When the drawing is more beautiful than the production car ...
04/28/2026
In the summer of 1979, "auto motor und sport" published an article entitled "Signs of the times" , taking a look at the upcoming cars of the 1980s. Once again, the talented Mark Stehrenberger, who had good contacts in the industry, was brought in to help.
Among other things, the designer also sketched the successor to the first VW Scirocco, which was expected for 1981. It was no longer Giorgetto Giugiaro who was to be responsible for its design, but the internal VW design department.
In the Stehrenberger drawing, the new Scirocco looked elegant, streamlined and very modern.
However, when the car was presented in reality, some Scirocco fans frowned. Compared to the straight-lined Giugiaro elegance of the first edition, the second version had lost something.
But why did the new car not look as good as the coupé predicted by Stehrenberger?
Well, as a "future designer" you naturally have to make fewer compromises than the engineers who design the production vehicle. Turning circle, sufficient space in the wheel arches, fully retractable side windows, sufficiently high and large headlights, properly functioning windshield wipers? Stehrenberger was probably only marginally concerned with all these things when he sketched "his" Scirocco design. Other things such as side indicators and bumpers running at the same angle, on the other hand, show the attention to detail that is no longer as visible on the original, at least in part.
Of course, the Scirocco II also has many friends who like and appreciate its design. But perhaps the second edition would have found even more fans if Stehrenberger's ideas had been implemented "more precisely"?
