[Ron Mummert]

A quick story for Ryan & other "82 Scirocco owners. I bought one about 10 years ago for my daughter's High School grad gift. She totalled it within 30 days (not her fault), & I bought another one with the insurance money. I semi-inherited it during her freshman year at college, when cars were verboten. I had to pick her & her girlfriend up for spring break that year & decided to drive it to Charlottesville, VA from Baltimore to give it some "exercise". About 60 miles into this trip, I stopped for coffee, got back in, put it in reverse. NOTHING! The shifter felt like wasn't connected to anything it was previously connected to. Gradually I found "a " forward gear, (it was third) then another (forth). Story was, the plastic linkage popped out of a connecting socket, so I could move the lever up & down (3 & 4) but nowhere else. I drove this way, in the rain to Charlottesville, picked up the girls who loaded the car down with the typical 300lbs. of crap they "needed" for a 2 week break, & drove back to Baltimore during rush hour (still raining) around the DC beltway, a trip of over 200 miles, with lots of start & stop, mentally begging everyone not to make me come to full stop, up hill with 600lbs. of flesh & junk aboard. Somehow, we made it. I later popped in a linkage salvaged off the original totalled car, & all was fine. The clutch lived through this ordeal for another 8 years, & as far as I know, the car is still on the road.
It was a primitive car by today's standards, but it was amazing what fun you could have with 74 HP, & a nice gearbox. Ron.