The beginning

A pang for a Fireblade and a chance encounter with an old mate saw me sell my VFR80 RC46.
Now I just need to explain how I got from that idea to owning a Volkswagen Corrado G60!

Shopping

"The devil makes work for idle thumbs" and my thumbs had a phone to play with and the eBay app again.

I was looking for a Honda Fireblade having missed my much loved RR2 on the left but frankly I would have taken nearly any shape <1000cc blade so long as it wasn't a jelly mould.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much about at the time so the search spread out...

Then a mate of mine went and bought an Audi B5 S4. It was quite a way down south and I had offered to help go pick it up with him.

It had some nice performance modifications without deviating too far from stock looks wise.

The turbo charged V6 sounded aggressive through a rather open exhaust system and a flat shifter made for some noisy gear shifting. It was cool and got me thinking that maybe I could have a little car fun for a while.

Ever since owning my own Audi A4 B7 Sline SE 2.0 TDI last edition I have fancied getting one of the turbo V6 or simply getting the V8 idea out of my head. 

I really like the look of all the A4's and my search covered most of the shapes included and in between these. I really loved the B6 for example but the availability, condition and prices didn't come together for me.

So my searches broadened again.

The Subaru legacy GTB or even the coveted Blitzen was an option followed by Stageas and a few other odd ball Japanese saloons with Godzilla engines.

However the obvious flow back from the B5 A4 was the B3 and B4 Audi 80's from the 1980's and early 90's. There was no way I could affrod a coupe quattro or an S2 but even the naturally aspirated straight 5 sounds incredible and I could have plaid with it further down the line...

Without listing every car I considered I better get to the point.

Eventually I thought to look at Corrado's.

A long while ago; a friend of mine's little brother had a couple of Corrados languishing in his parents garage. I don't remember being wild about them at the time but they clearly stuck in my mind as a bit of an icon of the early 90's. 

It is a tough car to come to grips with, or even know about for that matter, unless you a little enthusiastic about cars. The Corrado doesn't fit in very well with its pears or even in the brand. VW has done this a few times when they make a car that they really shouldn't have and no matter how good it is, it will always seem kind of wrong. Couple that with the fact that the later VR6 engined Corrado's are faster and sound better; the G60 somehow comes across as a bit of an underdog and I like that.

Well that last statement might be a bit of a later philosophy as when this car came up very close to where I live, I wasn't mad about the idea of a G60. I quickly went about reading on the various engine options that this car could have and found a sea of fairly biased opinion that tended to favour the car they owned at the time. I needed to take a look for myself.

On first seeing the car, it had huge presence on the drive. I had clearly not seen many of these for a while as I was taken aback a touch at actually seeing one. The car had had a paint job a few years ago which had kept the think protected whilst it sat in someones shed since then. The owner had buffed the thing up a bit and tried to enjoy it but time and work were not on his side so was selling it on. He seemed pretty knowledgeable and the car looked fairly straight for what was sensible money. 

I was starting to really like the car but a test drive set things back a bit. It felt slow.

I ride motorcycles predominently and my van is a 2.5 TDI T5 Transporter with a fair bit of torque, so when it gets going it gives a fair kick up the bum. The supercharged Corrado however delivers linear power right off the bat and just felt, well, flat. I was unsure so did the right thing and walked away with the cash heavy in my pocket.

I thought about it over the weekend and decided to spin by on the Sunday and take a second look, conscious that I really didn't want to waste the guys time. I decided to do a boost check on the supercharger (which was about due a service) which it proved to be strong so I decided to stop messing about and made an offer which the seller accepted.

What next?

I fully plan to own the car for a while without piddling about with it too much. This will be more of a restoration than modification. Here is the current plan for the car: 

First off those wheels need to go and a set of factory fit 15"rims need to go back on.
I am currently torn between BBS solitudes (these can be picked up is 4X100), BBS RZ or RM split rims. Each has their advantages, I would have RM's straight away if it wasn't for the price.
On the plus side the rubber on these wheels is good quality so although they are a bit stancy and harsh, they are okay for the time being whilst I make my mind up.

Electrically the car, for the most part, seems to be doing okay for its age. The spoiler pops up at 45mph, no lights on the dash and a working moon roof is nice to see.
The central locking pump runs for too long when unlocking, electric windows work despite one faulty switch which will need looking at and the electric mirrors don't appear to work at all.
The stereo is an aftermarket one with DAB which is nice (looks fucking bogging though!) but the speakers don't appear to work properly despite having been upgraded in the past. Oh and whilst we are on wiring, those headlamps really need sorting, I could see more on my 6volt CG125!


Interior wise: Some remnants of an old alarm will need removing from the dash, iffy switch gear operation, missing moon roof lining and flickering dash back lights were all little annoyances that will need tidying up. The interior itself has no rips but would benefit from a good clean whilst I am there and replacement floor mats will need to be found.

As previously mentioned; the paint is fairly recent so a good clean and polish aught to make the thing pretty presentable. Maybe some stamped plates would look good and upgraded wiper blades would help a bit but there isn't much about the outside that really needs to change.

Finally the engine bay (when you can get into it) is very clean and as previously mentioned, the car has been serviced fairly well. I will need to look at the supercharger some time soon but with that recent boost check, I am happy to leave that for a while. The airbox is missing but a new battery and HT leads is nice to see.

Really the car is not in a bad place and doesn't NEED for a lot. I hope to gradually return this car to fairly green/ subtly modified condition and bring you along for the ride.