Named after a North African wind, today's Nice Price or No Dice Scirocco was once VW's sportiest offering. This one seems well-kept, but is it priced so that a new owner might consider it a keeper?
Neil Young sagely advised us all that rust never sleeps. If not stopped through chemical means or the more radical option of surgical removal, corrosive rust's insidiously steady progression can turn any iron or iron alloy into dust in mere months. Automotive rust is perhaps the most alarming manifestation as it typically attacks a vehicle's underlying structure, compromising safety. The only thing worse than known rust is unknown rust, and that's just the issue we faced in the process of contemplating yesterday's 1986 Honda CRX. Overall, that car was presented as clean and with respectably low miles. The seller's litany of undercarriage replacement parts and note that the car had once called the salty roads of New York its home, resulted in the admission that the car has a rusty floor. That mention, combined with no pictures of the corrosion's extent, led to lots of speculation in the comments, and ultimately resulted in the car's $8,000 asking price earning an 85% No Dice loss.
Back in the 1970s, Germany's Volkswagen was on a roll. During the early part of that decade, the company pulled off a successful transition from primarily rear-engine, air-cooled cars to mostly front-wheel-drive cars that employ water to keep their engines cool. That was thanks in large part to the purchase of NSU, which had expertise in this area. Perhaps in an effort to create a familial feel for these new cars, despite their size and market position differences, VW chose to give them all names based on major winds of the world. Those included the Golf, which is named for the Gulf Stream (not the Scottish game), the Passat after the Trade Winds, Polo, for the Polar Wind, and Jetta after the Jet Stream.
Today's 1988 VW Scirocco 16V is another flavor of flatulence, using the Italian spelling of a wind that blows off the Sahara Desert into the Mediterranean Sea as its model name.
This is a second-generation car, but as noted by its badging, factory body kit, and a peek under the hood, it's the first Scirocco edition to rock VW's Oettinger-developed 16-valve DOHC four.
The first Scirocco arrived on the scene in 1974, riding on the same platform as the mass-market Golf, but heavily re-engineered for a more sporting look and feel. VW intended the Scirocco to replace the long-in-the-tooth Karmann Ghia, and the German coachbuilder did assemble both models. Styling for the Scirocco's first generation, like that of the Golf, was handled by Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign. That car is a chef's kiss of balance and proportion, arguably one of the best-looking coupes ever designed.
When the time came for a second round, VW decided to go it alone on both the Golf and Scirocco, and this second-generation car is the result. While not bad looking, its rolly-polly lines lack the tautness of the earlier car's design. In its American guise, it's also saddled with enormous five-mile-per-hour bumpers that just add insult to injury.
This one appears to be in reasonable shape (no mention of rust is made), and while the seller says the paint has several flaws and needs to be polished out, it looks okay in the ad's pictures. Perhaps the most egregious of the finish's flaws are the black-painted B pillars, which have been losing their battle with the sun, along with the center caps of the factory 14-inch teardrop alloys that present in several shades of their base plastic. A couple of annoying dings are also noticeable in the underlying metal.
This isn't exactly a turn-key car mechanically, either. The seller claims that it runs and drives, and has undergone several major updates, including 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 factory, the 16V made 123 horsepower, so with the displacement bump, this car might make more. Regardless, the cool over-the-head intake looks good all polished up in this car's engine bay.
Paired with the transverse four is a five-speed manual driving the front wheels. Other mechanical misfits on the car include an oil pan that needs a new gasket, a non-working A/C, and the oil temp, oil pressure, and volt gauges in the center stack, all of which are on strike. Befitting its age, this is a very analog car, featuring crank windows, manual mirrors and locks, and scoot-it-yourself seats.
The rest of the interior is presentable, and the seller is nice enough to show us the crack in the dashboard under its carpet toupee. The seller doesn't claim that they have been, but the seats all appear to have been reupholstered at some point in the past. A final issue: it will need a new stereo head unit as the faceplate for the anti-theft single DIN in the dash has gone missing. On the plus side, there appears to be a plethora of parts that will accompany the car lying under the hatch.
According to the ad, this Scirocco has a reasonable 142,000 miles on the clock and will come with a clean title. The asking price is $5,500.
I know we're all pretty averse to "other people's projects," but this car seems to need only fiddly little stuff that could be accomplished over weekends. It should make for a solid commuter between such work. Is it worth that $5,500 asking to take on such a scenario?
What's your opinion on this 16V asking that much for its title transfer? Does that feel like a safe bet? Or does that price and the car's continued needs take the wind out of your sails?
You decide!
Nice Price or No Dice:
Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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