2014 Volkswagen Microbus Rendered - Future Cars
Remember the Microbus concept Volkswagen brought to the Detroit auto show in 2001? Styled under the direction of former VW design chief Hartmut Warkuß and a pet project of erstwhile VW CEO Ferdinand Piëch, it fell out of favor when Bernd Pischetsrieder took over as CEO and installed his own design head. Although the van had moved close to production—VW even had a plant in mind to build it—its lines did not fit former Peugeot and Mercedes designer Murat Günak's styling language, and the project was cancelled in 2006.
(picture from slideshow in link)VW shelved the new Microbus after their short-lived partnership with Mopar and the horrible Routan, a re-badged Dodge Caravan. VW had ceded the minivan market in 2003 with the retiring of the ill-fated Eurovan, a model plagued by problems throughout its short tenure in the US. Priced higher than its competitors, offering a 110HP inline 5-cylinder instead of the industry standard V6, and stop-and-go importing where models were available one year and not the next all contributed to lackluster sales that contributed to the death of the line.
VW started the minivan craze in the 1950s with the Microbus, which would become a cult classic in the 1960s. Phased out in favor of the Vanagon in 1980, the Microbus started the revolution that the Caravan would finish in the early 1980s. With the gas crisis of the 1970s still fresh in the minds of American consumers, the ginormous 12- and 15- passenger monstrosities available for families larger than 4 or 5 were unattractive; station wagons were less-than-convenient for more than 5 people; the minivan market took off as cars in general were downsized. The Vanagon kept the VW engineering of a rear-engined van, although it went to water-cooled in the mid 1980s from air-cooled beginnings.
There's plenty of time to see if this new concept makes it to market or dies on the drawing board. The retro phase appears to be dying out; VW already phased out the New Beetle and the Chrysler PT Cruiser ceased production this past summer. With the tightening of belts brought about by the continuing poor economy, any "retro" vehicles have to either fill an existing need or fit a niche market (Mustang/Camaro/Challenger). The new VW van, priced competitively to its Japanese adversaries and offering German engineering (and diesel and AWD options), might be the ticket for VW to reclaim some of this lost market.
Time will only tell if they offer a "patchouli scented air freshener" as stretch opines...
That is all.
12 comments:
Ah the microbus. Ours had the passenger seats facing each other. We kids could kick at each other but our feet wouldn't reach.
"The retro phase appears to be dying out" ???
1. The NEW VW New Beetle debuts next year.
2. The NEW Fiat 500 will be imported by Chrysler any day now.
3. MINI just debuted a new MINI SUV, that gives MINI 3 distinct models now!
4. Mustang is not retro?
5. Challenger is not retro?
6. Charger is not retro?
7. Camaro is not retro?
And don't even get me started on Japanese and Euro cars that we can't get, like the NEW Citroen Pluriel!
If not the patchouli-scented air freshener option, each dealer should definitely have a stock of various Dead stickers. Any VW Microbus without Dead stickers...well, that just ain't right.
It will be interesting, since the Japanese and Chrysler pretty much OWN the mini-van market... Unless VW does something dramatically different, I don't see them making it back into the market.
This might work for those of us with eleventy billion kids and a blind hatred of minivans. For all that you're calling it one, and it almost certainly is one, it doesn't look like one, and if that sucker seats eight, I'd be on it like a fat kid on candy.
My uncle had a VW camper back in the day. I have fond memories of it, including when the transmission went out and we had to drive it back to the house in reverse (luckily, it was a straight line; we hadn't yet made any turns).
Microbus, eh? All it's missing is the eleven long-haired friends o' Jesus...
If VW/Audi could sneak a decent diesel engine past the EPA, this could be a hit.
Again, if the EPA doesn't force them to ruin the motor - or jack the price out of minivan territory, a European spec 3.0 TDI would probably get in the mid-30's for this van.
That might convince some of us to trade in our SUV.s, if...
An AWD diesel option would get me looking at that. Of course, I usually by about five years used so it'll be a while.
As cool as a diesel bus would be, my state will not let dealers sell new diesel passenger vehicles. Guess I'll have to console myself with a pile of hicap mags instead.
This will have the same problem the new Bug has, it's too expensive.
The allure on those 60s and 70s pieces of useful crap was that they cost next to nothing.
Somehow, I doubt many hippies will be shelling out $38K for a microbus next year.
As an owner of a current gen Dodge Caravan (the basis for the Routan) I wouldn't call it "dreadful", unless VW seriously screwed up their version. With the 251hp 4.0L V6 option anyway, it's a solid kid hauler that hits 60mph in 8 seconds and feels rock solid at 105mph. I'd call the VW version "Utterly pointless" for paying several thousand dollars more just for a VW badge on the front rather than a Dodge badge.
That said, I still don't like minivans, I'm just stuck with one as the most efficient way to haul a family of five (eventually six) around in relative speed and comfort.
My colleagues have been expressing a lot of reliability concerns & issues with their VW, soon after their warranty expired.
What have you folks been hearing?
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