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The 78 Scirocco Champagne and very similar "Sidewinder II" special editions offered to the US on November 11th 1977 were sport packages similar to the "Storm" (UK) or 80 "S" versions but did not use the "S" in the name nor did they have the displacement of the other sport Sciroccos. The Sidewinder II special edition and 78 Champagne followed 1975's little known Sidewinder 1 and Super Scirocco (1976.5). The Sidewinder II can be considered the precursor of all later, high-performance Sciroccos but.....
like just about every Scirocco special edition right up to the 16V, this one was all looks, with no added power or handling. It featured a trim package, black bumpers, a slick air dam and a sport Interior, but none of the underpinnings like suspension Improvements or a hotter motor. All the 78s in the US had a 1.5L (1457cc. 1.6L block de-stroked and under-bored to get better gas mileage.) motor with the 4 speed. The small motor put out near the same power (71 HP at 5800 rpm) as the 77 1.6 in the 48 state cars but the California 1.5 version put out less. Top speed was 103 MPH with a 0-60 at 11.6 sec and 25-38 listed MPG. It was the smallest engine ever put into a Rabbit or Scirocco in the US. This was during the skyrocketing gas prices($1.00/gal!!). All US models before and after 1978 had larger engines.

The biggest difference between the Sidewinder II and the Champagne was the hood and rocker stickers. The Sidewinder had the center portion of the hood blacked out and a snake with an extra logo was added to the rocker panel and "C" pillar. The sidewinder name was given because of the trans-axel layout of the motor and VW attempted to play it up. The Champagne was a bit nicer with out the extra snake and hood detail. The 78 stripe kit, black trim on the edges of the windows and along the top of the front fenders and rear hatch, was available on the Champagne and SW II editions only. Later US S versions had a stripe kit too but the design was different. The Champagne and SW II editions were the only MK1 Sciroccos in the US that did not have the lower door ding strips.

The most unique part on the Champagne is the "white cat" rear and front badges. They were only offered on the 78 Champagne. The grill had no chrome trim like the standard 78 models. All of the 78 Sciroccos had a unique driver's side mirror that was used for one year. It was the first version of the remote control side mirror. The optional passenger side mirror (not RC) is a unique 78 shape design too. The 78 driver's mirror and the inner door panel were redesigned for the 79 model year because the mechanism was clumsy and expensive.

The Champagne edition has very nice attractive Champagne only seats with a small tooth pattern in the center seat cushions. The bolsters are black. The sport seats were a Recaro look a-likes with separate adjustable headrest, vinyl seat backs, cloth side bolsters (non-adjustable), and "Special Corduroy Seat Covering" (corduroy center sections). The dash was all black, missing the two inset trim plastic parts that were silver on the 77 and wood on the standard 78. The Scirocco badge on the passenger side of the dash was deleted on this version. The 78 CE had a textured black instrument cluster later used on the S. The speedometer went to 100 MPH. The tac had no water LED. Black carpet was standard on that model. The interior did have a white headliner and chrome door levers.

The heater is the older version with out the rotary control for fan settings (light weight if you don't have AC) The seat belts fastened to the chassis in the center between the seats and not to the seat like the later models. The plastic cover on the top of the shoulder belt have the VW and Audi logo molded in to it and the seat belts are just a little different than the later cars.

The Zender designed front air dam with the rectangular openings on either side which tapered to round holes pointed at the front brakes was introduced on the Champagne version. The front end was restyled, and wraparound polyurethane bumpers were added. The 78 was the first year with black trim on the top of the tail lights and the car had the new plastic rear "L" plate mount/ rear cover between the tail lights. The rear wiper was standard on the 78 and hatch was re tooled to accommodate the wiper and motor.

The window trim is more like the later versions but the lower aluminum strip in the rear ¼ side windows is split like the 77. The black anodize did fade to silver and or gray quickly. The one piece black door handles were only used on the 78 Champagne and S models. Many of the 78s had the removable door reinforcement bars. The gutter rail cover is metal and has two rivets holding it place vs. the 80 that had the plastic. The rear hatch lock was upgraded on the 78 to have a finger catch that was not on the 77 and earlier models.

Some but not all C edition versions had vent wings. The C edition came with or with out AC. My 78 C edition had AC.

The chassis on the 78 is more like a 77 than an 80 even thou the 78 and 80 look the same due to the wrap around turn signals and "B" pillar trim and black covered plastic bumpers. The trim parts in the trunk will not fit from an 80 or 81 as well as the parts from a 76-78 will.
The rear shock towers are smaller on the 78 than the 80.

The breaks on the 78 are the older version. The lines, and knuckles pre date the ones on the 80. The gas tank filler and vents are the older style but still better than the carburetor gravity feed gas tank.
The headlight wire harness is different on the 77-79 cars and you will find ground stars mounted on the frame on many models.

It is very typical for a 78 white Champagne (The C E only came in white) Scirocco to have surface rust (on the upper body). The white paint on the 78 absorbs water according to a dealer I spoke to many years ago. In 1979 VW changed to a different paint to stop the rust problem. Owner's should remove all the paint, windows and stickers on the car and start with new primer and paint. The windshield gaskets are very poor on that year and
often crack letting water in to the window seat that then rusts. It is very common for a 78 to have bad rust on the rear hatch near the glass. The brake lines are under the front carpet and tend to cause corrosion and cause brake failure.

Many thanks to Doug.T for all of the information above.

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