began using their French pronunciation “Re-NO” here.
Watch at about the 2 minute mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGzXAAR8iZA
And they weren’t the only ones.
Bombardier was “Bom-bar-DEER” back then, today they use the French “Bom-BARD-ee-ay.”
Speaking of Bombardier, they had skehdoo and skee-doo.
Well, “correct in the U.S.” says it all. Virtually everything is pronounced incorrectly there. E.G. MARS-duh instead of MAZZDUH, KNEES-AHN instead of NISS-ANN, Davies pronounced DAVE-EES when it is actually DAVE-ISS, and a thousand other examples.
Happy Tuesday, and SMILE!
My first gen Sure-awk-oh was the most troublesome car I’ve ever owned. It replaced my Vega as daily driver backup for my Showroom Stock racer Fiesta. The Vega was more reliable. And equally attractive, but the VW was a treat to drive.
Haha – it is Sher-Roc-co like you had it initially. Or at least that’s the only way I am familiar with. It’s named after a wind. Just like Golf (Golf Strom – Gulf Stream) and Passat.
Very nice find, these 2nd gens are pretty much extinct. Back in the day the 16V was the one to have, and for a while even the Kamei bespoilered ones were pretty popular in the San Fernando Valley, they looked dismayingly like a Space Shuttle with more plastic add-ons than the entire Fast and Furious Franchise…
“It’s named after a wind. Just like Golf (Golf Strom – Gulf Stream) and Passat.”
So, when I overtake one of these on the highway, I’m . . . passing wind? Good to know. 🙂
And don’t forget Jetta (Jetta Strom – Jet Stream) and Bora.
The alternate spelling is Sirocco, and was even the title of a Bogart movie from 1951.
That being said, although I was always of the platform sharing with the Rabbit, the automotive press was universally enamored with the Scirocco and much based on how good the Rabbit was in comparison to virtually every other small car sold in America….I was one of those who loved it to. A senior in college I scraped everything I had and bought a brand new 1980 Scirocco…white with red leatherette. Loved that car. Traded it for an 86 GTI. The GTI was superior in power and handling, but the Scirocco till this day is one of the most handsome cars ever produced….So much so I purchased an 81 Scirocco S, the last year of the MK I and restored it.
Wow, nice looking car! And I’ll bet it is the only one at car shows!
+2 – Yours is a really fantastic looking example. The silver color really showcases the rightness of its lines.
Very nice, I test drove an ’81 Scirocco S while I had my ’86 GTi (probably in the late 80’s). Right before the GTi, I had a ’78 Scirocco (bought in 1981 in fact, couldn’t afford a new one) which is sentimentally my favorite car I’ve ever owned. The S had a black dash, where as my ’78 Champagne Edition had the woodgrain dash. My ’78 wasn’t trouble free, had issues with the brakes, and the 5th injector, but I was so much in love with it that I didn’t mind. It was bought in the northeast so it did have some rust issues which I had addressed when I moved to Central Texas; however it also lacked air conditioning, and though I drove it for 4 years in central Texas without A/C back before my city got really crowded, I was ready for the A/C in my ’86 GTi.
About the ’82, I went down to the convention center in Boston when these came out and saw one on the display platform….though I owned a A2 GTi, I prefer the looks of the A1 Scirocco to the A2…yours is dazzling. Though I’m kind of glad these are scarce now, since I’m a bit older and the Scirocco is better for scramblers younger than I am now…My sister has a ’97 240SX, and it is similarly low to get in and out of (though I don’t need to do it often).
As far as pronouncing Renault, my dear departed Father bought a new ’68 R10 from Almartin motors in South Burlington when we lived in Vermont, but he was one for different cars (though he owned a Beetle right before the R10), so we were familiar with them. I think he chose the Renault partly because he was making business trips to Corbeil-Essonnes just south of Paris around that time, he was enamored with France. Of course, the closest province in Canada to us was French-speaking Quebec, so that also didn’t hurt…Montreal was the closest big city only about 1.5 hours away (NYC was about 5-6 hours and Boston 4 hours away). Still, Renaults were not common even there…kind of like A1 Sciroccos are now.
I’ve usually pronounced it sir-ROCK-oh but may have thrown in Sure-ROCK-oh a few times. I’ve heard Sker-ROCK-oh too. This all reminds me of how VW for a brief time in the ’90s or ’00s tried to get Americans to pronounce “Volkswagen” the German way – Volksvoggen, which didn’t last long. Likewise, Subaru when they first exported to the US tried to get us to pronounce it the Japanese way – SuBARoo., and Hyundai tried to get Canadians to pronounce it sort of like how Koreans do – HOONday. If the manufacturers can’t decide on how to pronounce their own names, why should I feel compelled to get it right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLPp-NFInXw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMZGPnFTuI0
I’m also amused by the 1970s Scirocco commercial telling us how “with front wheel drive that handles like nothing you’ve ever driven before!” Yes kids, there was a time when FWD was a bragging point because it meant better handling! Until most cars became FWD at which point RWD became a bragging point because it meant better handling. It’s like how in the late ’80s and ’90s we all bought CD versions of our favorite records because they sound better, until CDs became ubiquitous after which people started paying big money to buy their favorite albums on vinyl because as any audiophile can tell you, it sounds better…
“It’s like how in the late ’80s and ’90s we all bought CD versions of our favorite records because they sound better, until CDs became ubiquitous after which people started paying big money to buy their favorite albums on vinyl because as any audiophile can tell you, it sounds better…”
The thing about CDs was but the ability for playback with greater fidelity. No hiss, no popping, just crystal clear versions of the recording. I still remember the first CD playback I ever heard. A friend got the new technology, and at his home had a killer (and hugely expensive) setup, and he played the Hanna-Barbera Orchestra CD of cartoon themes. Specifically, the Jetson’s theme. And it was like you were transported to the time of the Jetsons when you heard symphony quality sound playing what had only been on your TV or radio.
Now, people add popping and hissing on digital recordings to make it sound “warmer”, whatever that means. As a trained musician, I don’t get how adding flaws makes the end result “better”, any more than missing a note would make the recording “better”. But to each their own, and more power to them.
I recall reading that digital recording was supposed to do a better job than analog at capturing the high and low tones, giving a more faithful recreation of what was actually being played. I wonder if the passage of time resulted in too much laziness in the recording studio which resulted in “less dense” recordings.
And of course everyone flocking to vinyl now has grown up listening to terribly “lossy” formats through iPods and such, which sound OK but which are awful when played on a real system.
A new or pristine LP played on a really good quality system sounds great, but I’ve never been able to tell that it sounds better than a CD played on the same system. And I’m a guy who owns records. I always bought records rather than tapes in the 80’s and I kept them. I still sometimes buy used records of older music, but new ones are too expensive and I don’t hear the benefit over CD’s. I still buy CD’s, because their quality is consistently good, unlike some music files and I like getting something physical with pictures and writing for my money.
Jon, 100% this. I still buy CDs because of the sound quality + I need a physical, tangible product in my hands, complete with liner notes, credits and photography. I also frame some of my LPs in my front landing for aesthetic effect. I purchase a download for a song only when I can’t find an album or compilation for which I can justify that entire purchase.
“ I’ve heard Sker-ROCK-oh too ”
This is how I’ve understood to pronounce it. I guess it depends really, because the Italians spell it the same as VW, but pronounce it more like she-rock-oh (English spelling is sirocco).
Speaking of the advantages of FWD. In the 1970s the buff books repeatedly castigated the “Big Three” in all their road tests because of their old fashioned RWD vehicles. As soon as FWD became ubiquitous on American vehicles the buff books began deriding the “Big Three” for their “econo box” type FWD platforms. Why can’t they produce a world class RWD platform? You just can’t win with the magazines.
While a student at Purdue in the spring of 1984, a suite mate, Tom, in the dorm came back from spring break with a brand new one that his dad bought for him. Tom let us each take a turn driving it around the block around the dorm. My room mate was about 6’7″. We were hysterical when he got in and could only fit behind the wheel if he stuck his head out the sunroof to drive. So there he went driving around the block with his head sticking out the sunroof. A sight to see for sure.
It IS Sher-roc-o, just like the wind for which it was named
Suzuki Kizashi
This is somewhat off topic but what the heck. pronunciation can be very difficult but so can grammar.
here are a few examples that are certain to confound someone trying to learn English:
“I’m an admirer of Herbert Read. Have you ever read Read?”
I did not object to the object.
I tried to polish the Polish furniture.
The farm was being used to produce produce.
I was too close to the door to close it.
If there were 10 people in the room but three people left, how many people are left?
How to pronounce Scirocco? Why, just head right over here, scroll down a bit, turn up the sound, and start clickin’!
(Having read this post, I might start saying “SKERR-uh-co” just to curdle VW enthusiasts.)
I have always loved the other “jiggy VW’s” Karma Ghia, Corrado, and especially the baby Pheaton- the CC Passat ( Comfort Coupe??? Classic Coupe???) They are cheap now and have 6 speed manuals.. Wonder what’s next for them., maybe an industrial style electric SUV/ Pickup?
+1 for the CD discussion. It’s sad to me how people are satisfied just streaming to little mono Blu-teeth speakers. My best friend ignores his built in Polks, always using his little rechargeable speakers. I can clearly recall hearing Billy Jean played on CD through my neighbors Cerwin Vegas for the first time.
Count me as another in the sher Rock co camp. And yes, your others hit a nerve – I learned ReNawlt from my mother. Of course, she always said Pawntiac too.
I remember a 1973 trip to Canada, where I first saw that Pontiac-like car called the Para-Seeen.
As for the car, I really wanted to hop into a Scirocco when I was looking in 1985. I have forgotten the exact figure, but it was a LOT more expensive than the GTI I actually bought. I never quite figured out why, though.
I wanted a Mk.1 Scirocco so badly, but by the time I finished college and was working and able to buy a hobby car, they’d become scarce and were money-pit beaters unless you lucked out. That’s one that got away.
I’ve always said SU-bah-ru. Then I saw a vintage US commercial on YouTube, and started watching Mighty Car Mods. Seems everyone but modern US English speakers says su-BAH-ru.
Ha. By brother in law used to call it a Sah-Bah-Ruh. And he had on too!
How about “Saabaru”?
Yes!! “The little Su-BAR-u… Wow!”
I don’t agree. Head over here, click, and listen; it seems most English speakers round the world stick pretty close to “SOO-buh-roo”. Paul Hogan said “sue-baROO” in the ’90s ads he did, but that pronunciation isn’t represented at the site; perhaps it was idiosyncratic. Japanese don’t seem to stress any syllable; their pronunciation sounds to me like all three syllables get the same emphasis: soo-bah-doo; the “d” here because they pronounce an R between vowels with what linguists, speech pathologists, and phonemologists call a “flap” of the tongue, same as most North American English speakers use for a D between vowels—string multiple flaps together and you have what they call a “trill”, which most of the rest of us would refer to as “rolling the R” as in Mexican Spanish.
The Italians seem to come closest to “soo-BAR-oo”.
(That vintage suh-BARR-oo commercial doesn’t count toward correctness any more than the old Ruh-NAWLT ads do, in my view.)
It’s interesting how everyone here is debating how to pronounce Scirocco….but there’s not one comment about the pronounciation of Volkswagen (“Folksvagen”). Then again, it’s so much easier to learn to pronounce when your native language has mainly one sound for each letter of the alphabet. Oh, and, at least in Spanish, it sounds as “Siroco”
One of my mother’s fair number of mildly amusing linguistic affectations is that she says “FOKESvoggen”, even though she is a native speaker of American English.
The word is Italian. “i” in Italian sounds like an American “e” and any double letter is the accent. So it would be pronounced :
Sce-roKK-o
Great to see your writing again Joseph! While I loved the design of the original Scirocco, I felt VW did a very nice job with this styling refresh.
I thought you might enjoy this Thames TV road test of the first year Scirocco from 1974. I rather like the yellow plaid interior. While the seat belt design is quite clever. Very modern styling for 1974.
That upholstery’s making my eyes burn!
It was a prelude of popular fashion. 🙂
Daniel, thank you for posting this review! I have several thoughts:
– The presenters pronunciation of “Passat”;
– Seat belt operation! Wow;
– He didn’t seem to terribly impressed with the ergonomics of the Scirocco.
It really is a fantastic looking little coupe. Watching it in motion, I was asking myself that if I was in the market for (and could afford) a small, sporty coupe like this, if I would have gone for the Scirocco or a Ford Capri II. I find both cars really attractive, but in completely different ways.
They stole that seatbelt design from Saab which used it on the 99. I had no recollection of VW ever using it though.
In 1987 when I bought my first new car, I was looking at everything. Hondas – except I wasn’t willing to pay the dealer markup. Isusu Impulse – liked the idea of “tuned by Lotus”, or even the Trooper, but the dealer was far away. Test drove anGTI and liked it a lot, but then saw a leftover Scirocco – black with black leather – for about the same price. The salesman saw my interest and really pushed me to be decisive, to the point I was so insulted I never came back, and ended up with a Mustang 2.3. Wasn’t a bad decision , as the Mustang was very reliable, though obviously not as fun.
I owned an ’87 16v. It is ‘Sher-ROC-ko’ – no question.
Brand new. Tornado Red. Beautiful, beautiful car. Very fun to drive. Absolutely miserable reliability. Everything broke: the trim, the shift rod, the wipers, the gas tank (major leak). I hope to write a COAL about it eventually, because there were some painfully humorous moments, especially when I wrote a letter to VW…
I do hope you kept a copy and will be able and willing to show us!
I have the letter!
Sher-ROC-ko, I had two in college, a rusty 78 special edition (white with black stripes, an air dam and Recaro like seats to commemorate an SCCA championship) and an 81 S with the engine and leather seats from an 87 16V. both were sharp looking and fun to drive but the 78 had terminal rust and the 81 was a work in progress so the summer of 90 I sold the 16V and bought a bone stock 84 Jetta.
Visually my favorite is the 78-81 with wraparound turn signals, the original square front looks awkward to me. The second generation looks like a less sharply styled Isuzu Piazza/Impulse although it did get the 16V engine.
This article made me think of a life long debate. How would Walter P. have wanted it pronounced:
CHRYSS-ler
or
CHRYZZ-ler
I have heard it said both ways, but predominantly in the former, in the use of the “S” sound, not the “ZED” sound.
Americans mostly say “KREISS-ler” and Canadians mostly say “CRY-zler”. That’s not the only such split, either; Americans say “MOZZ-duh” and Canadians say “MAZZ-duh”.
“Passat” is a polite way to describe flatulance.
I make a point of deliberately mis-pronouncing Re-Nault ever since my boss made me work on his brother-in-law’s Le Shitbox. Repeatedly. Three-lug wheels. Junkjunkjunk.
Dear Old Dad–who was of strong German ancestry–always called the company “Folksvaagen”. But then he called the Swedish car company “Vulva”; so I didn’t pay too much attention to his pronunciations.
Though you raise a point I’ve never seen properly addressed or resolved: is it “VAWL-vo”, or “VOLE-vo”? (see also: ARRange or ORange? FARest or FORest? HARrible or HORrible?)
I’m not saying that the second generation Scirocco is completely unattractive, but the first generation Scirocco is a beautiful design.
Had a ‘75 Scirocco in light blue and loved driving it or just looking at it. If you want to understand how well the Giugiaro design it has aged, just compare it to the clothes and hair of the Thames TV reviewer.
But it was not a reliable car. The carburetor and emissions system of the day were problematic, especially that time when gas poured out of the carb after I parked the car. In an underground lot. Fortunately there was not a fire. Fuel injection subsequently made a large improvement. I also liked the slight changes to styling of the next version, and its cool single wiper.
Pronunciation? Of course it’s “sh-“ as in the ads. But it’s easy to get wound ‘round the axle on all sorts of auto names, including Volkswagen itself. “Fulks’-vah-gen” vs “Volks’-wag-in” is but one example.
Mostly it’s differences across nations, one pronunciation in the automaker’s homeland, others in the countries of sale. And not “wrong,” any of them, if that’s what the company wants in that country. (See: Mazda, Canada vs US. Datsun was an earlier one.) Hyundai is a prime example, with substantial differences between the Korean, North American and UK pronunciations. Note the lack of voiceover in its TV ads — including someone trying to say “Hyundai.”
I never heard it any way but “Sher-ROC-ko”. I knew two great dogs, one a yellow Lab, and the other a Lab/Collie and they both had their name pronounced as “Sher-ROC-ko”.
Good enough for me.