[sugarwood]

In 1979, Detroit was making cars with flaming poultry on it.
Meanwhile, it seems the Euro were laying the groundwork for domination of the next few decades.

It drives fantastic, feels like its on the track, steering is direct and precise, sounds wonderful.
I had owned many cars over the years, most much more expensive than this little VW but not many that drive this well. It fits like a glove.

I'd like to learn more about VW/GTI/Scirocco/Golf. A very significant part of modern “car culture” lies in the Subu/VW world.
It seems like this is what the next gen aspires to. The “hot hatch” is basically it. At least, has been it for the last decade



I just queued up this video to at least have a basic literacy of the evolution of the VW GTI lineage.

It's interesting to think that Scirocco started in all 1975, amidst the malaise Detroit was putting out.
Launched 40 years ago, just looking at it, it really is the DNA progenitor of today’s trendy “hot hatch”.



Ok, Scirocco was a "sportier" version of the Golf/Jetta. It mostly sold in manual gearbox. But, what exactly was the formula of performance? The first gen only had 70hp? Curb weight was 1940lbs. That's still a pitiful power:weight ratio. It looks like 2nd gen 1986 offered the 16V 123hp, which is still anemic but puts it into Miata/E30 territory.

For those who were adults in 1979, what was the appeal? The muscle era was over, and so was the gas shock. There was recession in 1979. What was the "car and driver" media like? Was it about light and nimble and handling vs. drag power. Has that always been the dichotomy? How was the styling received? As a kid, I never would have noticed the econoboxy looking Golf (or even Quattro) compared to the Trans Am. Even in the 80s, muscle cars seemed a lot cooler than a GTI which was basically a hopped up Rabbit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Scirocco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_hatch