(first posted 11/11/2016) The VW Scirocco was as much of a game-changer in its class as was the Rabbit/Golf, upon which it was heavily based. Ultra-light, zippy, and eminently tossable, the Scirocco had very little genuine competition in terms of its remarkable dynamic qualities. It made American small sporty coupes like the Mustang II and Monza feel like clumsy draft horses in comparison. And the Japanese sporty coupes like the Celica couldn’t touch it either. The only thing that theoretically might have been able to approach it is if Honda had put their minds to building a genuine sporty FWD car. Instead, their first shot at it, the gen1 Prelude, missed the mark, leaving VW to romp in a segment of its own making for a number of years. Here’s Road and Track’s first look at it.
Hello Paul.
Das ist Fahrvergnügen !!!
Did the Scirocco debut before the Golf ? I got a brief drive of one, back in the day. I didn’t expect much, since it was a VW, but it surprised me. The interior was very spartan, but it really did drive like a sports-car.
Yes, it bowed before the Golf.
Yes, Scirocco was introduced to the US before the Rabbit.
And Dasher came out before Scirocco.
As an early teen, I thought the Rabbit and Scirocco were fantastic!
I remember the “Dasher”!! Can’t imagine many survive though. H’mm.
I’m sure they were fun to drive — I’ve never driven one, although I have driven Mk1 Rabbits — but I’ve always been baffled by the constant praise of the Scirocco’s styling. I don’t love the Golf/Rabbit either (the best I can say is that it’s tidy), so the “slightly melted Golf” look seems a bizarre choice for a coupe. It’s only sleek compared to maybe a Porsche 914 (not saying much) and it has no interesting detailing at all. I’ve seen lots worse, especially since the ’70s were where automotive style crawled to die, but it leaves me completely cold.
I also haaaaaaaaate Tartan upholstery, although Volkswagen was far from alone in this hideous affectation.
I disagree. I utterly love the greenhouse shape, it’s almost coke bottle in profile(completely lost on the MKII), and the kamm tail, quad headlights, balanced proportions and wide track just weren’t common traits in this catagory for 1975. Sleek compared to a sports car? No. But as a still practical subcompact it’s definitely a benchmark. For me it pushes all the right buttons, and I generally have a bias for mid-late 60s American designs
I will concede one detail, I prefer the Scirocco post-facelift with the wraparound side markers.
My brother’s first own car was a 1975 Scirocco done in baby blue and that dreadful tartan upholstery. Really cheap and very good car for young adult like him. Eventually he sold it when the motor block developed crack.
He bought a gold 1977 version and fitted the aftermarket free flow exhaust system and fancy alloy wheels. Unfortunately, the young guy had misjudges the Fox Mustang’s brake distance and smashed into my brother’s Scirocco.
End of the story? Nope, he bought a 1981 special edition that were available only in white or black. While he was away on holidays, I snuck a few drives in his Scirocco. What I didn’t know was his careful recording of mileage. Busted!
Last year, my brother visited me in Germany and finally visited IAA Frankfurt for the first time. He so wanted the new Scirocco but can’t thanks to rhe protectionist US regulations.
I really like the leadoff picture in the article; what a nice place for a drive! Nothing wrong with an early Scirocco for that purpose either, although I’ve never driven one. In fact, I believe these things were long gone in Michigan by the time I noticed.
I was amused to read about the voltage regulator problem in the test car. The first touch of what would become Volkswagen’s reputation in the US was already starting to show.
In 1987, while helping my parents move from SoCal to Washington State, the voltage regulator on my ’77 Rabbit failed causing the alternator to overcharge. The car made it to their new house, but when I lifted the hood the battery had overheated and boiled acid all over the engine compartment. A new battery, alternator and a couple of large boxes of baking soda made for a fun repair before heading back to LA.
Why so much hate for the tartan interior? At least it’s color. I’d love a color keyed tartan option in today’s vehicles.
The current GTI can be had with “Clark” seats which is their current name for tartan. I like it too, brings the interior to life.
What, are people afraid the seats won’t match their clothes?
I like the tartan too, and while I’m at it throw in Op Art and houndstooth. I hate plain cloth.
Yeah, the original Porsche 928 op-art interior is really, really cool. I want one!
I like houndstooth and the 928 Op Art upholstery was fine (although I think it might get tiresome after a while, just as the ’90s “little flecks of random color” did). I just really hate plaid.
It was the 70s. Be thankful it wasn’t a tartan exterior.
I had a dark blue ’77 briefly, and I can’t for the life of me remember what upholstery it had. The only pictures I have are of the outside. It didn’t have the golf ball shift knob, which I believe came later.
Can’t get past the wrong wheel drive…
FWD is one reason it handled well, BMW spent decades trying to make RWD drive cars that can stay with front drivers on twisty roads and failed.
Nonsensical.
Thanks for this, PN. Interesting to compare it with the updated 5 speed manual Scirocco R&T tested in November 1979:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/vintage-reviews/vintage-review-volkswagen-scirocco-5-speed/
Love it. I lusted after these as a young driver, but could not find one with low mileage at a decent price when shopping, so ended up with a 2 year old Charger 2.2 instead. The Scirocco was the car I really wanted when I made that purchase. Later I had a boss who drove the 16V version (late 80’s, early 90’s, I can’t recall the year) which I got some wheel time in and absolutely loved, but the gen 1 body style always appealed more for its simple purity of design. The Scirocco will always be on my list of “The Ones That Got Away”, as I’ve always wanted one, never owned one, and won’t likely find one today at a price that would make any sense at all.
Wow, a few years prior to this, I did the opposite. My Dad had bought a Dodge Omni coupe (his midlife crisis car I guess) and I was leaning towards buying a used one I found in Montpelier (he was living in Shelburne VT, I had recently moved to Haverhill Ma)…both with the 1.7 litre VW block (carburated) engine…but then I found a 1978 Champagne Edition Scirocco near where I lived…I was smitten…thoughts of the Omni went away, and that was the start of 35 years of VWs (3 so far) for me. The Scirocco is still my favorite, though it was not trouble-free, I kept the car for another 7 years until I bought my ’86 GTI…I tried to give the car to my youngest sister, but because it was a manual and had no air-conditioning (we had moved to the south in the meantime, and lack of air-conditioning was one of the only things I missed on that car)..she never took to it, so I sold it….still remember my “last drive” in it before I sold it.
I still think fondly of my younger self driving it..though if I’m honest with myself, it was a younger persons car. I laugh about it being one of our carpool cars, all of us had 2 door compacts (the other 2 cars were a ’78 Ford Fiesta and a ’79 Datsun 310)…we rotated driving them every 3rd week.
One of the later posts comments about the light curb weight…when I moved south the company I worked for paid to move me…the total weight of all my earthly belongings (including books) was a little over 3000 lbs, including the Scirocco…that included some heavier stuff like tube stereo and TV set…so I guess I lived a bit more simply then compared to now.
What a great German sports coupe. What jumps out at me from the specs is the 1930 pound curb weight. I looked around at some of the other small sport coupes weights and could find nothing close. An 84 RWD Corrolla was almost three hundred pounds heavier, as was the Escort EXP which remember even lost the back seat. As was the second gen Prelude which in my opinion was the best 80s version of this type of car. The fist Integra hatch and the J car Sunbird hatch were 400 pounds heavier.
Imagine how great it must have been in Germany without the heavy bumpers and with the GTI engines.
IIRC the EXP was heavier than a regular two-door Escort.
John, This was a 1975 Scirocco. The 1975 Corolla weighed 1786 lbs. The 1976 Accord weighed 1976 lbs. This was not especially light for a four cylinder import, it was normal in 1975.
Paul, I don’t understand your “ultra light…” description. It is only ultra light weight now. At the time it was normal. There was a comparison test of 4 cylinder fuel efficient sport cars, and included was the Scirocco and the Europa. The latter, at 1400-1500 lbs could be considered ultra light weight, but the Scirocco was mainstream.
I had started working at the local VW dealership in July ’74 straight out of HS, starting off as a parts driver, weeks later to move to the counter. Scirocco did arrive at the dealership a couple of months before the first Rabbit, but they were at first so few the dealer principal and sales manager had them as demos, only a couple were sold retail before the Rabbit appeared. They were quite pricey compared to the Rabbit, and cramped for space on the inside. Nice looking, though. Around November the dealership got it’s first Rabbit, a red deluxe model 2 door with the knee bar and door mounted shoulder strap only seatbelts, the first passive system on the market. And everyone at the dealership got to take the car home overnight. Imagine a brand new car turned over to 19 year old me. I loaded the car with 3 of my friends and got the car up to 100 MPH on the freeway, it felt like a rocket compared to a Beetle.
At the time these cars were so much more refined than the Japanese cars of the day. The early cars had terrible Zenith carbs that were nothing but problems, and caused a lot of cat failures as well. The ’76 1/2 “Super Scirocco” was the first to come out with fuel injection, which came out across the board in ’77.
These cars sold very well in SoCal when they came out, they really were a game changer for VW. Too bad the fuel injection wasn’t provided from the start, it eliminated the air pump and associated plumbing, along with the expensive and trouble prone carb. A smog legal aftermarket Holly-Weber Pinto type replacement was available after a couple of years, they worked great and were reliable.
That carburetor! I parked my ’75 in an underground garage one night and luckily spotted the gas that was pouring out of the carb. Luckily there was no fire and I quickly found the screw that had backed out. Couldn’t agree more that VW should have used FI from the start. The emissions gizmos such as the dash pot and EGR were terrible, although VW was far from alone in using them – it was a bad era. The engine had good power and torque but was not well made.
But what a lot of fun to drive! I added Bilstein shocks, Pirelli CN36 tires and a Recaro seat which combined to up the experience without changing the looks. That seat is my home office chair today.
Yes exactly. The FI transformed the car in 76.5.
My ’77 49 state car was FI and 1600cc. The FI worked great; not much else did. But after 35 years of rear-engine and air-cooling, VW sure nailed it on that elusive “feel” with the first Golf platform. I still remember the first 1500 carb’ed Rabbit I drove in ’75 or ’76. And my wife’s 1.8T New Beetle has a similar fluid, refined feel, after another 30-odd years.
My first “new” car was a Silver 75 Scirocco. I LOVED the car and was able to push its limits on the many back country roads in PA. Great mileage and simply fun to drive. I agree the Zenith carbs were crap. Anytime I stopped in traffic the engine would flood causing my catalytic converter to become bright red – I thought the car was gonna burn up more than once. The dealer did little to fix it, so my mother, who is German, wrote a complain letter to Wolfsburg. This letter got me a new “experimental” 2 barrel carb and WOW my Scirocco screamed after that. I gained a whole second on my 0-60 time and got a consistent 38 MPG or better on the highway. I traded in this thing of beauty for a more practical family car after I got married – it was a very sad day.
Did anyone else get one of those “experimental” carbs? I heard from the dealership that they were being made available to people who complained or had consistent trouble with the OEM Zenith carb.
It’s worth noting that, at the time, there were a bunch of sports cars available in the same price range: Fiat X1/9 & 124 Spider, MGB & Midget, and Triumph TR6 & Spitfire. Yeah, there’d be mechanical issues, but it seems like any of those would be a whole lot more fun, and would the issues really be any worse than those found on VW products of the time?
The Spitfire would be right there with it due to it’s even lighter weight and by then camber compensated independent suspension. What would be holding it back would be the old tech emission choked 57hp 1.5 engine. If BL planned to keep the Spit around, the 1.7 O series engine could have fixed that in a jiffy.
I’d bought a new ’74 X1/9 and loved the He!! Out of that car, but had a friend and a work colleague who’d each purchased a Scirocco (one a ’76 and one a ’77) and they each enjoyed their cars. Had other co-workers who had less than satisfactory experiences with Rabbits
The Scirocco would have been faster in a straight line than all but the TR6, and it would have run rings around all but the FIAT X1/9 on any course with curves. It had better seats, actual weather protection, security for your stuff, suspension, and handling. only the FIATs mentioned had overhead-cams at the time. The bumper and light laws had robbed the British cars of whatever handling precision they had relative to other cars of the ’60s, and this was at least a decade past their prime. Driving a Scirocco was probably perceived as forward looking and sophisticated, while driving a rubber-baby-bumper roadster would have seemed downright regressive. Sadly, the Scirocco wasn’t built or engineered all that much better than the antiques it competed with, but at least it was as up to date as anything on the road.
My folks had a choice between one of these, a last year VW Beetle convertible and a 4 door Westmoreland made Rabbit in 1980. Went with the Rabbit. Considering the build quality of the Rabbit which drove a VW loyal family away, they should have gone with the Scirocco! It would have been supremely fun on Ark. 7.
What’s with the speedometer error in the data? It’s off by 3 mph or more at 50mph and above. And it’s a busy little mill turning 3500 rpm at 60. Those things needed a 5th gear! And you had to replace the cat every 30,000 miles?? Well, alrighty then!
I tried to get into the front passenger seat once. It did not go well. The owner gave up on it after a few years and bought a ’78 Cutlass Supreme instead.
I always liked the look of these first gen cars. My brother cross shopped the 320i and the Scirocco, he made an acceptable deal so he got the BMW instead. The 320i, the
Scirocco, the GTI, the Audi Fox (I’m always looking on CL for a Fox!)the second gen Prelude and second gen Integra were all great, compact, adequately powered sporty fun cars. I only got to drive the 320i, I would love to own any of the others. I guess their are modern equivalents to these cars, but at my age, with my focus on old glamour cars,I guess I overlook them. The one current car that catches my eye consistently is the four door hatchback Ford Focus. I like the styling and the practicality of the design.
The Scirocco really was they only thing like it when it debuted, and it certainly was very advanced and ahead of the times. I agree that in the US, this largely remained the case for the life of the Mark I’s run. In Europe, however, it only took two years for an arguably better challenger to emerge, also designed by Giugiaro. That car was the Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint. Period reviews clearly give the upper hand to the Alfa in regards to passenger room, steering feel, handling ability, and brakes. The VW had preferable ergonomics and slightly better performance figures. Classic & Sportscar revisited both of these cars back to back several years ago in an article with pristine examples of both, and drew nearly identical conclusions.
Yes, but, I speak as a former Alfasud owner, in the UK (1.5 Ti, 2 door saloon).
‘Suds, any of the models, were just great to drive, years ahead of their time. With low centre of gravity due to the flat 4 engine, and roll stiffness concentrated at the rear (like the VW), they gave you sharp steering, grippy, neutral handling, smooth willing single OHC power units, disc brakes all round, and 5 speed boxes after the first year or two….. making most other cars feel clumsy and old fashioned.
Except, in fact, for a few competitors like the Scirrocco, which I also had some drives in at the time.
But it’s also sadly true that, in the UK climate, you could practically watch them rusting away, from the inside outwards. At 3 years old, mine was unsaleable, other than for silly money to a friend in the car trade .
I expect the ‘Sud story, including the reasons for this, has already been well told in CC – but for many former owners, it does add a bittersweet flavour to our memories of the car.
I had a crush on this car like you wouldn’t believe. The Scirocco came before the Rabbit, Fiesta, Omni all of those. It had it all, great looks, a gem of an engine that is still in production today, terrific handling, a good ride and fit/finish like Mercedes. I honestly can’t think of another car since that was as revolutionary as this one. The only thing was it was expensive. Anyone younger than 40 probably doesn’t remember inflation but I sure do. To put in in perspective, the Scirocco was a $35,000 in today’s dollars. Thankfully inflation subsided around 1981 and I was able to buy a used ’78 in college for $3,900. ’78 was the first year of the better looking bumpers and had a one-year-only super short stroke engine which was as smooth as an electric motor. I had the 4-speed, a 5-speed was optional. To this day the best car I have ever owned.
The R&T article is a classic, a must-read for any car guy.
Italdesign (Giugiaro) was incredible. His fingerprints were all over the 70s. The way he did designs for so many different car companies including Alfa, Maserati, and VW is something we will never see again.
They make a very important point in reviewing the chassis. The front suspension lacks an anti-roll bar. “By concentrating roll stiffness at the rear, VW engineers minimized understeer.” That remained the case for a good decade after this was written; even in cars WITH a front anti-roll bar, the piece used at the rear was often thicker. It really makes the biggest difference and is very evident when driven back-to-back with most other FWD compacts, which understeer when maneuvered sharply at low speeds where the VW turns in neatly.
Current VW dynamics are as stodgy as everything else about their cars, but during the Mk1 and Mk2 years, they made light, rigid, balanced compact cars that out-cornered anything else available on the US market (though Mazda’s front-drivers came close). I’m still looking for a Mk2 Jetta that’s neither modified, nor in tatters, nor pricey.
The Mk1 Fiesta also omitted the front anti-roll bar, although the S had one in back. Same reasons: The front springs are already pretty stiff to start with because they’re supporting the entire powertrain, so any additional roll stiffness you add in front is going to tend to produce more understeer. There’s more to it than that, but it is a significant point.
Grew up in small town in MS. I had a neighbor that was a car enthusiast. He had many cars including a new Scirocco back then he bought new, i immediately liked it especially the single wiper. He had luxury cars also like Lincoln and cadillacs that he also purchased new, think it was a 76 or 77. He traded it for an Alfa Romeo which was a 7&8 or 79 model but soon after it was rear ended and totaled then he bought a new 79 Mustang Official Pace Car, loved it also. It was him that I got my love of cars and today I have 10 in my driveway.
Great profile if the Scirocco on DW.
https://youtu.be/1gvkGUbJ-Ug
My brother had a later version on the first series, in black. He bought that after his Renault 5.
I loved these when they came out. About halfway through 1976 they got fuel injection and in 1977 they went with the single windshield wiper. I think that 1977 was the peak model year. In 1978 the engine became smaller and it received the uglier and larger rubber-covered bumpers and larger front parking lights that hurt the styling a bit. I remember driving one and really liking it.
It was a tight fit for my 6′ 0″ tall frame and I had to make the seat recline a bit. Straight up my head touched the celing, but it had a great ride, handling, performance and fuel economy for the time.
The Scirocco’s competition was the Toyota Celica, Datsun 200 SX, Plymouth Arrow, Plymouth Sapporo, (Japanese) Dodge Challenger, Capri, Opel Manta, Fiat 124 Coupe, Fiat 128 SL, Fiat 128 P3, Renault 15, Renault 17, Ford Mustang II, Chevy Monza, Pontiac Sunbird, Oldsmobile Starfire and Buick Skyhawk. Other competition might be the original Honda Accord hatchback coupe.
It wasn’t as reliable as the Japanese cars, but it probably had the best balance of handling, performance and gas mileage in its class at the time. I recall that the first generation Scirocco and first generation both won some design award back in the late 1970s.
First Car I ever owned. Bronze exterior with cordovan leather interior. Bought it used for all of $4,000 and put another hundred thousand miles on it. In addition to being just plain fun to drive, it was also the best snow car I ever owned. Lived in an area where we got significant snow with a tough turn on an uphill grade to get back into my neighborhood. While many a 4-wheel drive vehicle got stranded at that sight, the Sirocco never let me down and often had to weave through stuck vehicles on the way home. Believe I would have put another hundred thousand miles on it easily had my “new” mechanic not failed to properly attach the oil filter after an oil change at about 160,000. miles. Hated to see it go.
I have mostly fond memories of my 78 and81 Sciroccos although both had their challenges.
Recently it occurred to me that the Scirocco is the water cooled Karmann Ghia, using an Italian designed body made by Karmann on an otherwise stock Golf platform. The exception would be the GTI models. I think it’s none the worse for that apart from the endemic Karmann rust and the lack of headroom compared to a Golf/Rabbit.
That’s a good point. Now, if one could have had the Karmann Ghia shell with the Golf platform … (The Karmann Ghia was pretty; the Mk1 Scirocco still looks to me like it was designed as a promotional item by a manufacturer of business envelopes. The Scirocco is not offensive to look at, especially by modern standards, but its sex appeal is at the same level as oyster crackers and croutons.)
Brother owned one. Best friend bought a first year Rabbit. Sister-in-law bought a 2nd year Rabbit. Clean designs and great cars to drive with major reliability/durability flaws. Try to find one now!
I got lucky with a great college roommate who had one of these cars. After living in Beetles, Valiants and an old Skylark, the Scirocco was a serious step up towards modernity. My other roomie had a nice Saab, but the Scirocco was better.
It had problems that were expensive to fix, but it wasn’t my wallet being gouged. I appreciated its roomy clean stling and practicality, for a sporty car.
I bought a 75 that didn’t run. It was lowered with some sort of sport suspeension. Cost 500 back in like 89 and came with a stereo that cost that so I figured why not . Apparently last carb. year. I rebuilt the weber carb(not sure if stock) and it was immediately a race car. Never before or since have I driven a car with more on call power at the press of the foot. It handled corners like my old go cart, like it was magnetized to the road. I would climb steep mountain roads in SC and while my fuel injected manual rabbit would bog down if I tried to pump the gas on incline, the manual,carbed scirocco simply reacted like a rocket. I put an old VW bus rack on the roof and used to put a huge two person kayak on the roof and head up hwy 1 and lots of double takes as the kayak was considerably longer than the car. Good times in the “Road Warrior”.
I found myself car shopping just out of school in 1979, as gas prices were eating all my money with my tired 69 Pontiac Tempest V8. I found a really pretty dark green 75 Scirocco with green tartan seats. I really wanted that car, but at $2800, it was too rich for my wallet. I went with a 72 Fiat 124 Coupe instead, for a more reasonable $1800. It turned out to be a rust bucket that barely outlasted the payments. I eventually bought a new Mark 2 GTI in 1985, that led to a string of VW and Audi cars, but I sure wish I had bought that used Scirocco.