Named after a North African wind, in the present day’s Good Value or No Cube Scirocco was as soon as VW’s sportiest providing. This one appears well-kept, however is it priced so {that a} new proprietor may contemplate it a keeper?
Neil Younger sagely suggested us all that rust by no means sleeps. If not stopped by means of chemical means or the extra radical possibility of surgical elimination, corrosive rust’s insidiously regular development can flip any iron or iron alloy into mud in mere months. Automotive rust is maybe essentially the most alarming manifestation because it usually assaults a automobile’s underlying construction, compromising security. The one factor worse than identified rust is unknown rust, and that is simply the problem we confronted within the means of considering yesterday’s 1986 Honda CRX. General, that automobile was offered as clear and with respectably low miles. The vendor’s litany of undercarriage alternative elements and be aware that the automobile had as soon as referred to as the salty roads of New York its dwelling, resulted within the admission that the automobile has a rusty ground. That point out, mixed with no photos of the corrosion’s extent, led to numerous hypothesis within the feedback, and in the end resulted within the automobile’s $8,000 asking worth incomes an 85% No Cube loss.
Goes just like the wind
Again within the Nineteen Seventies, Germany’s Volkswagen was on a roll. Throughout the early a part of that decade, the corporate pulled off a profitable transition from primarily rear-engine, air-cooled automobiles to largely front-wheel-drive automobiles that make use of water to maintain their engines cool. That was thanks largely to the acquisition of NSU, which had experience on this space. Maybe in an effort to create a familial really feel for these new automobiles, regardless of their dimension and market place variations, VW selected to offer all of them names primarily based on main winds of the world. These included the Golf, which is called for the Gulf Stream (not the Scottish recreation), the Passat after the Commerce Winds, Polo, for the Polar Wind, and Jetta after the Jet Stream.
At this time’s 1988 VW Scirocco 16V is one other taste of flatulence, utilizing the Italian spelling of a wind that blows off the Sahara Desert into the Mediterranean Sea as its mannequin title.
This can be a second-generation automobile, however as famous by its badging, manufacturing unit physique equipment, and a peek below the hood, it is the primary Scirocco version to rock VW’s Oettinger-developed 16-valve DOHC 4.
Karmann Karma
The primary Scirocco arrived on the scene in 1974, driving on the identical platform because the mass-market Golf, however closely re-engineered for a extra sporting feel and look. VW meant the Scirocco to switch the long-in-the-tooth Karmann Ghia, and the German coachbuilder did assemble each fashions. Styling for the Scirocco’s first technology, like that of the Golf, was dealt with by Giorgetto Giugiaro’s ItalDesign. That automobile is a chef’s kiss of stability and proportion, arguably one of many best-looking coupes ever designed.
When the time got here for a second spherical, VW determined to go it alone on each the Golf and Scirocco, and this second-generation automobile is the outcome. Whereas not unhealthy trying, its rolly-polly traces lack the tautness of the sooner automobile’s design. In its American guise, it is also saddled with monumental five-mile-per-hour bumpers that simply add insult to damage.
This one seems to be in cheap form (no point out of rust is made), and whereas the vendor says the paint has a number of flaws and must be polished out, it appears to be like okay within the advert’s photos. Maybe essentially the most egregious of the end’s flaws are the black-painted B pillars, which have been dropping their battle with the solar, together with the middle caps of the manufacturing unit 14-inch teardrop alloys that current in a number of shades of their base plastic. A few annoying dings are additionally noticeable within the underlying steel.
End him!
This is not precisely a turn-key automobile mechanically, both. The vendor claims that it runs and drives, and has undergone a number of main updates, together with new tires and exhaust, H&R coils, and Bilstein dampers. The engine has a 2.0-liter block, upon which the 1.8-liter 16-valve head has been swapped in. From the manufacturing unit, the 16V made 123 horsepower, so with the displacement bump, this automobile may make extra. Regardless, the cool over-the-head consumption appears to be like good all polished up on this automobile’s engine bay.
Paired with the transverse 4 is a five-speed handbook driving the entrance wheels. Different mechanical misfits on the automobile embrace an oil pan that wants a brand new gasket, a non-working A/C, and the oil temp, oil strain, and volt gauges within the heart stack, all of that are on strike. Befitting its age, this can be a very analog automobile, that includes crank home windows, handbook mirrors and locks, and scoot-it-yourself seats.
The remainder of the inside is presentable, and the vendor is good sufficient to point out us the crack within the dashboard below its carpet toupee. The vendor would not declare that they’ve been, however the seats all seem to have been reupholstered sooner or later previously. A ultimate challenge: it would want a brand new stereo head unit because the faceplate for the anti-theft single DIN within the sprint has gone lacking. On the plus aspect, there seems to be a plethora of elements that can accompany the automobile mendacity below the hatch.
Dub {dollars}
In line with the advert, this Scirocco has an inexpensive 142,000 miles on the clock and can include a clear title. The asking worth is $5,500.
I do know we’re all fairly averse to “different folks’s tasks,” however this automobile appears to want solely fiddly little stuff that may very well be completed over weekends. It ought to make for a stable commuter between such work. Is it value that $5,500 asking to tackle such a state of affairs?
What’s your opinion on this 16V asking that a lot for its title switch? Does that really feel like a secure guess? Or does that worth and the automobile’s continued wants take the wind out of your sails?
You determine!
Good Value or No Cube:
Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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