My 1986 VW Cabriolet – Bought Since New, And Still Mine

Text submitted by Steve Walton.

I bought a 1986 Volkswagen Cabriolet new and still own it. Here’s my story.

I Accuse My Parents is a 1944 juvenile delinquency B movie. More specifically, I blame my father for my incurable car addiction. Growing up, we always owned the most basic cars as appliances, but my Dad got a new company car almost yearly. While not fancy, those Fury IIIs and Galaxie 500s were much nicer than my Mom’s car (they had such 1960’s luxuries as power steering, power brakes and A/C). They were definitely nice enough for 6-year-old me to drive, navigate between 2 trees at the end of our driveway, cross the street and jump the curb into a 1967 Galaxie 500 in our neighbor’s yard.

Fast forward to 1984 and I’m a college graduate working at my first job making big bucks. Errrrr…. $18,000 a year, I mean.  Completely oblivious to the cost of insuring it, I bought my dream car: a new 1984 VW Scirocco.

Since I had to have a Mars Red one, I bought the only one I could find—an automatic. It’s hot in South Texas. A/C is a necessity, not a luxury. Something I didn’t notice on the test drive (too excited?), but I sure did shortly after; at a stop with the A/C on, the cowl/dash shake was brutal, and the A/C was pretty weak as well. Despite the shake, I loved that car even if it was embarrassing explaining to any passenger that the shake was ‘normal.’  I probably would be writing this COAL on that car if Halloween night 1985 hadn’t happened.

On that day, a 1969 Ford Country Squire hit me head on while traveling on a 2 lane, curvy road. This was the end of the Scirocco and the beginning of the longest-lived car relationship of my life. As well as a lifelong scar on my chin.

Guess what was the most important purchasing criteria for my 1986 Cabriolet? Yup, a 5-speed manual transmission. The A/C was still weak, but almost no horrible dash shake. My ex-wife wanted the pewter color, but I wanted something more fun and convertible like. However, the red, white and yellow Cabriolets had white interiors. I couldn’t (and can’t) see myself having a white interior on a convertible, besides, she was going to be the Cabriolet’s primary driver. So pewter it is, with a gray interior. Thus began my almost 40-year ownership with the car. Year one, it served as a daily driver and accrued 30K miles. It currently has 115,000 miles, so 85,000 miles were added in the last 38 years of being an “extra” car.

What’s happened during these 40 years? Relative to its Japanese and American rivals, ‘early’ water-cooled VWs require frequent and expensive maintenance, which I am fanatical about and expect. In 1988, the “clipper kit” (painted bumper caps, wheel opening flares, side skirts and the addition of a second light in the grill) was added to Cabriolets, and I always liked the look. Over the years, I bought used pieces, painted them black and installed them. The pewter paint is still original. The too small 13” wheels were replaced with 15” wheels, which better fill out the wheel wells. Lastly, when it was time for a new top, I replaced the original sand colored top with a black one, which I think looks better.

Other than the weak A/C mentioned earlier, the other early water-cooled VW trait that mine absolutely shares, is the vague shift linkage. If you’ve driven an 80’s Honda 5-speed, you know what I’m talking about. The Honda is precision, the VW clunky.  Matter of fact, even after rebuilding the shift linkage, the VW can make a great standard transmission driver look like a novice.

Have I ever thought of getting rid of it? Yes, but not seriously. I successfully taught one of my kids to drive a standard (on a rented Citroen in Spain), so maybe it’ll stay in the family. Regardless, I hope to have another 20+ years of driving it.

Related CC reading:

Curbside Classic: 1986 Volkswagen Cabriolet – What Women Want

Cohort Pic(k) Of The Day: 1988 Volkswagen Cabriolet – Nearly Extinct, Especially In New York

Curbside Classic: 1992 Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet – A Good Car Spoiled