1974 Volkswagen Scirocco
The Volkswagen Scirocco is a sports coupe manufactured by German
manufacturer Volkswagen through two generations from 1974 until 1992 and
reintroduced in a third generation in August, 2008.
“Scirocco” is the term for a hot wind from the Sahara blowing towards the Mediterranean coast. From 1974, though, Volkswagen offered its customers much more than just hot air with the Scirocco. Like the ground-breaking Golf concept, the Scirocco brought a breath of fresh air to the Wolfsburg model program. In the early 1970s, Volkswagen opened up to new technical philosophies and finally said goodbye to the monoculture of air-cooled engines. Based on the Golf, which went into production in March 1974, Giorgio Giugiaro designed a smart and sporty hatchback body. With its new sports car, initially available as the 85 bhp Scirocco TS, Volkswagen brought pleasure to the hearts of sporty driving enthusiasts everywhere.
Over half a million of the first Scirocco generation were built from 1974 to 1981. There was a wide choice of equipment and engine configurations: the engine range spanned the 1.1-liter 50 bhp model to the 110 bhp version in the GTI. The second generation of the
Scirocco followed in 1981. Over 291,000 units of this version were also produced by Karmann until 1992. Unlike the Scirocco I, the successor was created at the Wolfsburg Design Center and was slightly more powerful, with over ten engine variants ranging from the 60 bhp, 1.3-liter model to the 16V, 139 bhp version.
(source: Volkswagen)
History.
The nameplate Scirocco derives from the Italian word for the Sirocco wind — and the period in its history when Volkswagen named vehicles after prominent winds, including also Passat (after the German word for Trade wind, Golf (after Gulf Stream), Bora (after Bora) and Jetta (after Jet stream).
First generation (1974-1981).
Volkswagen began work on the car during the early 1970s as the replacement for the aging Karmann Ghia coupe, and designated it the Type 53 internally. By hand-building the Golf/Rabbit and Jetta (which was not introduced until 1979, well after Scirocco was planned) to underpin the new Scirocco, although almost every part of the car was re-engineered in favour of a sportier drive, and the model's all-new styling, penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, was sleeker and sportier than that of either the Golf or Jetta.
The model went on sale in Europe in 1974 and in North America in 1975. Mark I models featured a range of four-cylinder engines with displacements from 1.1 to 1.6 L (1.7 L in North America), all featuring a single-overhead camshaft and two valves per cylinder.
The car changed little before being replaced by the Mark 2 version in 1982 (Europe). However, air conditioning became available as an option on the domestic market in August 1975. The possibility to retrofit the installation, together with a larger battery, was offered to existing owners.
During the production of the Mark I, there were subtle changes to the body and trim. In 1977 (1976 was first year) the conventional two wiper system changes to a single wiper which parks on the passenger side of the windscreen.
In 1978 the separate front side marker and turn signal, changed to a combination wrap-around orange lens. Other mid-life changes include chrome bumpers with rubberised end caps to a plastic one-piece wrap around bumper.
In 1979 the one-piece "flag" style outside mirrors transitioned to a two-piece shrouded mirror. There were also special variants throughout the Mark I production. Most distinguishable by paint schemes and trim, there were special versions called "Sidewinder", "Sidewinder II", "Champagne Edition", "Champagne Edition II" and the "S".
The Champagne Edition II only came in white with black accents. On the NA models the 1980 "S" versions came in only three colours, Alpine White, Black and Mars Red with unique colour accents. This was followed by the 1981 "S" versions which only came in Cosmos Silver Metallic, Cirrus Gray Metallic and Mars Red without the colour accents.
A heavily re-designed "Mark II" variant went on sale in 1982, although it remained on the A1 platform. One unique feature of the Mark II was the location of the rear spoiler midway up the glass on the rear hatch. A mid-cycle update occurred in 1984, which included minor changes over the 1982 model: removal of the outlined "SCIROCCO" script from the rear hatch (below the spoiler), a redesigned air conditioning compressor, and a different brake master cylinder with in-line proportioning valves and a brake light switch mounted to the pedal instead of on the master cylinder.
Half way through the 1984 model year, a new space-saver spare wheel was added, that provided room for a larger fuel tank (with a second "transfer" fuel pump). Leather interior, power windows and mirrors, air conditioning, and a manual sunroof were options for all years. Engine power and torque steadily increased over the years.
1982 and 1983 models produced 74 hp (55 kW) and 90 ft·lbf (120 N·m) of torque. The engine code was EN. The 1984 models produced 90 hp (67 kW) and 100 ft·lbf (140 N·m) torque, the engine code was JH. In mid-1986 a 16-valve model with 123 hp (92 kW) and 120 ft·lbf (160 N·m) of torque was released in the United States and Canada, which included a full body skirt, larger rear spoiler, and tear-drop shaped wheel slots, and vinyl on the B-pillar, to distinguish it from Mark II 8-valve models. The 16V engine code was PL.
Although the 16-valve engine brought added performance to the range, it proved a somewhat questionable choice in the North American market, as later A2 Golf GTIs manufacturered in the USA were available with a more powerful 16-valve 2.0 L motor. This was, however, not questionable at the time since the 2.0 L 16V engine did not show up in North America until 1990, two years after the demise of the Scirocco. Still, the European 1.8 16V that was fitted into the Scirocco GTX 16V model developed 139 bhp (104 kW), surpassed only by the A3 generation 2.0 16v with 150 bhp (110 kW).
Like the first generation Scirocco, the car was assembled on behalf of Volkswagen by Karmann of Osnabrück.
Scirocco sales continued until 1988 in the United States, 1989 in Canada, and 1992 in Germany.
The Scirocco was replaced by the Corrado in the VW line-up.
(This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It includes content from this Wikipedia article. Image source: Volkswagen)
1985 Volkswagen Scirocco "White Cat".
1.8-liter gasoline engine with 66 kW/90 bhp, 4+E gearbox, alpine white.
(source: Volkswagen)
Automobile sportiness at the Volkswagen Classic stand in Hall 7 at TechnoClassica 2008 in Essen.“Scirocco” is the term for a hot wind from the Sahara blowing towards the Mediterranean coast. From 1974, though, Volkswagen offered its customers much more than just hot air with the Scirocco. Like the ground-breaking Golf concept, the Scirocco brought a breath of fresh air to the Wolfsburg model program. In the early 1970s, Volkswagen opened up to new technical philosophies and finally said goodbye to the monoculture of air-cooled engines. Based on the Golf, which went into production in March 1974, Giorgio Giugiaro designed a smart and sporty hatchback body. With its new sports car, initially available as the 85 bhp Scirocco TS, Volkswagen brought pleasure to the hearts of sporty driving enthusiasts everywhere.
Over half a million of the first Scirocco generation were built from 1974 to 1981. There was a wide choice of equipment and engine configurations: the engine range spanned the 1.1-liter 50 bhp model to the 110 bhp version in the GTI. The second generation of the
Scirocco followed in 1981. Over 291,000 units of this version were also produced by Karmann until 1992. Unlike the Scirocco I, the successor was created at the Wolfsburg Design Center and was slightly more powerful, with over ten engine variants ranging from the 60 bhp, 1.3-liter model to the 16V, 139 bhp version.
(source: Volkswagen)
History.
The nameplate Scirocco derives from the Italian word for the Sirocco wind — and the period in its history when Volkswagen named vehicles after prominent winds, including also Passat (after the German word for Trade wind, Golf (after Gulf Stream), Bora (after Bora) and Jetta (after Jet stream).
First generation (1974-1981).
Volkswagen began work on the car during the early 1970s as the replacement for the aging Karmann Ghia coupe, and designated it the Type 53 internally. By hand-building the Golf/Rabbit and Jetta (which was not introduced until 1979, well after Scirocco was planned) to underpin the new Scirocco, although almost every part of the car was re-engineered in favour of a sportier drive, and the model's all-new styling, penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, was sleeker and sportier than that of either the Golf or Jetta.
The model went on sale in Europe in 1974 and in North America in 1975. Mark I models featured a range of four-cylinder engines with displacements from 1.1 to 1.6 L (1.7 L in North America), all featuring a single-overhead camshaft and two valves per cylinder.
The car changed little before being replaced by the Mark 2 version in 1982 (Europe). However, air conditioning became available as an option on the domestic market in August 1975. The possibility to retrofit the installation, together with a larger battery, was offered to existing owners.
During the production of the Mark I, there were subtle changes to the body and trim. In 1977 (1976 was first year) the conventional two wiper system changes to a single wiper which parks on the passenger side of the windscreen.
In 1978 the separate front side marker and turn signal, changed to a combination wrap-around orange lens. Other mid-life changes include chrome bumpers with rubberised end caps to a plastic one-piece wrap around bumper.
In 1979 the one-piece "flag" style outside mirrors transitioned to a two-piece shrouded mirror. There were also special variants throughout the Mark I production. Most distinguishable by paint schemes and trim, there were special versions called "Sidewinder", "Sidewinder II", "Champagne Edition", "Champagne Edition II" and the "S".
The Champagne Edition II only came in white with black accents. On the NA models the 1980 "S" versions came in only three colours, Alpine White, Black and Mars Red with unique colour accents. This was followed by the 1981 "S" versions which only came in Cosmos Silver Metallic, Cirrus Gray Metallic and Mars Red without the colour accents.
1973 Volkswagen Scirocco. 1974 model year,
vehicle identification number 1, 1.5-liter gasoline engine with 51 kW/70
bhp, 3-gear automatic transmission, diamond silver metallic. (source:
Volkswagen)
1978 Volkswagen Scirocco GT. 1.5-liter
gasoline engine with 51 kW/70 bhp, 4-gear manual transmission, viper
green metallic. (source: Volkswagen)
1976 Volkswagen Scirocco GTI. 1.6-liter
gasoline engine with 81 kW/110 bhp, 4-gear manual transmission, ancona
metallic. (source: Volkswagen)
Second generation (1982-1992).A heavily re-designed "Mark II" variant went on sale in 1982, although it remained on the A1 platform. One unique feature of the Mark II was the location of the rear spoiler midway up the glass on the rear hatch. A mid-cycle update occurred in 1984, which included minor changes over the 1982 model: removal of the outlined "SCIROCCO" script from the rear hatch (below the spoiler), a redesigned air conditioning compressor, and a different brake master cylinder with in-line proportioning valves and a brake light switch mounted to the pedal instead of on the master cylinder.
Half way through the 1984 model year, a new space-saver spare wheel was added, that provided room for a larger fuel tank (with a second "transfer" fuel pump). Leather interior, power windows and mirrors, air conditioning, and a manual sunroof were options for all years. Engine power and torque steadily increased over the years.
1982 and 1983 models produced 74 hp (55 kW) and 90 ft·lbf (120 N·m) of torque. The engine code was EN. The 1984 models produced 90 hp (67 kW) and 100 ft·lbf (140 N·m) torque, the engine code was JH. In mid-1986 a 16-valve model with 123 hp (92 kW) and 120 ft·lbf (160 N·m) of torque was released in the United States and Canada, which included a full body skirt, larger rear spoiler, and tear-drop shaped wheel slots, and vinyl on the B-pillar, to distinguish it from Mark II 8-valve models. The 16V engine code was PL.
Although the 16-valve engine brought added performance to the range, it proved a somewhat questionable choice in the North American market, as later A2 Golf GTIs manufacturered in the USA were available with a more powerful 16-valve 2.0 L motor. This was, however, not questionable at the time since the 2.0 L 16V engine did not show up in North America until 1990, two years after the demise of the Scirocco. Still, the European 1.8 16V that was fitted into the Scirocco GTX 16V model developed 139 bhp (104 kW), surpassed only by the A3 generation 2.0 16v with 150 bhp (110 kW).
Like the first generation Scirocco, the car was assembled on behalf of Volkswagen by Karmann of Osnabrück.
Scirocco sales continued until 1988 in the United States, 1989 in Canada, and 1992 in Germany.
The Scirocco was replaced by the Corrado in the VW line-up.
(This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It includes content from this Wikipedia article. Image source: Volkswagen)
1986 Volkswagen Scirocco GTX 16V. 1.8-liter
gasoline engine with 95 kW/129 bhp, 5-gear manual transmission, Mars
red. (source: Volkswagen)
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