1975  Volkswagen Scirocco

        1.9L 8V 

Manufactured for Volkswagen by coachbuilder Wilhelm Karmann of Osnabrück, Germany in February of  1975.

Purchased new for $4,500.00 from the former Crest Volkswagen in Escondido, California on April 1, 1975.

For several years, the Scirocco was my daily driver, until I bought my first pickup in 1983.  The car continued to log significant miles in freeway commutes to Los Angeles from San Diego and numerous ski trips throughout California, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Colorado.  Aside from installing a Holley-Weber carburetor in 1977, the car was maintainted as stock until 1985, accumulating about 135,000 miles.  I had to rebuild the head at about 60,000 miles when worn valve guides caused excessive oil consumption.  The car served as generally reliable transportation for almost eleven years.. but I wanted something better.  

Major changes began in late 1985 when I installed the Drake motor, Koni sport suspension, upper and lower front chassis braces, and front and rear anti sway bars. The car suddenly had ample power and much improved handling, but was driven out of storage only occasionally over the next ten years (and spent some of that time on jackstands) as priorities were elsewhere.  

In 1996 I restarted the project, bought the teardrop wheels and installed a complete 16V brake system.  In 1998 I swapped the old 4-speed for a freshly rebuilt 5-speed FN transaxle with a Quaife TSD.  The car was getting close to what I wanted as the .71 5th gear cut the noise at freeway speeds, but another seven years passed. During that time the car was driven less than 500 miles/year.

Resuming interest in 2005, I began by installing a pair of Corrado front seats, and sound absorbing foam throughout the body.  I had the interior reupholstered, installed the 90amp alternator, relays to handle lighting and other functions, auxiliary circuit board, LED interior lighting, and generally cleaned up and improved interior wiring in 2006.  

More years passed and outside of normal maintenance, I just drove the car, attending a few SoCal GTGs and a couple of local shows.  In 2020 with so much time at home in the garage, I finally completed the engine bay electrical harness, replaced the front strut mounts, a failed fuel pickup/sender unit, changed the brake fluid, fabricated an improved shift rod carrier adapter plate, and polished and waxed the exterior.  In 2021 I changed all of the exterior lighting (except headlights & fogs) to LED, enhanced the rear stop lights, and added turn signal flash to the front side markers.

GF

Engine

Volkswagen 1.9L 8-valve, built in 1985 by Drake Engineering.

Drake Stage 3 modified original 1975 solid lifter head.

82.5 bore, 90.5 stroke, 1938 cc, compression ratio: 9.6 to 1.

8V head with 40.5/34mm valves and .426/.240 Drake sport camshaft and adjustable cam pulley.

Weber 32/36 DFEV progressive carburetor, original intake manifold, enhanced flow cold air intake.
High capacity oil pump, baffled 5 qt. pan, 10-row Setrab  thermo controlled cooler, ss lines.

Recurved Bosch vac/mech advance distributor, Pertronics electronic points, Bosch coil.

Drake modified 11-bolt crankshaftt to Fichtel & Sachs pressure plate.

Euro GTI exhaust manifold, Drake dual downpipe, catalytic converter

Techtonics Tuning exhaust system with resonator and Borla muffler

Horsepower: 143 bhp @ 6000 rpm

Torque: 138 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm

Thanks to Robert Collins and Stewart Van Dyne of Van Dyne Engineering,
I obtained scans of Drake's build sheets for this motor:

Page One
Page Two
Page Three

 

Drake was a renown engine builder and tuner in Southern California since the early days of hotrodding in the 1930s.  At one time their turbocharged Drake-Offys dominated the Indianapolis 500, where Drake motors won the race a total of 26 times.  Drake never limited itself to Indy engines - BMW 320i, Mazda IMSA GTU, big block Chevys for race boats and Champ dirt track motors were produced.  Their connection with the 8-valve water cooled VW motor began with success in the "Super Vee" racing series. Drake also produced variations of the VW motor for midget racing and later developed and sold a variant using a 16-valve head of their own design and manufacture.

I contacted Drake in summer of 1985 at their Irvine, California shop and talked numerous times with Robert Collins and later got to spend some time with Stewart Van Dyne (now owner of Van Dyne Engineering, Huntington Beach, CA which owns everything Drake).   I believed that there was no substitute for cubic inches and choose the 1.9 liter option.  It took a few months to actually plunk down $3500+, but by the end of 1985, I picked up the finished motor and manifolds.  

More Drake Information

     Transaxle & Clutch

          Five-speed FN transaxle, .71 OD 5th
          Quaife Torque Biasing Differential.
          Fichtel & Sachs 190mm sport clutch kit.
          Custom fitted 83 GTI linkage with short shift kit.

      Suspension/Wheels

         Koni  Sport suspension.
         GMP anti-sway bars, 19mm, front & rear.
         Drake upper and lower stress bars, front.
         Drake poly/graphite suspension bushings, front & rear.
         Scirocco 16V wheels with 195/60/14 Dunlop SP Sport A2 Plus.

      Brakes

          Front:   10.1in. discs/stock pads/ss flex lines
          Rear:     9.0 in. discs/stock pads/ss flex lines
          Master cylinder/power brake servo/rear proportioning valves
          (1989 Scirocco 16V) 

Exterior Color: L50C Lagunenblau (Laguna Blue) - original
Interior: Corrado seats, original rear seats, charcoal carpet mats
Front seats
Rear bench seat

Seat fabric information
Trunk carpeting 
Under dash panel 

Hood foam panels  

Raintray sound foam & stock seal

Body color exterior moulding
Locking fuel filler cap and surround
VW windshield logo
Rear badges and decals
Scirocco.org decal
Under hood decals

Audi 90 amp alternator

Headlight, fog light and starter relays

Hella E-code H1/H4 headlights & 450 fog lights

LED tail lights: run, stop, and backup.

LED front lights: park/signal with side marker flash.

LED panel, instrument & interior lighting

VDO Cockpit oil pressure, oil temp, water temp, voltage, & vacuum gauge, hour meter
Kenwood head unit / Blaupunkt speakers

      Miscellaneous

          Vehicle weight: Approximately 2010 lbs.   Engine output: 74.3 horsepower/liter (1.2hp/CID).
          Brake Fluid:  Bosch   Coolant:  Pentosin   Fuel: Premium unleaded 
          Oil: Valvoline 30w   Trans lube: Redline MT-90  
          Calculated Top Speed: 144 mph.

Mk1 Scirocco Body Dimension Data:

Floor diagram     Floor dimensions    Front section 1   Front section 2   Rear section

                                                     *******

More pictures in the links below, not Scirocco related..

       

Classic Remise  Berlin, Germany. Exotic, classic & collector cars in a 19th century trolley barn.

European Street Sightings  Some things you won't see on this side of the Atlantic.