VW News
New
Sports Beetle
Volkswagen
has won the coveted North American Car of the Year Award at the Detroit
Motor Show.
The
New Beetle gathered 292 votes from the judging panel, coming way ahead
of the nearest contender; the Honda Odyssey with only 142 votes.
Also at Detroit, Volkswagen showed of a design study of the New Beetle RSi, a more sporty version of the original.
Shown in classic silver grey paintwork, the New Beetle RSi features large front air inlets, wider wheel arches, a rear spoiler and (just like the type 1) two rear exhaust pipes. Inside the car has bucket front seats covered in red and black leather, a rev counter and additional instruments at roof level. With its silver exterior and black / red interior the RSi looks back at the styling of classic 60s sports cars (remember 007’s Aston Martin, lets hope James Bond opts for a Volkswagen in a future film).
Underneath the bonnet the RSi is powers by a V6 engine coupled to a 6 speed gearbox. It also features wide 255/45R 18 types in those widened wheel arches and 9 x 18 inch alloys. No decision has been made yet on product of this successor to the Super Beetle.
Copycats
The hype surrounding the debut of the New Beetle at last January's Detroit auto show has made other manufacturers sit up and take notice. VW dealers had waiting lists of customers willing to buy the new version before they'd even seen it in person. The New Beetle made driving a small car cool again in the US.
This
year Detroit's car companies are dusting off some old nameplates. New
versions of the Ford T-Bird, Chevrolet Impala and Dodge Charger are
among the cars sharing the spotlight at this year's Detroit show.
Heading this year's nameplate revival is the concept car from Ford that's
destined to become the 2001 Thunderbird roadster -- complete with the
roof portholes, hood scoop and other styling cues from the original
'55
T-Bird
(right),GM will bring back the Impala, which dates to 1958 and was one
of the best-selling cars for much of the 1960s. The 2000 Impala will
replace the stodgy Lumina as Chevrolet's midsize family sedan. A GM
concept car, meanwhile, will resurrect another classic name from the
'50s: the Chevy Nomad. Daimler-Chrysler is taking three former Chrysler
nameplates out of mothballs for a trio of concept cars and trucks: the
Dodge Charger, Jeep Commander and Dodge Power Wagon.
From Japan comes Nissan’s new Z car. The original Datsun 240-Z
was a huge hit for the Japanese company in the 1970s -- a sports car
for the common man. Nissan hopes the return of an affordable Z will
restore some excitement to a brand that has become synonymous with bland.
It seems VW has set the trend by releasing a retro car first and expect
to see other manufacturers follow suit, (a modern Capri perhaps?). The
only other car maker to have seen the trend ahead of time was Rover,
which has kept back the New Mini until the next century.
Wolf
in Cute Clothing
VW has announced its latest, smallest and cutest car. The Lupo goes on salt in April for £7890, good value but still beyond my price range, I'll stick to 2nd hand cars.
The Lupo
(Latin for Wolf) will be built at Wolfsburg. A choice of engines from
1 litre, 50 bhp to the 1.6 litre, 16 valve, 75 bhp engine from the entry
level Golf. A 1.7 litre SDI diesel model is also available. The 1 litre
model has a top speed of 94 mph and qualifies for the new low road tax
bracket. The 1.4 litre model can do 106 mph and 0-62 in 12 seconds,
with average fuel consumption of
45.6 mpg.
With its large front headlights and distinctive styling the Lupo is
definitely the cutest current VW. It can be ordered with a series of
paint colours and two trim levels. Despite its small size and low price
VW say its built to the same standards of engineering that go into the
£25,000 Passat, but we all know Volkswagens are built to last.
The car
looks like its set to bring Volkswagen into the mini car market, it
will be interesting to see how well it does, especially when the New
Mini - above - enters the fray, the two cars are not dissimilar.
Lower
Parts
Volkswagen
has begun a program of reducing the cost of its parts inventory, with
some items cut as much as 70%. The program covers over 14,000 with over
11,000 parts from pre 1991 models covering the Golf I & II, Scirocco,
Polo and as far back as the Beetle. Items include exhausts, headlights,
brake pads and suspension dampers.
So if you want the ?real thing? Its just got cheaper. I've got details if anybody wants them, alternatively contact your local VW parts dealer.
