Affordable Alternative - the Volkswagen Corrado

It's not unusual for diehard Japanese- or American-car fans to find themselves blathering the virtues of smooth Germanic machines once they finally spend a little time behind the wheel of a BMW, Mercedes, or Volkswagen. No matter what your automotive religion, it can be surprisingly hard to resist the refinement that these Euro brands display.

Unfortunately, two of those storied German brands tend to stay on the high side of the price scale until they're rattier than a thrift-store sweater. But of that Black-Forest Big Three, Volkswagen remains a lower-priced alternative. And one of its more interesting performance cars, the Corrado, is well within reach of the typical buyer.

Volkswagen introduced the Corrado in the U.S. for 1990. Aimed at enthusiast drivers, the car was VW's successor to the Scirocco, which departed the lineup after 1988. Compared to Scirocco, the Corrado had a wheelbase some three inches longer but was approximately six inches shorter overall.

Corrado's sole engine initially was a 158-hp supercharged 1.8-liter 4-cylinder. But part way through the '92 model year, the four was replaced by a narrow-angle V6 from the Passat. This naturally-aspirated 2.8-liter unit put out 178 hp and added welcome low-speed torque.

Designed to be somewhat of a technology showcase for Volkswagen, the Corrado featured a number of interesting mechanical systems. Most obvious among them was a rear spoiler that automatically deployed at speeds above 45-55 mph. Although the benefit of this device in everyday driving is perhaps debatable, it's a neat feature for techie enthusiasts who like to engage in Autobahn fantasies from time to time.

In addition, Corrado also offered a number of other features that were fairly advanced for the time, including traction control and antilock brakes -- relatively uncommon on all but upper-priced performance cars from that era.