Meet the “Million Dollar Scirocco”
Remember the Volkswagen Scirocco? Sales of this Golf-based, three-door hatchback ended in Canada in 1989, and we never got the third and final generation (2008-2017) because the company feared it could negatively affect the Golf GTI. Also, the increasing gap between the U.S. dollar and the Euro made the Scirocco’s business case hard to justify.
We’re not here today to tell you that the little VW will make a comeback. This is about the story of a man named Jason Whipple who turned a $7,000 1980 Volkswagen Scirocco S into what he called his “Million Dollar Scirocco.”
Not because of what it’s worth, but because he feels like he has spent a million bucks pulling it apart and changing everything about it over the course of the past decade.
Splashed in a rainbow motif, blurred lettering and wild graphics, the sporty coupe is one half drag racer, one half art car and a total head turner.
Whipple, who is the co-founder of the California-based wheel company Rotiform Wheels, installed custom alloy rims, swapped the transmission and even hand-built a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre engine that can reach 180 horsepower. “Everything under the hood is 100 percent custom,” he says.
As for the unique body, Whipple literally gave carte blanche to British graphic artist Nicolai Sclater to hand-paint the then all-white vehicle. Sclater incorporated some progressive ideas into his design, including phrases like ‘the future is our fault’ and ‘things won’t change until we do.’
The crew unveiled their creation last November at the 2018 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. And the buzz around the car has kept growing ever since.
Now, Whipple plans to build a second colourful Scirocco to drive his two young children to and from school. Apparently, it will be called the “2 Million Dollar Scirocco.”