Volkswagen began work on the Scirocco during the early 1970s as the replacement for the aging Karmann Ghia coupe, and designated it the Type 53 internally. The platform of the Golf/Rabbit and Jetta was used to underpin the new Scirocco, although almost every part of the car was re-engineered in favour of a sportier drive, and the model’s all-new styling, penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, was sleeker and sportier than that of either the Golf or Jetta. Launched six months before the Golf, the Scirocco went on sale in Europe in 1974 and in North America in 1975.