For those who follow along weekly, Wednesday is traditionally reserved for our “Ratty Rescue” series that features a crusty car looking for a new owner. But when you stumble across a car like this, you have to feature it. Consider this additional “Find Of The Day” as our Christmas gift to you, our faithful readers.
Getting right to it: this is a 1990 Corrado. And it’s not just any Corrado. This is a Euro-market Corrado. It’s right-hand drive, it’s in very good condition, and it has an engine we never got in North American Corrados: Volkswagen’s wonderful 16V engine.
A little history to put this in perspective. In 1974, Volkswagen created the original Scirocco; a sports-coupe based on the upcoming Golf/Rabbit platform. They redesigned it in 1982 but didn’t put a serious engine into the car until the Scirocco 16V debuted in 1986. Unfortunately, the Scirocco’s days were numbered and the model was discontinued in 1988.
Behind the scenes engineers were working on a new coupe; the Corrado. It would be wider, longer, and more practical than the Scirocco. Like history repeating itself, their 1.8-liter supercharged engine was a bit of bore in their new car. Dubbed the G60, the engine made decent power, but more than one reviewer said the Corrado had a sports car chassis looking for a proper engine. In 1992 Volkswagen wised up and dropped in its new VR6 engine, and just like with the Scirocco 16V, the car was transformed.
In Europe and the U.K., however, Volkswagen carried the Scirocco 16V engine over to their new sports car. Full disclosure: while we often lament the non-NA versions, this could be a time when we shouldn’t be jealous. Our G60 Corrado made more horsepower, more torque, and had a faster 0-60 time than the across-the-pond 16V model. At least according to Wikipedia.
Regardless, what you’re looking at is a gen-you-wine European Corrado 16V. According to the ad, everything works including the motorized rear wing. The and A/C doesn’t work because there isn’t any. With the exception of a K&N filter and an “upgraded” rear exhaust, the car is stock. Check out the period-correct BBS wheels.
So buy yourself a right-hand-drive Christmas present. This 1990 Corrado 16V is listed on eBay and the car is located in Jacksonville, Florida. And it appears to be legit, but buyer beware. The buy-it-now price is $8500 and the ad for this red sled expires on Christmas Eve.
Happy Holidays everyone!
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