Volkswagen Corrado: Once The Hero, Always Reliable

With the latest news scandal most people find themselves left with a bad taste regarding Volkswagens. However, I don’t believe that people should write them off just yet, as they have indeed produced some quality cars over the years, including but not limited to the Volkswagen Corrado, and I believe they still prove to be a worthy investment for all petrolheads alike.

For example, the Volkswagen Scirocco MK. 1, the Golf and Passat with the brilliant VR6 engines, remain top, reliable choices when seeking a car. And of course Volkswagen’s most notable achievement, the Volkswagen Corrado, which has started to gain a foothold in the form of a cult following.

Young folks might not recognize the trusty Corrado, seeing as it was produced between 1988 and 1995, so for those of you who don’t know about it, here’s a simple history refresher.

The Volkswagen Corrado’s Compact History 

The trusty Corrado wasn’t designed to be the best sports car available, nor was it designed to shake the entire market. However, with it’s compact 3-door coupe, to replace the aging Volkswagen Scirocco MK. 2, it was designed to be a reliable sports car. Although, to some, the rear might look reminiscent of a Porsche 944.

So, the Corrado came with the iconic wedge shape that we’re no stranger to, as well as a very practical sports compact that can pull hard and rival some of the full on sportscar’s in its days – even being praised as the best driver’s car ever produced by Volkswagen, and stated as a classic in the making by Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond.

Interestingly, it had an active rear spoiler that extends at 50mph, and retracts at 15mph, although some may perceive this as an extra thing to go wrong. In the end, nearly 100,000 Corrados were built,  and the Scirocco MK.3 replaced it.

All Corrados were front-wheel driven, and with the first release being powered by a 1.8-litre four cylinder, worthy of note though is the G60 variant, with a G-Lader supercharger fitted onto the engine, it puts out comparable horsepower to the VR6 variant

A few years later, they introduced an improvised version of the four cylinder, being a 2.0-litre. And as we know with higher capacity comes a bigger oomph. But more importantly, they gave the Corrado a VR6 engine option, turning it into a luxury coupe of sorts.

Volkswagen Corrado VR6

The model we have here is the one with the VR6, an early 90s example. With the Corrado being such a popular modification platform for many, it’s hard to find a mint and stock Corrado. But this particular example, from the photos, looks to have everything in the right shape and condition.

The seller also wrote an impressive passage with details of the Volkswagen Corrado’s history. The car seems to be treated with good care, having only 2 owners from new. Everything seems to be done in high standards, even the engine bay looks clean for a car that is over 20 years old.

All the seats don’t show any wear at all and although unstated, the car seems to have eluded accidents as it had actually been a company car, then a restoration project. Impressive for a car built with speed in mind, especially when you consider that body parts will be borderline impossible to find in great nick

The paintwork had been completely worked on before as well, with a full professional spray job, something that will take up a lot of effort and money to do. Service history is said to be ample with all receipts in place, the cylinder head gasket and camshaft position sensor were replaced as well, along with a cheeky chip tune to increase fuel efficiency and power output.

This Volkswagen Corrado is by no means a concourse example, but with all the big jobs out of the way, a little bit more effort poured in can turn this Volkswagen Corrado into a stunner. It’s a serious contender for the price the seller is asking for, and if you’re interested, I think this is a great starting point.

Check this Corrado out right here.

 

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