It was the golden era of the hot hatch, and all Gary Cook’s mates were lusting after XR3s, GTis and XR2s.
But as a young man in the early 80s, he had his heart set on something different.
“I always liked the look of the Scirocco,” he says, “the coupe aspect of it meant it looked more like a sports car than a family hatchback, and that’s what attracted me.”
In March 1985, at the age of 22, he finally got his hands on one after graduating through a Hillman Avenger, in which he learned to drive, a Vauxhall Viva, and a Mazda 323 he’d been driving for six months before police informed him it had previously been written off in an accident.
Time for a VW Scirocco
He needed a new car and, having completed his apprenticeship as an electrical engineer, it was time to look for a VW Scirocco.
The first was a green Mk1 GLS that he drove for about a year before setting his sights on a more powerful GLi or GTi.
Even better, a 1981 Scirocco Storm came up for sale for about £4,000 in the classified adverts in his local paper.
“It was a lot of money in those days, but they were a bit of a collectors item even then, because they only made a certain amount in two different colours,” he says. “I never thought I’d come across one, let alone be able to buy one.
“I’d test driven a few GTis, including a left hand drive one, but didn’t really find a decent one, and then this one came up.
“The guy I bought it off was just getting his first company car so he decided to sell it, and about seven or eight years later he phoned me up wanting to buy it back. He realised his mistake.
“But once I’d got hold of it, I’d never have sold it.”
Nearly four decades on and Gary not only still has the Mk1 Storm, but he has added a Mk2, as well as a Corrado Storm for good measure.
“I wanted all three Storms”
“I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted all three Storms,” he says. “I didn’t really think of it as an investment, it was more that I wanted to own one of each, it seemed like a nice thing to do.”
The 1996 Corrado Storm VR6 came first, in 2012, before Gary began the search for a Mk2 Scirocco Storm the following year.
“I’d always kept abreast of car prices, and I noticed that they weren’t that expensive at the time, so I hunted around, but there are a lot of dogs out there,” he says. “This one came up in Swadlincote, in Derbyshire, and it wasn’t in fantastic condition but everything was still there, it hadn’t been messed about too much. It was fairly original – it had everything on it that should have been on it.”
The 1984 Mk2 was secured for about £2,000, trailered home to the Norfolk / Suffolk border, cleaned up and resprayed in its original Cosmos metallic blue.
The Volkswagen Scirocco, a replacement for the ageing Karmann Ghia coupe, was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, built by Karmann, and launched at the 1973 Geneva Motor Show.
It was built on the Golf Mk1 platform, but hit showrooms six months earlier as something of a test bed to iron out any teething problems ahead of production of the high volume family hatchback.
Limited edition Scirocco Storm
Front wheel drive, like the Golf, the Scirocco came with a range of four-cylinder, single overhead cam engines from 1.1 to 1.6 litres, with the UK-only, limited edition Storm featuring the 110bhp, fuel-injected 1.6-litre unit from the Golf GTi capable of 0-60mph in 8.7 seconds and a top speed of 115mph.
It boasted leather upholstery, Recaro seats, bronze tinted windows, alloy wheels, a deep Zender front spoiler, and was the only UK Scirocco to have a passenger side door mirror.
Out of more than 500,000 Mk1s built, just 618 were Storms, made between 1979 and 1981 and originally available in Silbergrun metallic or Schwarz metallic before switching in 1980 to Hellblau metallic (like Gary’s car) or Noisette brown metallic.
The Scirocco Mk2, a slightly more rounded design by VW’s in-house stylists, was launched in 1981, with 578 Storms – again UK only – available in 1984 and 1985, in Cosmos blue or Havana brown.
It came with the more powerful, 112bhp, 1781cc GTi engine, and at £9,795.99 it was the most expensive UK Volkswagen on sale at the time.
Back to 1986, and Gary used the Mk1 Storm as his daily driver into the early ‘90s, taking it on he and wife Barbara’s first holiday together.
“We took it up to Scotland with a massive tent and camping stuff in the back,” he remembers. “We did John O’Groats and all around the top of Scotland. It was all good, although Barbara did manage to lock the keys inside it and we had to get a chap from the garage to open the door with a bit of metal.
Adults hunched in the back
“We also took a couple of friends down to a concert at Wembley – four of us, with two adults all hunched up in the back.”
The Storm was also pressed into service at Gary’s brother-in-law’s nuptials in 1989.
When they bought their first house, the couple were running a Fiesta as well as the Scirocco.
Money was tight, and one of them would have to go…
“You would think the natural thing to do would be to sell the Scirocco and keep the Fiesta, but no, that didn’t happen,” smiles Gary. “So the Fiesta went and Barbara would drive the Scirocco back and forth to work while I was on my pushbike.”
When children came along, a daughter in 1991, it was time for “something a bit more sensible and practical”, first a BMW 3 series, followed by an Astra and a variety of other family cars.
The Storm was still used for a while, but was consigned to a barn on Barbara’s parents’ farm sometime around 1993.
“It was getting a little bit rusty in places and I knew it wasn’t worth much, but I wouldn’t have parted with it,” says Gary. “I had attachments to it by then, with lots of memories, and I always had the thought that I’d get it back on the road at some point, when I could.”
That time came in 2006, when a combination of a bit more spare time and the car’s deteriorating condition spurred Gary into action.
Scirocco Storm back on the road
“I couldn’t leave it there any longer,” he says. “I thought ‘now’s the time’, and I had a little bit of spare cash. I started doing bits gradually and got it running again.
“It needed a new fuel tank, a new cambelt, the driver’s seat was overhauled because the bolster had started wearing, but all the leather is original.
“I had the paintwork done five or six years after I got it back on the road, so it was a bit scruffy to start with, but it was nice to get it back.”
So what was it like to get behind the wheel again after all those years?
“Brilliant,” Gary beams. “You get inside and you feel young again – all the memories come flooding back.
“With cars of that age you really feel in contact with the road, because there’s no power steering, you’re low down, and there’s a lot more engine noise inside. You forget how far cars have come until you go back to something like that.
“But It’s nice to drive a very basic car – you lift the bonnet up and you can see everything, nothing is hidden under a big slab of plastic.
“I took it to a couple of local shows to start with and I was surprised at how many people were interested in it, then I joined the Scirocco Register and Sean put out a message on the site to say he was looking for a Mk1 Scirocco for the stand at the NEC.
“When I said I had a Mk1 Storm he nearly pulled my arm off, so that was exhibited at the Practical Classics and then the Classic Motor Show.
“The Register members are a veritable gold mine of information and are always quick to respond to any questions, and the guys that run it work really hard to support the club, especially Sean and Will.”
When the Mk2 Storm and the Corrado Storm came along, suddenly there was a choice of car to take to shows, and all three have made appearances over the years, sometimes two at once – with Barbara always driving the Mk1.
“That’s the only one she likes driving,” says Gary, now 59. “She’s as attached to it as I am, with lots of fond memories.”
Spoilt for choice
As for Gary, he’s spoilt for choice – what to drive on a sunny day like the bright February day of our photoshoot?
“On a day like this, it’s lovely to take out one of the Sciroccos,” he says, “but in the heat of summer I’m tempted to take the Corrado because it’s got air con.
“And it is a much more modern car, and faster. Having said that, the Sciroccos are quick, a light little car with a reasonably powerful engine. They’ll still give modern cars a run for their money.
“They’re all lovely in their own ways.”
The Mk2 Scirocco is slightly larger than the Mk1, just as the Mk2 Golf grew in size and comfort over its predecessor.
“They’re only three years apart in age but the Mk1 feels a bit more raw, a bit more sports car like, whereas the Mk2 is a bit more comfortable – the suspension is a bit softer,” says Gary.
“They both still look really nice. They haven’t aged badly like some cars, they still look quite modern.”
Used as hobby cars from spring until early autumn, Gary’s Storms are two of the more rare cars on Britain’s roads – according to the How Many Left website, just 51 remain registered for road use at the time of writing.
He has no intention of selling any of them, and one day hopes his youngest daughter Maddy or son Matthew, a VW camper enthusiast, will keep them in the family.
“Madi’s really into cars and she loves my Corrado,” he says, “so eventually I’ll pass them on. I’ve grown up with them, so there’s no way I could sell them.”
