Whenever I see a cool car around the neighborhood, I take pictures and send them to my pal Eric up in Portland who runs Other People’s Things, my favorite car blog. He responds with some knowledge and we post the results here and it’s called “Car Beat.” Here’s what Eric has to say about this sporty old VW:
This is a second generation Volkswagen Scirocco (1982-88 in the US). The Scirocco, much like all Volkswagens of the time, was named after a trade wind. This was the Italian name for winds travelling from North Africa to Southern Europe.
The second generation is decidedly ’80s with its sealed beam square headlights and angular body. The B-pillar logo denotes that the styling was handled by the Karmann company, best known for its sleek Ghia models.
What’s sad about the Scirocco is that there is a relatively new, super bad-ass version of it driving all over Europe and we don’t get it. Why? Because VW’s financial gurus know that to export it here and sell it at the right price will net zero profit….in fact it would cannibalize Golf sales. Oh well, I assume in 25 years or so we’ll see them start to pop up here and there.
Thanks, Eric! More photos (including a closeup of the aforementioned B-pillar logo) after the jump:
These were great cars. My first car was one of these, but back then they were still called Dashers. It was like a bigger, tougher version of the Rabbit with way more cargo space.
Sweet ride. First car i ever did a hundred in.
arne’t you supposed to blur the plate # to protect the innocent or something?
(aren’t)
(arnt)
it would be courteous, but isn’t legally necessary.
This is NOT a Dasher – that was a separate model that shared platforms with the Audi Fox of the time. This is an 1986.5 Scirocco 8V, the latter half of ’86 introduced the 16V version with wheel flares and teardrop wheels.
My first car was this exact car, same year, different color. A great ride.
@ moto-waki:
Jalopnik sums it up pretty well here:
http://jalopnik.com/5941797/should-you-bother-obscuring-your-license-plates-in-photos
While there is some information that could be obtained from the plates, I am of the belief that if you leave your car on the street it’s fair game.
-Eric
@sfalfa:
That’s some in depth VW knowledge right there.
…and I love the teardrop wheels.
Eric
This may not be a Dasher – my Dasher was a ’79 – but the body design is exactly the same, and with a few updates, so was the interior. Knowing the way car companies economize by slightly altering existing templates for different models, I’ll still maintain that the Dasher and the Scirocco are basically the same car, with some engine performance upgrades on the Scirocco models.
Tico: You are completely wrong and too stubborn to admit it. The Dasher is the U.S. name for the VW Passat, which is the twin to the Audi Fox/4000 (Audi 80 in Europe). The Scirocco is based on the Golf platform (Rabbit in the U.S.). The Dasher and the Scirocco are completely different cars that don’t even look similar. I admit they both have a VW logo on the grille!
The dasher has a longitudinal, not a transverse mounted engine. Nothing in the suspension is the same. The interior is not even close to similar. The scirocco is a completely different platform and is full of awsomeness. The dasher, on the other hand is cool and quirky.
Where can I find one for sale?