1984 Volkswagen SCIROCCO

Offered without reserve, this beautiful Volkswagen Scirocco Storm has the 1.8-litre, fuel injected engine from the Golf GTI, so it offers sprightly performance and impressive reliability, even after having travelled two-thirds of the way to the moon. The fuel consumption isn’t too bad either, with owners reporting around 35mpg on a run.

Having had only four previous keepers and essentially having been a one-family-owned-from-new vehicle, it is wearing its years and miles very well. It drives nicely, starts on the button, and is desperately in need of an owner who is keen to retain its former glory rather than run it into the ground. It’s way too nice to be thrashed and abused because you don’t have to look very far to find a rather nice car indeed.

The Cosmos Blue paintwork is still bright and shiny and there is almost no rust at all (see next paragraph). Panel fit and line up is also as Wolfsburg intended. Sure, it could probably do with a decent machine polish but that bodykit is original and that’s worth something, isn’t it?

The rubber trim, rear spoiler and front and rear bumpers are all still nice and black and still supple and the panel fit is unusually good; while we know it has had a superficial knock to the offside rear quarter (invoice for repair in 2002), the repair work looks to have been done well, although the offside rear wheelarch trim is wonky, and the lower edge of that rear wing has the only rust visible.

It’s all solid underneath, too. The factory underseal is largely intact but if it were ours we’d be tempted to spend the weekend under there with a wire brush and a tin of Waxoyl underseal to get things looking smart and buttoned up for the winter. However, please don’t read too much into that because it certainly doesn’t look like it’ll need any welding.

The alloy wheels are in very good condition indeed but the tyres are mismatched junk, so you’d need to budget a couple of hundred pounds to replace them. Doing so would tick one of the items off your To Do list (please see History Highlights for details of the other jobs you’re going to need to do).

The blue leather sports seats are the originals and wonderfully patinated, being only lightly creased and slightly faded in places. They are free of rips, tears and other damage (with the exception of a small section of piping, which has worn away) so could easily be refurbished to bring them back to new condition.

The leather-trimmed door cards are in great condition, as are the matching blue carpets. The dash is not cracked, the parcel shelf is there too, and hasn’t been butchered to fit speakers in it and the boot floor is clean and solid. That’s all good news and highly unusual, so why not celebrate by placing a cheeky bid on it?

The switches and gauges work as they should, the only exception the vendor can think of is the fuel gauge. The VW gearknob has been replaced but the worn original will come with the car.

The tilt-and-slide metal sunroof operates as it should and remains watertight and the headlining is still taut and free of damage.

A Land Rover cassette player/radio has been fitted, which is a shame, the good news is that it does not always work!

The 1.8-litre, fuel injected engine has had a new sump pan, which is the good news. The bad is that the engine itself looks awful because of VW’s use of steel for the rocker cover – it’s quite usual for them to look like they’ve been dredged up from the bottom of the sea. But actually the blue-painted bits, the inner wings and bulkhead are all really good so tidying the underbonnet area would be a very satisfying way to spend a few winter evenings.

More importantly, the car drives well, stops and goes as it should, and goes round corners better than it has any right to given the cheap, mismatched tyres it sits on. The vendor reports that it can take a couple of goes to start on a cold morning, and whilst full throttle is smooth and powerful, there can be some light ‘fluffing’ on part throttle. But overall this Scirocco is a rolling refurbishment project rather than a basket case restoration.

The Scirocco is also simple enough that you’ll be able to work on it yourself, aided and abetted by the Haynes manual that the owner has agreed to throw in.

The Scirocco comes with a fully stamped service history book plus an inch-thick sheaf of old invoices and bills of which we have only photographed a selection. It also has its original blue VW plastic folder complete with the instruction manual for the car, and a number of expired MOT certificates.

The online MOT history is extensive, with the MOT tester finding plenty to write about BUT the advisories that are showing on this year’s MOT really aren’t that bad: it needs a rear tyre, the exhaust resealing, and an offside brake pipe replacing.

Oh, and the rear shock absorber casings are rusty, but they they’re probably pennies to buy and a ten-minute job to fit. The MOT certificate itself expires in September 2019, giving you plenty of time to put these bits and bobs right.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has an impressive history record.

What’s an old Scirocco worth? We really don’t know; on the one hand it’s teetering on the brink of bangerdom but on the other, its straight, solid, runs well, and has an impressively comprehensive history.

So, we’ve taken the easy option by offering it without a reserve. This might be folly on our part as it will sell once the first bid has been placed but then we have faith that the market will value it accurately.

So please bid, or we’re going to look very silly if it only sells for a twenty quid…

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen here at The Market HQ in Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.