Driving Down Memory Lane in VW’s Scirocco and Corrado

Volkswagen of America’s platinum jubilee is this year, having been founded on October 27, 1955. As part of its anniversary celebration, VWoA dusted off a bunch of the cuter, more fun models from its back catalog and brought them out to Detroit for the media to drive in conjunction with the launch of the 2026 Volkswagen Tiguan Turbo.

We instantly gravitated toward the two low-roof sporty hatchback coupes that first expressed VW’s sporting ambitions at the dawn of its front-wheel-drive era: the Scirocco and Corrado. Assessing 45–50-year-old cars requires a healthy dose of context, so let’s tee up the Scirocco first with some library work.

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Scirocco Helps Lead VW’s Front-Drive Charge

Volkswagen mounted its big front-wheel-drive assault on the U.S. in 1974 with the Dasher (called Passat elsewhere), which was based on longitudinal powertrain architecture that also underpinned the Audi 80 and the original UR Quattro. The volume seller was to be the Rabbit (Golf everywhere else), but Volkswagen wisely decided to test the waters in the highly competitive American market by launching a lower-volume, two-door variant six months in advance of the Rabbit. That car was the Scirocco, named for a Mediterranean wind.

With styling penned by the famed designer Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign, the Golf-based Scirocco was developed to replace the Beetle-based Karmann Ghia, and like that Carrozzeria Ghia–penned design, this one was also built by coachbuilder Karmann in Osnabrück, Germany.

What Was the Scirocco’s Competition?

Our predecessors evaluated the Scirocco against some interesting cars. Its first comparison appearance was in the February 1975 issue of Motor Trend as one of three imports pitted against GM’s three Vega successors: the Chevrolet Monza, Olds Starfire, and Pontiac Skyhawk. A pair of two-door Toyotas rounded out the comparo: the Corolla SR-5 and Celica GT (a Mustang II had been invited but was unavailable). The 70-hp 1.5-liter VW was by far the least powerful, least torquey, and lightest of the bunch. At $4,450 as tested (roughly $27,500 today), it also undercut the price of all but the Corolla. It turned out to be the hot rod of the group, streaking to 60 mph in “just” 12.0 seconds, followed by the GM cars (12.4–13.2) and the Toyotas (14.6 and 15.2). Nevertheless, we decreed it to be “not in the same game as the Monza,” owing to its noise and refinement levels.

Then in June of 1978 we paired a snazzed-up Scirocco Sidewinder against the similarly tarted Ford Fairmont ESO and Honda Accord LX. The VW again checked in as the lightest, least torquey, and quickest, despite a slower 60-mph time of 14.6 seconds. This time out, we crowned a winner, with the Accord narrowly edging the Scirocco thanks to its 7.76-point score, bettering the VW’s 7.50.

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How Does a 1981 Scirocco Feel in 2025?

By the final year of this first-gen Scirocco, displacement had grown to 1.7 liters, with torque rising to 90 lb-ft, though power held at 70 hp. Despite a 6,750-rpm redline, this single-overhead-cam two-valves-per-cylinder engine is no mad revver—except by comparison to the domestic cam-in-block competition. Its power peaks at 5,000 rpm, but a more natural shift point seems to be just past the 3,000-rev torque peak. The engine note sounds much more guttural than that of more modern multivalve successors. While stopped at traffic lights, the idle speed of the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection does an amusing rev oscillation through maybe 50 rpm.

Sciroccos made excellent SCCA racers, and better-handling, more athletic production variants would follow (the 16-valve engine dropped 0–60-mph time to 8.7 seconds in the second-gen car). But spinning the steering wheel of this example causes the outboard front corner to dive considerably. Our drive didn’t involve any opportunity to achieve cornering forces sufficient to lift an inside rear wheel, but back in the day our photographers captured plenty of such peeing-dog images.

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We’re also struck by how cheap and plasticky this interior looks in today’s context of upscale German interiors. The door pulls appear lifted straight from the Beetle parts bin, and there are chrome Scirocco badge stickers ferpetesake. Having owned a 1980 Dasher, this author found the seat’s comforting support, invincible vinyl, and controls layout preternaturally familiar, albeit with greatly reduced headroom (especially in back).

Remembering the Corrado

The Scirocco’s successor (also built by Karmann) was the in-house designed Corrado, its name derived from the Spanish correr, meaning to run or sprint. It was notable as an early adopter of “active aerodynamics,” in the form of a rear spoiler that extended at 45 mph to become a wing.

Not yet ready to sideline its trusty EA827 SOHC eight-valve engine but clearly needing to give it some more beans, Volkswagen bolted on a scroll-type supercharger dubbed “G-Lader,” because the scroll was shaped like the letter G. That boosted output of the 1.8-liter to 158 hp and 166 lb-ft in the Corrado G60 (base European Corrados got a 16-valve naturally aspirated 1.8 good for 134 hp).

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Corrado Versus Its Competition

Initial reports were glowing, describing it as “one of the best cut-and-run sportsters we’ve ever driven.” We reported a considerably elevated base price of $17,900 ($46,000 or so today). Corrado’s first comparison outing of sorts was our Import Car of the Year competition, where its 9.3-second acceleration ranked ninth, behind hatchback coupe competitors like the Acura Integra GS (8.9), Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo (8.3), Eagle Talon TSi/Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX (6.6/6.5), and Nissan 300ZX Turbo (6.0). Judges knocked the engine’s lack of refinement, and for offering … “no sex appeal. Why spend extra money for supercharging that’s no better than turbocharging?” we wondered. Ranking mid-pack in all contests, it ended up 15 spots below the winning 300ZX.

VW addressed our (and the market’s) complaints by fitting its new, smoother 178-hp/177-lb-ft VR6 engine for 1992, boosting refinement and dropping 60-mph-dash times below seven seconds. This one was compared in a couple of Bang for the Buck roundups in September 1992 and August 1994. The VR6 proved far more competitive with the Diamondstar triplets (Eclipse, Talon, and Plymouth Laser), but shifter woes and high pricing doomed it to 10th place out of 16 in its first time out (the Plymouth Laser won). Still more shifter/synchro complaints mixed with even higher pricing stymied its second B4B outing, as well, dropping it to 15 out of 16 (the Camaro Z28 triumphed).

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Driving a 1990 Corrado in 2025

It was amusing to read our complaints about the shifter in those early tests of brand-new cars, because the shifter in this one, showing 86,000 miles, was absolutely knackered, demonstrating loads of slop and requiring a slight jog to the right when dropping back from first to second or from third to fourth. This engine undeniably pulls harder than does the natural 1.7 in the 800-pound-lighter Scirocco, but boost is less instantaneous than the supercharging zeitgeist would have you believe. But remember, it’s still shoving air down four asthmatic single-valve tracheae. And the engine note remains true to the earlier VW baritone paradigm. (Our forebear editors described the sound as Jeeplike.)

V-rated 195/50R15 tires on BBS wheels hang on for what feels like much tighter, more level cornering than the 175/50R13s can muster in the Scirocco. Steering response is far more immediate and attended by way less body roll. Bumps can be felt more firmly, but not jarringly so.

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As befits the 74 percent increase in constant-dollar base price, the Corrado’s interior feels considerably more upscale than the Scirocco’s. Gone are the sticker logos and shiny plastic dashboard, in favor of more Teutonic grain and gloss, striped cloth inserts on the seats and door panels, and a roomier rear seat.

Our 1990 test car hails from that quirky point in automotive safety history before airbags became ubiquitous, when “passive restraints” sometimes involved a motorized shoulder belt buzzing up the A-pillar, around, and down the B-pillar as you manually fastened a lap belt. At least both belts still seemed to work.

Bottom Line

It’s always immensely entertaining to go back and relive automotive history at events like this. Having personally owned a contemporary sibling of the Scirocco and rereading our comparison test, I believe I’d have voted for the Scirocco as the victor in that one. Having comparison-tested a Corrado myself back in the day, this exercise brought fond memories flooding back—and no compunction to rearrange my finishing order. Contrary to the rose-colored-glasses retrospection one might expect, this experience largely served to reinforce my original take on both cars. If you still own an example of either one, you’re lucky—and the rest of us are a little jealous.