Re: SCIROCCO SURVEY for everyone

[tudor@tvo.org (Michael Helms)]

Hi guys,

Truth be told, I was a Ford guy back in my youth.  Even worked at a
Ford dealership, and I thought I was real hot shit.  My first stint
in an import came one afternoon when (to make a long story short) I
had to take a 911 that some idiot traded in for a Lincoln down to one
of our used car depots.  It normally took about a half an hour to go
from the dealership to the depot ... needless to say I did it in
considerably less time that day.  A Mustang just never felt the same
after that.

My first real car (a '61 Ford Falcon beater and an '86 Renault
Alliance don't really count) was a '90 golf diesel.  I loved this car
to death, and drove it until the tranny started to do strange things.
 I think it was just shy of 400,000 kilometres on the clock. 
Anyways, I was in college at the time and needed reliable (cheap)
transportation.  My parents were trying to talk me into a Tempo or
K-car or something equally boring.  I was on the prowl for a decent
late 80's Golf or Jetta, when I found this strange silver car at the
back of a Ford lot (go figure).  The only reason I knew it was a
Volkswagen was because ofthe silver emblem on the front.

I had seen a Scirocco once before ... it was a 16 valve, and I never
paid much attention to it (that was back when I was a diesel snob). 
But this car captivated me ... it seemed clean enough, and it looked
to be in good shape.  I took it out for a test drive and was
immediately taken by its spry handling and smooth engine.  I was
forced that afternoon to part with $2000 Canadian ... and I drove
home a happy new owner.

I didn't know much about Sciroccos at first - but a friend of mine (a
fellow VW guru) reassured me that a good bit of the Scirocco was
identical to the Rabbit/Jetta.  And honestly, at first, I was just
going to keep it for a year and get rid of it after college.  I think
the first thing that snagged me was the suspension ... one of the
springs was broken, and I replaced the springs with H&R race springs.
 How can you hate a low slung ports car that corners like its on
rails?  Next was a decent stereo and a nice set of rims with tires
... and from there, it's history.

Cheers,
-- Michael Helms

'81 Scirocco - the fixer-upper
'86 Scirocco - the daily driver

Web Site:  http://www.continuum.org/helms

"If you don't believe your country should come before yourself, you
can better serve your country by living somewhere else."  - Dr.
Stompin' Tom Connors


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