I’ve been away over the weekend, sitting in a field in intermittent sunshine along with several thousand other revellers. And halfway through De La Soul’s headline set on Saturday night, I suddenly realized I was suffering from automotive withdrawal syndrome. Literally as soon as I got home I booked myself into The Carchive to get my fix. And here it is. Today we’re looking at VW’s 2nd generation Scirocco. Concerns about my not covering the Mk1 will hopefully soon blow over; finding that brochure in The Carchive should be a breeze. “The Scirocco- GT, GTX or GTX 16 Valve. They look the part and play the part to perfection” The first generation Scirocco may have been a Golf in a party frock, but it was still a sharp-edged, wedge of a car and is now recognised as a Giugiaro design classic. The in-house penned MK2 never seems to have been awarded quite the level of artistic recognition. It’s possibly because the original was such a departure for VW that the later car isn’t quite so highly regarded. I think that’s a shame and the MK2 would be held in higher esteem if the earlier car hadn’t existed. The ’81+’ Scirocco was still a great looking machine; low and purposeful with a then-innovative horizontally split rear screen, pre-Honda CRX. If it had worn no badges at its unveiling it would have still been recognised as a replacement for the original, or possibly, at a stretch, something from Japan. Toyota, probably. It was inevitable, though, that just as the Mk2 Golf grew a little flabbier at the edges compared to its forbears, the Scirocco would go the same way. It happens to the best of us. Though there wasn’t as much development under the skin as there was on the surface. “A sports steering wheel is not just stylish, with Scirocco performance to control it is highly functional.” To be honest I’ve seen sportier looking brogues, but the humorist in VW’s Marketing department says that’s a sports steering wheel, and who am I to argue. It sits as the focal point of a cabin which, though probably nigh-on indestructible, was still an unremittingly black chasm of granite-tough plastics and brutalist forms. Again; sportiness was tricky to put your finger on, though the driving position was usefully more performance-oriented than in the family-focussed Golf found lurking under the surface. Mind you, the available vivid red striped upholstery went some way to injecting some pizazz; and possibly a migraine. “With its 1600 engine developing 75bhp and a top speed of 104mph, there is no shortage of positive, exhilarating power under the bonnet”. Come, now. In 1987 a 1.6 litre Ford Escort was producing 90hp so 75 from a Scirocco sounds some way short of deserving those GT initials. But then again, perhaps we’re missing the point. That robust, simple engine would cover endless miles without a fuss, and GT’s are all about covering the miles, aren’t they? The GT is possibly my favourite in the range to look at; I’m a sucker for a set of unadorned steel wheels. They lend an honesty and lack of pretence to the car, which is then slightly undone by the matt black sill and wheelarch extensions. Of course, as the range rose through the trim levels those “elegant, determined” matt-black finishes became available in body-colour, and alloy wheels came into the equation; most famously the Pirelli-designed P-Slot items bolted to the GTX. This brochure dates from 1987, well after halfway through the MK2’s lifespan. It also means that the special, (and “special order”) 16 Valve range-topper was available. Of which they proudly cried: “This is the fastest production car Volkswagen has ever made. A top speed of 129 mph and 0-60 acceleration in 7.6 seconds puts the Scirocco in the supercar class” How times change. The definition of that word, supercar remains pretty elastic to this very day; if this is a Supercar I can’t imagine what the Ferrari GTO of the era would have been described as. Never mind all that, the Scirocco 16V was quick, regardless how you described it. Of course, it was only produced in left-hand-drive, so British folk would have to put up with a less-than-ideal view of the road ahead, which meant that the extra overtaking urge was immediately appreciated. I continue to like the Scirocco to this day. I would own a GTX in preference to a Golf GTI, with out a doubt. And let’s not forget that the rear lamp clusters were later standard fit on the Aston-Martin Virage. Today’s Scirocco is undoubtedly a Very Nice Car, and as stylish and fashionable as anybody could possibly want it to be. But if you were to remove the badges before seeing it for the first time, would you be able to guess a) what it was, or b) what it was for? Perhaps they need to start putting steel wheels on them again. (Disclaimer; all images are of original manufacturers publicity materials, photographed by me to an extremely low standard. Copyright remains property of Volkswagen who would certainly not tolerate such a poor quality of reproduction)