1995 Volkswagen Corrado VR6 Storm – Project Profile
July 20, 2023
Sometimes car designers just get it right, right off the bat. Not only do they manage to capture the Zeitgeist of the time while simultaneously being forward thinking, but they also create something timeless. Cars like the Jaguar E-Type, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Porsche 911 all fall into this category but there is another that we want to talk about today, and that car is the Volkswagen Corrado, and it’s ageing like a fine wine.
To say that the Corrado was just a squashed and smoothed out Mk2 Golf would be doing it a huge disservice. Yes, the platform was the same but that’s about the be all and end all as far as similarities go. Here is a car that practically pleads you to jump in and give it a thrash, with a silhouette that looks fast even when parked and if you’re lucky enough to own or even have driven a Corrado before then you know that it can back up its sleek, sporty looks with the performance to match, especially if you opt for the meaty 2.9-litre, six-pot VR6 engine.
With enough torque to safely relocate most small properties the 188bhp VR6 Corrado remains the one to have and paired with the car’s lower centre of gravity and improved weight distribution over its Golf brethren makes for quite the performance package. Make no mistake, despite the two rear “seats” and practical hatchback boot the Corrado means serious business, as we found out when we drove one a few years back.
What is it?
This isn’t your ordinary Corrado VR6, however. Not that the Corrado was ever labelled as ordinary. No, what sets this particular 1995 car apart is its rather cool sounding “Storm” badging. A UK market only special edition the Storm (nomenclature carried over from the previous Scirocco) is a bit of a rarity with only 500 ever being produced, half of which were presented in the Mystic Blue you see here, a colour unique to the Storm. Other upgrades over the standard car include a colour-matched front grille, 15” BBS “Solitude” alloy wheels and heated seats.
Why is it a project?
With almost 120K on the clock this Volkswagen Corrado VR6 Storm has had a life and does need a few tweaks here and there. With no current MOT due to a missing airbag in the after market steering wheel, along with advisories due to corroded brake pipes (standard…) and suspension top mount, the list is rather small and should be relatively cheap and easy to rectify. The car does also carry a small amount of surface corrosion to the windscreen surround and some mild blemishes to the bonnet. The front grill is also in need of a few new clips, but again, these are simple fixes in the grand scheme of things.
What should you look for?
Lucky for you we have already written a detailed feature specifying what to look for when sourcing a decent Corrado, so head over to the article and have a read for yourself. This should furnish you with the requisite knowledge, giving you the confidence to go and see this particular Volkswagen Corrado VR6 Storm up close and personal to determine its condition and potential as what appears to be at least, a simple project.
What should you do with it?
The advert reads more like a snagging list than an out and out restoration project and the rarity of these cars is almost enough to justify simply paying the asking price and bringing the thing home but if it were our money we would get it booked in, throw some money at it and fix all of the little niggles before slapping a fresh MOT on the car and enjoying it for what it is. It’s a running, driving car and having had a full respray before being tucked away in 2018 means, for the most part, the bodywork should be tidy, too. Prices are only going one way, especially for these rarer, more powerful models so getting involved now could be a good investment opportunity.
