Rusty But Trusty

As a replacement for the antique-looking Karmann Ghia, which dated back to 1955, VW designed a new replacement. Heavily influenced by the wedge cars of the period – take a look at yesterday’s Alfetta GTV, a Lotus Esprit, or even a Lamborghini Countach – they successfully came up with a new interpretation of the sports-coupe-on-econobox-platform story. As they were inexpensive cars, many have disappeared, having succumbed to youthful overexuberance combined with youthful budgets. But there are still a few around if you look hard, and that’s how you can find this 1980 Volkswagen Scirocco S for sale for $1499 in Puyallup, WA.

The S version of the Scirocco was simply a cosmetic package, so don’t expect to go any faster than your buddy in the regular car. However, you could still expect a special color, Mars Red in this case, along with a deep chin spoiler, alloy wheels with white lettered tires, a red VW grill badge and red striping on the bumper. There were also a full length stripe that ran up the C-pillar, strobe-pattern seats, and a golf-ball shift knob like the GTI.

This car is an admitted project, needing a full tune-up and fresh fluids (and likely more) to be a daily driver. The paint may not be original since the stripe is missing, and the spoiler seems to have disappeared. You’ll definitely want to check for rust on any 33-year-old VW as well. The interior looks pretty decent, and complete, with the original wheel, shift knob, and S-option door pockets. However, the seats have cheap covers, so you can expect to spend some quality time searching for original strobe seat material.

Feeling spendy? Check out this green regular 1980 Volkswagen Scirocco in Gig Harbor, WA for $3500. Those wheels are not to everyone’s taste, although a set of regular-width Panasports would look pretty cool, or how about a set of widened Mark 1 steel wheels with the little black plastic center caps?

And if you aren’t completely sold on the idea of a Scirocco, this period commercial will no doubt seal the deal.

Tags: coupe, german, hatch, hatchback, mark 1, mk1, scirocco, under $2000, volkswagen, vw

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