We just recently posted about a Volkswagen Scirocco project listed on eBay, and now I have yet another distraction staring me in the face of the two-door water-cooled variety: a 16-valve Scirocco listed for a paltry $1K and close enough to potentially justify the shipping costs. The seller says it’s a runner despite being parked in his barn for the last few months, and while it’s unregistered, it looks good enough that it could return to the road with relative ease. Find it here on craigslist near Utica, New York, and don’t tell me if you snatch this one up.
Unless the floorboards are held together with bubble gum and dental floss, I’m not sure why this car is so cheap. I routinely see clean 16 valves listed for well over $2,000, and that’s if you see them listed at all. To find a runner listed in the northeast for short money (in project-car terms) is unheard of. The biggest sin I can see are the cheap aftermarket wheels, and who care? Sell ’em for $200 and you’re under $1K for a clean ‘Rocco.
The engine remains stock, and the reality of knowing this is going to be a case of the one that got away continues to sink in. Those beautiful intake runners could only grace the holy grail of VW four-cylinder motors, and with nary a cold air intake in sight, it becomes ever clearer that this is one of those unicorn cars that tend to only live on the West Coast. Sure, the paint is faded, but that’s hardly an issue on a car that’s otherwise so straight.
Oh, you were like me, hoping for a ravaged interior with milk crates in place of seats? Nope, and better yet, this Scirocco has the desirable leather buckets, with one meaningless tear and perfect door panels. I don’t get it: anyone who owns one of these cars tend to know they’re desirable, so why is this one so cheap? I’m of the mind to just bite the bullet and find out the hard way – when it arrives on a flatbed – but maybe one of you will get there first and spare my bank account more pain.
Oh man oh man! I’m in Manhattan if owning a car here wasn’t such a pita I’d be all over this!!
I’m in Greenpoint half the year, where we have tons of parking and even a…garage or two! Yes it’s ugly but we can drive away :)
Nice find , doesn’t even have the huge fugly bumpers
Wow. Amazing how the looks of these have stood up, if not improved, over time. There appears to be some rust to deal with (see under the driver side rear window), but for $1,000 this seems to be a smoking deal.
Funny…with all the crazy cars that come across Barn Finds, the one that leaves a mark today is a 1980s VW. Go figure.
Best deal I’ve seen listed for months. Surprised to see it still listed after 4 days.
Please be carful if this car has spent all of it’s days in Utica, NY. The under carriage rot could be horrendous. I have family in Rome, NY and their cars start to disintegrate underneath in less than 5 years. I would check all underside metal and rubber lines and hoses, struts, shocks, brake components and floors. The winter chemicals in upstate NY are horrible.
My niece purchased and 1985 Jetta in 1991 for a “good deal” and never had it inspected underneath and it ended up being sold for parts because of the extensive work that needed to be done.
Just up on Barn Finds and with me reaching for my wallet the listing has been removed. Somebody else thought it was a smokin’ deal, too.