Friday 11 April 2014

1974, Cars: Volkswagen Scirocco (Typ 53)

German car manufacturer Volkswagen introduces a new sport scar the Scirocco (Typ 53) for the first time in the spring of 1974 at the Geneva motor show. The development of the car started in the early 1970s as the replacement for the aging Karmann Ghia coupe. The car was penned by the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro (ItalDesign) and used the platform of the Golf (Volkswagen Group A1 platform). It was launched six months before the Golf, in order to resolve any problems before production of the high volume Golf started, the Scirocco went on sale in Europe in 1974 and in North America in 1975. The car was manufactured by Karmann at the Osnabrück plant in Germany.

Predecessor: Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (Typ 14)
Giorgetto Giugiaro (ItalDesign) prototype
Giorgetto Giugiaro (ItalDesign) prototype
Volkswagen Scirocco L (1974)
Volkswagen Scirocco LS (1974)
The car was named after the Mediterranean wind Sirocco. It was the third front-wheel driven Volkswagen with a water-cooled engine in the front, after the K70 (NSU) and the Passat. The Scirocco was offered with three engines in four trim levels. L the base model had the engine 1.1 litre L4 engine. S, LS and TS models had a 1.5 litre L4 engine. Later models were GT, GLI and GL. In June 1976 Volkswagen introduced the Scirocco GTI with a 1.6 litre L4 engine.
Volkswagen Scirocco GTI (1976)
Volkswagen Scirocco GL (1978, facelift)
Production ended in 1981 with the introduction of the Scirocco Typ 53B. Between 1974 and 1981 a total of 504,153 units were manufactured.
Successor: Volkswagen Scirocco (Typ 53B)

Volkswagen Scirocco Sportspiegel autotest (1975)

Volkswagen Scirocco Commercial (USA, 1980)

Volkswagen Scirocco Commercial (USA, 1980)

Brochure Volkswagen Scirocco 1975 (English, US)
Brochure Volkswagen Scirocco 1976 (English, US)
Brochure Volkswagen Scirocco 1977 (English, US)
Brochure Volkswagen Scirocco 1979 (English, US)
Brochure Volkswagen Scirocco 1980 (English, US)

1 comment:

  1. My dad bought a '79 new. I remember poring over that brochure for hours. 8 years later, i bought a used '78 for my first car. Still love that model!

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