Like the Scirocco Mk3 that followed it, the Corrado was VW’s entry in the compact sports car segment.

Built on the same platform as the second-gen Golf, it was offered with different petrol engines, namely 1.8- or 2.0-lite fours and 2.8- and 2.9-liter VR6s, and it was solely front-wheel drive.

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This one, though, has had an engine swap – not for a more powerful petrol unit, but a diesel. Specifically, it is powered by a 1.9-liter TDI PD unit that has received a few upgrades and modifications. As a result, it is said to have around 300 horsepower and approximately 550 to 600 Nm (406-443 lb-ft) of torque, which would put it in the front-wheel drive hot hatch class today – in terms of output anyway.

So, what can it do other than look good and make bystanders watch perplexed by the amount of smoke it emits? Well, it can drag race, for one, and this is what it did at the TT Circuit in Assen, Netherlands. And while it did not break any records, as it lacks the grunt to pose any threat to some serious machines, at least it put up a good fight before returning to the parking lot in a thick black haze.