Were you to seek out the ideal candidate upon which to base a sleek, classy coupe, chances are the Volkswagen Passat would not be it. Sure, the Passat's always been a real stalwart of the family car class, offering comfort, quality and space in spades, but it's always been endlessly functional and a little, too; a car you'd buy with your head rather than with your heart.
Which is why the Volkswagen Passat CC came as a bit of a surprise. A four-door coupe that aped the Mercedes-Benz CLS, and therefore one of the early adopters of the body style, it borrowed the Passat's underpinnings (with the notable addition of standard adaptive dampers on every model) and interior, and clothed them in a body that looked like... well, a melted Passat, to be honest.
But who knew a melted Passat could be so appealing? Volkswagen sold truckloads of the things, mainly to fleet and lease buyers looking for something more distinctive than a 3 Series, more cost-effective than a Merc and more interesting than an A4. But while your standard diesel CC was doubtless a very pleasant thing, it was hardly the sort of car with which we on PH would occupy ourselves.
The 3.6-litre V6-powered model you see before you, however, is a different story. As you've doubtless already guessed, the 300hp engine is the very same that found its home in the largely forgotten Passat R36, as is the four-wheel drive system. The two combined give flawless traction and the capacity to hit 62mph in 5.6 seconds, making this CC something of a sleeper.
Granted, it does suffer from the R36's slightly remote driving experience, but don't think that makes it a complete dud. There's truckloads of traction and grip, enabling you to use that engine to its fullest in all weathers, and you'll want to; the big six is quite keen to rev out, and emits a delightful warble at the top end. There are other positives, too; the adaptive suspension means the CC ticks the comfort box, lending it the feel of a grand tourer - albeit one with four doors which, handily, means the whole family can come along for the ride.
This, then, is a big, practical GT with thumping pace and all-weather traction; a slinky, family-friendly sleeper with off-the-line performance that'll leave a surprising number of performance cars for dead; a long-legged cruiser that'll demolish mile after mile effortlessly.
So where's the catch? Well, it isn't cheap to run, of course; 28mpg on average and annual tax of £540 are figures that are liable to make your wallet shudder. The flipside to that, of course, is that it'll cost you just eight grand to buy. You could argue, therefore, that what you'll spend on fuel, you'll save on depreciation.
Make the man maths work, though, and this old unicorn could make for a very tempting buy, and a compelling alternative to the usual big-engined Beemers. It's that rarest of things - a Passat that won't please your head, but that will give your heart something to get excited about.
SPECIFICATION - VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT 3.6 V6 FSI GT
Engine: 3,597cc V6
Transmission: 6-speed DSG, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 300@6,600rpm
Torque (lb ft): 258@2,400-5,300rpm
First registered: 2009
Recorded mileage: 63,000
Price new: £31,050
Yours for: £8,291
See the original advert here.
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