As a fellow Volkswagen owner, I have to say I feel a special something for this video. Maybe it's because Jason Cammisa and I are in the same line of employment, or maybe it's because I have very similar sentiments about my VW.
While Cammisa details the story of his veedub Scirocco that he's owned since college and how it taught him how to fix cars, you'll note one thing. There's a certain love for the car that cannot be let go. In addition, he notes that even after getting out of today's latest and greatest supercars, he still looks forward to hopping in his Scirocco.
That sounds crazy, doesn't it? Here's the thing: I feel the same way about my Golf 2.5.
Although that sounds ridiculous, hear out this man's perspective on his VW and what it means to him.
You could say that Jason Cammisa knows cars. With a day job at Road & Track, he has full access to the world’s best vehicles—but still comes back to his humble Volkswagen Scirocco.
“This car definitely changed the path of my life because it forced me to be a mechanic,” Cammisa says, “I was in college…there was no way I would have been able to keep this car—I don’t think I could still have this car—if I had to pay somebody to work on it.”
Most owners would look at its constant maintenance requirements as a negative, but he says that, ultimately, it’s a valuable experience.
Even though he most often prefers the handling and driving dynamics of a rear-wheel-drive machine, the Scirocco’s balance and familiarity mean that it’s always been his favourite car. For a Senior Editor at Road & Track, that’s a big deal!
“The biggest surprise that people get is that I’ll leave a Bugatti Veyron Supersport or Porsche 918 Hybrid, and all I want to do is go home and drive my Scirocco,” he says. “It’s just that lovely combination of ‘reliable enough’, ‘fast enough’, ‘modern enough’ but raw—and works as the perfect bar for me to judge modern cars against.”
But the future worries him. “What’s going to happen when I’m a 60-year-old, and I need a water pump for it,” Cammisa says. “I hope one day this car is worth 100 grand, only so that it’s in someone’s best interest to please make me a fender—because the fenders ran out in 1999.”
With hopes car companies will start to provide more support for enthusiasts, Cammisa can at least be happy knowing that he owns one of the cleanest Sciroccos anywhere.