Nostalgia: Harken back to the days of yore; circa 1987. What car would a young growing man want over any other? Well yes, a Lambo Countach was always fun to play on our IBM 386 computers with 16-colors (!), but it was hardly attainable. No, for the aspiring man of mystery, it was the VW Scirocco. It had the "fast back" allure, quasi-Italian styling and name, plus it didn't sound like a lawnmower, like the Beetle, or even the Karmann Ghia (although it was a toss-up over which was harder to spell).

Deep down, I was always more partial to the Audi GTs, but you didn't see many of those, plus the price was a bit steep. No, it was the Scirocco, or "southeastern Mediterranean wind" for the Euro-poser in all of us.

Sadly, I never got around to owning one. The best I got was a used Audi 4000 that could barely make it up a hill, but I seem to recall a certain white one being driven by a particularly foppish friend of mine.