By the early 1970s, Volkswagen had begun working on a complete overhaul of their model line-up. The Passat and the Golf were already in the works, with many other models also nearing production. However, one car that they didn’t really have a replacement for was the Karmann Ghia. By this point in time, the Karmann Ghia was over 15 years old and as such, Volkswagen was looking to replace it with a newer model.
However, this would prove to be a daunting task. The Karmann Ghia had already been ‘replaced’ by the doomed VW-Porsche 914, which was not received as well as Volkswagen had hoped. As such, Volkswagen began once again working on a new car to replace the legend.
The car would be based on the Golf’s platform but would be entirely different. Almost every part of the car would have to be re-engineered as per a newer, sleeker design by legendary designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The car would be named the Scirocco, after a Mediterranean wind and would debut at the 1973 Geneva Motor Show. The Scirocco was to be marketed as a sportier version of the upcoming Golf and was well-received by the public.
Interestingly, the Scirocco went into production before the Golf, in order to resolve any problems before the higher-production Golf was released. The Scirocco would go on sale in Europe in 1974 and would be released in the US in 1975. It would be offered with a range of water-cooled 4-cylinder engines ranging from 1.1 to 1.6 litres. A 1.7-litre engine would also be offered in the American market. An interesting difference between the European and American models of the Scirocco was that European models featured rectangular headlights, while the American models had four round headlights.
In 1976, the Scirocco GTI would enter production. As a faster version of the standard car, the GTI would feature a high-revving 1.6-litre, 81 kW engine. The GTI also featured a front spoiler, new rear bumper, improved breaks, anti-roll bars and a lowered stance. The Scirocco GTI was also released before the Golf GTI, again to help with any development issues.
The 1st generation Scirocco would be on sale until 1981, when it would be replaced with a heavily redesigned 2nd generation Scirocco. Its production run would end in 1992, and the 3rd generation Scirocco wouldn’t be released until 2008, which would be in production until 2017, when Volkswagen would end production indefinitely.
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