The first Corrado left the production lines in Osnabrück, Germany, in 1988. Based on the Volkswagen Group's A2 platform, the same as the Volkswagen Golf Mk2 and the Seat Toledo, the Corrado was presented as a successor to the Volkswagen Scirocco.
The design of the German sports car, marked by long contours, was in charge of Herbert Schäfe, the chief designer of the Wolfsburg brand between 1972 and 1993. Although practical and minimalist, the cabin was not exactly spacious, but as you can imagine this one too. it wasn't exactly a family car.
On the outside, one of the Corrado's special features is the fact that the rear spoiler automatically raises at speeds above 80 km/h (although it can be manually controlled). In fact, this 3-door coupé was the ideal combination of performance and sporty style.
The Volkswagen Corrado adopted the front-wheel drive system from the start, but it wasn't a boring car, quite the opposite – as long as we opted for the 5-speed manual transmission instead of the 4-speed automatic transmission.
The Corrado made its debut on the market with two different engines: a 1.8-valve engine with 16 valves with a power of 136 hp and an 1.8-valve engine with 160 hp, both on gasoline. This last block was later called G60, due to the fact that the compressor contours resemble the letter “G”. Accelerations from 0 to 100 km/h were accomplished in a “modest” 8.9 seconds.
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After the initial proposals, Volkswagen produced two special models: the G60 Jet, exclusive for the German market, and the Corrado 16VG60. Later, in 1992, the German brand launched a 2.0 atmospheric engine, an improvement over the 1.8 block.
But the most desired engine turned out to be the 12-valve 2.9 VR6 block, launched in 1992, whose version for the European market had around 190 hp of power. Although it was a model with much more “pedaling” than the previous ones, this was also reflected in consumption.
The sale of Corrado was fading until it ended in 1995, thus ending seven years of production of the coupé that marked the beginning of the 90's. In total, 97 521 units left the Osnabrück factory.
It's true that it wasn't the most powerful model, but the Corrado G60 was the most successful in Portugal. However, high prices and consumption did not allow Corrado to reach its full potential.
Despite everything, this coupé was considered by several publications as one of the best and most dynamic models of its generation; according to Auto Express magazine, it is one of the Volkswagen cars that most benefits the driving experience, appearing in the list “25 Cars You Must Drive Before You Die“.
