Launching a new car that looks nothing like the ‘70s cult hero after which it is named by displaying photographs of the original at the media presentation of the new car may seem like an odd thing to do, but that’s exactly what Volkswagen did at the Middle East launch of the new Scirocco in Dubai’s Festival City.

VW’s reasoning for not following the retro design of the 1974 Scirocco is that the new model is “a counterpart to the original” and that the original also “set new paths, both technically and visually”.

Whatever the case, the sporty-looking Scirocco’s design is a subjective thing (though it’s not as aggressive as the Iroc concept car VW showed at the Paris Motor Show in 2006), and quite importantly, it signals at the design language of Volkswagens to come.

“We really tried to get as much as possible into the car,” said Andreas Mindt, one of the Scirocco’s designers, at the launch. “We tried to do a package that is affordable and looks like the Iroc. And we wanted to avoid doing a cheesy car; we wanted a sportscar.”

Cheesy or not, performance-wise it’ll come very close to a Golf GTI, from which it borrows the 2-litre, 200-bhp engine. The lesser choice will be a 1.4-litre, 160-horsepower unit but both will deliver power through VW’s superfast DSG gearbox. That means the 1.4 will launch from standstill to 100kph in 8.0sec and will reach 218kph, while the 2.0-litre will be good for 235kph and a 0-100 time of 7.2ec.

But, because it’s longer, wider, almost 100mm lower, has wider tracks and has had its springs, dampers and anti-roll bars retuned, it’s very likely to be even faster. And that can’t be bad news.

An optional DCC adaptive chassis control system will also be available (with Normal, Sport and Comfort settings), but the Scirocco will start at a basic price of around $ 29,000.