Volkswagen is gearing up for the Middle East launch of its legendary sports car 'third generation Scirocco' by early next year.

The countdown has begun for the new era Scirocco with its global launch recently taking place in Portugal, said a company official.

Generations I and II of the legendary two-door sports car wrote history as the most successful Volkswagen coupé of all time with over 800,000 units sold.

The third generation Scirocco is the first Volkswagen to sport the front end design of a new era.

The main characteristic includes the chrome lamp bodies and high-sheen black interior surfaces of the headlamp housings that are joined by the radiator grille cross bar painted in high-sheen black.

Designed by Giorgio Giugiaro, the original Scirocco presented in 1974 has long held the status of being a cult car due to its fascinating strategy of putting a sports car on wheels that is fit for use every day of the year at an affordable price.

The new Scirocco offers pure driving pleasure, a new powerful design, high-end technologies such as DCC adaptive chassis control and the new 7-speed DSG dual clutch transmission.

In addition, the Scirocco provides exclusive use of efficient turbo engines with up to 147 kW/200 hp power, space for four adults despite its sporty image, an extremely high level of safety and the everyday utility that is typical of all Volkswagen vehicles.

This mix of passion and logic costs far less than expected based on the car’s key data.

Although the third generation of the Scirocco follows exactly the same positioning as the first one, Volkswagen intentionally did not include the retro elements that were prominent in the original version.

Conceptually the new Scirocco is a counterpart to the original version; this is because in the mid-1970s the successor to the Karmann Ghia also set out on new paths, both technically and visually, the official said.

The new Scirocco is one of the most attractive sports cars in terms of price but yet its standard features place it on the same level as the far more expensive coupés.

"Always on board are 17-inch alloy wheels, height-adjustable driver and front passenger seats, leather steering wheel, parking brake handle and shifting lever grip, sport seats, split folding rear seatbacks, power windows, air conditioning, ESP, braking assistant, six airbags, power steering and of course a sport chassis."

On the top 200 PS model, standard equipment also includes chrome tailpipes, a “Titanium black” roof liner and a sound generator, he added.-TradeArabia News Service