A Detailed Look At The First Generation Volkswagen Scirocco

In the early '70s, Volkswagens lineup was becoming tired, the beetle had been on sale forever and the Karman Ghia was beginning to look dated.

At the 1973 Geneva Motorshow, Volkswagen announced a car that was intended to take over the Karmann Ghia it came in the shape of the MK1 Scirocco.

The Sciroccos name comes from a gust of warm southeastern wind that comes from the Sahara, pretty cool if you ask me.

Launched in 1974 the Scirocco was the second car the Volkswagen produced that was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. They took the A1 platform that they had been developing for the MK1 Golf and designed the Sciroccos body to be sleeker and sportier.

In fact, the Scirocco was released 6 months prior to the Golf as VW wanted to see how well the platform would work before they began mass-producing what would prove to be the most popular hatchback in history.

As the scirocco name comes to an end in the Volkswagen family, let's take a look at how this front-wheel-drive compact coupe refreshed the brand at a crucial time.

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Ferdinand Piech, then head of VW, had struck a good relationship with ItalDesign, Giorgetti Guigiaro's firm, who had been designing some of the best-looking cars at the time.

While designing a new coupe for Alfa Romeo, ItalDesign proposed to VW that they could use this platform they had been developing for the golf to build a sporty compact coupe.

In the early '70s, Volkswagens lineup was becoming tired, the beetle had been on sale forever and the Karman Ghia was beginning to look dated.

Originally, VW rejected the idea of building such a car. It was always going to be a risk for them to make a lower volume sports model.

It wasn't until Karmann, the manufacturing company that had been building the Karmann Ghia said that they needed a new model to stay in business.

The Scirocco came at a crucial time for VW and took a much-needed step forward for the brand, as they left behind their dated models and began to expand their offerings as a car manufacturer.

So in 1974, the Sciroccos European launch arrived. Powered by an 8-valve, water-cooled inline-four, the first VW coupes boasted a reasonable 50-85 horsepower that went to the front wheels. This car was built to inject some new life into "the people's car".

It was an economical, affordable and stable coupe, and was available in various trim levels and engine choices, from 1.1 to 1.5litre. Weighing in between 750–875 kg, it was very light indeed.

A year later in 1975, the Scirocco reached the USA. However, it was restricted by emissions regulations which meant that the only engine option available was the 1.5litre option that put out 70bhp.

Buyers did have the choice between a 4 or 5-speed manual and an auto. Another feature of the US models was the round headlights, which lead to a lot of European consumers modifying theirs to look the same.

Despite the relative lack of power, the scirocco is regarded as the first hot hatch. Despite it looking long and wedgy, it is tiny by today's standard.

It had 4 wheel independent suspension and disc brakes on the front and that signature interior. It proved to be super nimble and fun to drive.

It was still a practical car, it had plenty of trunk space and 4 seats. The scirocco caught on and people started buying them.

In 1976 Europe was graced with the amazing Scirocco GTI. It put down 11o horsepower to the front wheels and has since become one of the most sought-after VW's amongst collectors of classic cars.

The GTI came with a 1.6-liter engine that included mechanical fuel injection. It also wore better tires on wider wheels and a larger duckbill-style front splitter. It also carried the infamous red frame for the grille which is now seen on all GTI models.

Along with brake and handling upgrades, the Scirocco GTI was released 6 months before the MK1 Golf GTI.

VW now didn't have to worry about losing money anymore, in the first 7 years of production, VW sold over a staggering 500,000 units of a car they were initially unsure of.

The MK1 carried on being produced up until 1981. The following year, The MK2 Scirocco would take over the name and carry on the legacy.

After a huge unprecedented initial success, it comes as a surprise that VW would ever want to discontinue such a popular model.

The MK2 saw a design from VW's own design team. Herbert Schäfer styled the new body, which had softer, sleeker lines. It gained a rear spoiler coming off the back window and it also grew 6 inches in length.

The MK2 Scirocco was more livable and more sporty but despite all this, the mk2 was losing popularity and sales dropped considerably.

Production ceased in 1992 and it would be another 16 years until we saw the Scirocco name again.

In 2008, the final edition of the Scirocco was announced and the styling had been fully revamped to keep up with the times.

Built on the MK5 Golf platform the new scirocco came in a diesel, a 1.4 liter 4 cylinder, and a 2.0-liter TFSI.

A year later, the Scir0cco R came out and it was as hot as a hatch could get. FWD with 270bhp, sophisticated traction control, and a great DSG gearbox option, it was a serious competitor to its brother the Golf R.

However, the falling exchange rate and the Scirocco being so similar in function to golf, meant that VW didn't see any financial benefit of bringing this ultimate hatch model over to North America.

During Volkswagen's 2017 Annual Session, VW board member Arno Antlitz said that "The Beetle and Scirocco are representatives of an emotional and appealing class of vehicles, but it [VW product planning] is not always about continuing cars from one generation to the next."

Many throw blame at the rise in fuel prices and VW needing to cut costs at the time due to many diesel engine emissions recalls. These factors mean that the Scirocco name is no more.

VW is beginning to design more and more electric and hybrid cars when looking towards the future, so perhaps we may yet see the Scirocco again.

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Pedro is a London-bred writer who is exploring and documenting car culture throughout all 4 corners of the world. Currently, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.